It’s not every day that you get to see Hollywood movies being made just a stone’s throw away from your school, but having said that, it is becoming more and more frequent here at King’s!
Ely Cathedral and its grounds were a hive of activity and had a heavy security presence last week, as filming got underway for an exciting new Netflix movie.
Information about what exactly was being filmed was very hush-hush at first, but online reports soon revealed that it was for ‘Maestro’, an American biographical film based on the life of musician, Leonard Bernstein.
With confirmation that BAFTA and Grammy Award-winning Bradley Cooper was directing the film – and starring as Bernstein – our students, staff and parents (don’t deny it!), were celebrity spotting at every opportunity.
On October 21st, our Head of Film Studies, Jonathan Smith, and his A-Level students had an amazing half term treat when they were given the opportunity to meet the production’s Location Supervisor, who gave them a ‘behind-the-scenes’ but ‘at-a-distance’ glimpse of some of the action, including the incredible costume and hair and make-up facilities.
The icing on the cake was when two of Maestro’s producers took a break from filming inside the Cathedral to come and meet Mr Smith, our Film Studies group, and our Principal, John Attwater. The students were able to fire questions at the Los Angeles-based female producers, who were also happy to have their photo taken with them.
However, if you ask Lizelle Goosen, Teacher of Girls’ Games and Food Technology at King’s Ely Senior, what the icing on the cake for her was, she is likely to say that it was meeting and having her photograph taken with Bradley outside the Cathedral the following day (October 22nd)!
Inside and around the Cathedral was where the majority of filming took place, however there was also plenty of action in Ely’s Barton Road, Barton Square and Silver Street area, where street signs were even ‘aged’ and classic cars parked in residents’ driveways to set the scene.
Previous filming in Ely has included ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age’, ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’, ‘The Crown’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘Jupiter Ascending’ and ‘The King’s Speech’.
‘Maestro’ is also reported to be starring Carey Mulligan, Jeremy Strong, Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke and Sarah Silverman. The film is due to be released by Netflix towards the end of 2023 and we can’t wait!