2 days ago
Filming for HBO series starring Steve Carell takes over Stockton's University of the Pacific
STOCKTON -- Lights, camera, action! Film crews have taken over the University of the Pacific in Stockton for an upcoming HBO comedy series starring Steve Carell.
For this week only, the University of the Pacific is transforming into "Ludlow College, Home of the Blues." Signs, flags and even the bulletin board of campus events were full of Ludlow College memorabilia.
"We're just walking to get coffee and then I noticed there's a sign that used to say Pacific. Now it says Ludlow," said Abel Arostigui, UOP's creative content assistant.
Students and staff alike are thrilled to have this huge production just a few feet away from them.
"I think we walked through a set because there was lighting fixtures, there was flowers, there was boom mics everywhere. There were production trucks. I think I walked through catering on accident, but there's a bunch of stuff just around in these little centralized areas," Arostigui explained. "You see pictures of Steve Carell flying around. It's almost like people took a picture of a Bigfoot sighting."
While a major Hollywood figure who has starred in movies like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Anchorman" as well as voicing Gru in the "Despicable Me" franchise, Carell is no stranger to TV, best known for playing Michael Scott on the NBC sitcom "The Office."
UOP is also no stranger to big Hollywood productions, having appeared in films like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Flubber."
"It's definitely nice to see that people probably watched it to scout the location, and they chose it again," graduate student Arturo Santana said. "So it's great to see that the university is getting the recognition it deserves."
For students and Stockton natives, this production is shining a bright, positive light on the school and city as a whole.
"It shows that just like in film, where people from different backgrounds come together to create something beautiful. That's what we've done here in the city of Stockton," Santana said.
"There's more here too, than just a school," Arostigui shared. "There's more here than just what you read. You know, it's a beautiful place, it's a beautiful city, it's a beautiful campus. I think that this is hopefully going to make people see things a little bit differently about what Stockton can offer."
