Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

The Homewood portion of shooting for David Fincher's "The Social Network" wrapped early Wednesday morning and most of the campus was set to rights by the end of the day. The last few remaining trucks were on the road yesterday and the crew is gone.

The movie now continues shooting in Los Angeles. It should be released sometime next year. From what I saw on the camera monitors while standing behind Fincher and his team on Monday and Tuesday evenings, Homewood will look pretty terrific on screen. I think we've got a great shot at an Oscar for Best Campus!

Fincher, his producers and his creative team were very grateful for the reception they received here. I heard from several quarters that working with us and with the city of Baltimore and state of Maryland was easy and smooth.

In return, Fincher, cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, and actors Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield gave more than an hour of their time to answer questions from our film and acting students. They were great.

A lot of people deserve a lot of thanks and credit for making everything go so well. At the risk (forgive me!) of forgetting someone from among the hundreds of e-mail messages and phone calls and meetings and work assignments that went into this, let me thank: virtually every department in Facilities Management (Grounds, Electrical, Parking and Transportation, Design and Construction, Custodial Services, Plant Operations), Security, three different scheduling offices, the General Counsel's Office, Homewood Photography, Engineering Facilities, Dining, Housing, Residential Life, the Johns Hopkins University Museums, the Film and Media Studies Program, the Theater Arts and Studies Program, and everyone here at GCPA.

There were a lot of last-minute or above-and-beyond requests, but everyone across the university pitched in and got things done.

I also want to thank all our students, faculty and staff, who were accommodating and patient as their buildings were temporarily renamed, their signs temporarily removed and their quads temporarily invaded by helium lighting balloons, spotlights, camera track, dollies, computers, digital cameras, props and other devices that help create the magic behind the movie.

Sincerely,

Dennis O'Shea
Government, Community and Public Affairs
dro@jhu.edu