Tuesday, April 30, 2002
Students 'Love N.Y.' in TV ads
By Carolyn Norton
Staff Writer
COOPERSTOWN Four local students recently got several seconds of their 15 minutes of fame.
The Cooperstown Elementary School students each appeared for a few moments in an "I Love New York" commercial now being shown on television.
The students were part of a group filmed at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and The Farmers' Museum as part of the 25th anniversary of the "I Love New York" advertising campaign, which promotes tourism across the state.
The commercial shows various children and Cooperstown landmarks, along with landmarks across the state, including Niagara Falls.
Emilie Rigby, 10, said for the commercial, she sat in a blacksmith's shop and said, "It's home to our treasured past."
Although she only appears for several seconds, Emilie said, filming took an hour.
"They wanted it just right," she said. "They made me say it over and over again."
Molly Pearlman, 8, said that in the commercial she tosses a baseball up and down and says, "The inspiring," and "I Love New York."
Nine-year-old Carly Busse said she leaned her head against another girl's and can be seen smiling, and Jacob Miller, 7, appears leaning back and forth into the camera.
Even though the commercial was filmed in March, the children said they had to pretend it was summer.
"They wanted it to look like it was summer, but it was really cold," Emilie said.
The students said they auditioned for the parts on a Tuesday afternoon in March, were informed they got parts that Friday and were filmed Saturday.
They each got paid $100 to do the job, they said.
Molly said the group stayed on the set all day.
"Thankfully, my mom brought a TV," Emilie said.
"We ate," Molly said. "Some people brought games."
But now, the actors said they are just enjoying their newfound fame.
"My mom sent all the news to all our friends on e-mail," Molly said. "All of the sudden I got about a hundred e-mails."
Carly said she got recognized in a local gym, and Jacob said some family members asked for his autograph after seeing the commercial.
And Carly said she's already had offers to help her on her way to being a star.
"My aunts said they would be my movie-star helper people," she said, "and help me do my hair and stuff."
If you have some good news you'd like to share, please call Managing Editor Cary Brunswick at 432-1000 or (800) 721-1000; e-mail him at cary@thedailystar.com; fax him at 432-5707; or write to him at P.O. Box 250, Oneonta, NY 13820.