Crew
Created and Directed by: Charlie Todd
Music: Tyler Walker
Producers: Alan Aisenberg, Andrew Soltys
Director of Photography: Ilya Smelansky
Camera: Denis Cardineau, Ilya Smelansky, Spencer Thielmann
Sound: Ken Barbera
Photography: Arin Sang-urai (photo credit for all photos on this page.)
Props and Costumes: Aleks Arcabascio
Production Assistants: Juan Cocuy, Cody Lindquist, Michael Tannenbaum
Owl Design and Creation: Jamie Bressler
Cast
Harry Potter: Sebastian Thomas
For our latest mission, we sent an 11-year-old actor dressed as Harry Potter into New York’s Pennsylvania Station to search for Platform 9 3/4. Harry wandered the station with a caged owl and a luggage cart and asked both strangers and transit employees how to get to the Hogwarts Express.
This project is part of our new series, Movies in Real Life. Every Tuesday, we’re releasing a new video that brings an iconic movie moment to life in the real world.
Here is a behind-the-scenes video that shows what happened when Harry tried to get a cab to the airport:
Enjoy the videos first and then go behind the scenes with our mission report and photos below.


Our crew’s schematic of Penn Station locations

Agents Ilya Smelansky and Ken Barbera hide a microphone in the owl cage

Agent Smelansky gives Agent Thomas his tattoo

Agent Cody Lindquist plays a stranger in a rehearsal with Agent Thomas

Harry at the New Jersey Transit ticket window

Two kids react to Harry










Harry’s ticket






Agent Thomas laughing with the Amtrak employee as I tell him to keep quiet about our cameras!




We had a great afternoon staging this and it was so much fun watching people react to Harry. Agent Thomas gave a flawless performance, despite the really tricky circumstances of performing undercover in a massive transit hub.

Agent Thomas with his mom and dad
Mission Accomplished.
OTHER RESOURCES:
Watch the full series– all 13 episodes in one playlist:
– Episode 1: Rocky In Real Life
– Episode 2: Indiana Jones In Real Life
– Episode 3: Lord of the Rings In Real Life
– Episode 4: The Matrix In Real Life
– Episode 5: Back to the Future In Real Life
– Episode 6: Jurassic Park In Real Life
– Episode 7: When Harry Met Sally In Real Life
– Episode 8: Harry Potter In Real Life
– Episode 9: Spartacus In Real Life
– Episode 10: A Christmas Story In Real Life
Photos:
Full set of photos from photographer Arin Sang-urai
Music:
Listen to the track by Tyler Walker: