The next time George Clooney, Nora Ephron, or John Singleton calls your office looking for permission to shoot a film, don’t become star struck – click here. 

OK, so Clooney isn’t yet looking to shoot his next blockbuster here, but he might. Requests from outside production companies, photographers, and filmmakers to use Rutgers as a backdrop have surged in the past few years, said Melissa Selesky of the Office of Community Affairs, on the College Avenue Campus in New Brunswick.

The community affairs office wants people across the university to be aware of the recently revised filming guidelines and contact the appropriate person if they receive any requests to shoot projects, large or small, on Rutgers’ campuses.

“It is important for faculty and staff to understand the guidelines when it comes to using Rutgers as a backdrop on film or photograph,” Selesky said. The community affairs office coordinates shoots, which often involve the university police, transportation services, facilities, university scheduling, athletics, and others. 

"Our role is to work with all these departments and handle the negotiations and contracting on behalf of Rutgers. We’ve seen a significant increase in inquiries just in the past year. This summer, I received about three calls per week,” Selesky said. ”There is definitely a buzz out there.”  

A contributing factor to the Rutgers buzz among film crew types was Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice.” The producers of the popular NBC reality show – in which people vie for the chance to work alongside “The Donald” – developed a close relationship with Rutgers over the past year. 

The winner of the fourth season of “The Apprentice” was Rutgers alumnus Randal Pinkett. After his victory, the show’s producers came to Rutgers to hold a special casting call, and spent two days filming an episode on campus that aired the following season.

“The production crew had about 125 members,” Selesky said. “As they move on to other things, they often spread the word about Rutgers.

“They tell people that we’re close and convenient to New York City and we have great facilities,” she added.

People request permission to shoot book covers, fashion shoots, motion pictures and television commercials. Some of the most popular settings at Rutgers are classrooms and athletic facilities, Selesky said. That Rutgers has the largest nonprofessional athletic stadium in the tri-state area is a definite lure. Parking lots, Voorhees Mall and the College Avenue Gym are also atop the list of requested backdrops. 

Some of the most photogenic settings on campus, however, are restricted. Images closely related to Rutgers’ identity – Old Queen’s or the statue of William the Silent on Voorhees Mall, for example – require express written permission.

At Rutgers-Newark, scenes from the 1998 gambling movie “Rounders” featuring Matt Damon and Edward Norton were filmed at the old law school building at 15 Washington St. Producers of “The Sopranos” have used the campus more than once to film scenes. Several commercials, independent films, and corporate films also have featured the Newark campus, according to Helen Paxton, director of communications for Rutgers-Newark. 

In Camden, the admissions building at 406 Penn St. and the Emerge statue plaza near that building and the Paul Robeson Library are popular sites for film crews, said Michael Sepanic, director of Camden campus communications. Paxton and Sepanic coordinate film requests on the Newark and Camden campuses, respectively.

The community affairs office in New Brunswick sometimes provides “b-roll,” or stock footage, to producers. That’s what it did when the E! entertainment cable channel shot an episode of “E! True Hollywood Story” on the women of “Sex and the City.” The channel used footage of Rutgers when profiling the life of Mason Gross School of the Arts alumna Kristin Davis, who played Charlotte on the popular cable show. 

In July, Dr. Pepper used Rutgers as a backdrop for promotional spots advertising a contest. And CSTV, a college sports cable channel, recently filmed several promotional spots at Rutgers.

Advertisements for the search engine Ask.com abound on television these days. Apostolos Gerasoulis, a professor of computer science in Piscataway and the creator of the algorithm that runs Ask.com, emerged as a spokesperson philosophizing about quirky topics such as how to survive a bear attack.

“If your life depended on a search engine, I would say use Ask.com,” Gerasoulis says in one commercial. He is using a laptop computer and sitting amid models of dinosaurs at the Geology Museum on the College Avenue Campus in New Brunswick.

Another commercial was filmed at the exact spot in Alexander Library where Gerasoulis came up with the idea for Ask.com. “If librarians love us, then I think the world should love us too,” he says in the spot.

Coordinating film productions benefits the university. “The reason we do these sessions is because they generate revenue for Rutgers,” Selesky said. “Plus, we are maintaining the integrity of Rutgers’ identity as well.”