Film Productions Continue to Boom in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh seems to be known by only two things: its sports teams and its former steel mills. But what you may not know is that the Steel City is also home to a thriving film industry.

This January saw the release of The Road, a film based on the Cormac McCarthy novel about the relationship between a father and son in a post-Apocalyptic world. The film stars Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron and Robert DuVall, and was partly filmed in Pittsburgh.

Just recently, Denzel Washington came to "the 'Burgh to film Unstoppable, where he'll play a railroad engineer trying to stop a runaway freight train carrying toxic chemicals before it wipes out an entire city. Meanwhile, Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal also recently made a trip to the city to film Love and Other Drugs.

While motion pictures began filming in Pittsburgh as early as 1914, it wasn't until 1990 that The Pittsburgh Film Office (the PFO) began to promote Southwestern Pennsylvania as the perfect location for film, television, and commercials.

According to its Web site, the office has assisted more than 95 feature films and television productions, including most recently, the Spike TV series The Kill Point, Adventureland, Zack & Miri Make a Porno and My Bloody Valentine 3-Das well as older releases including The Mothman Prophecies, Dogma, Hoffa and Silence of the Lambs.

Horror director George A. Romero graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and has filmed many of his motion pictures in and around the area, including the Night of the Living Dead series. In 2006 Pittsburgher Jeff Goldblum came to town to film the mockumentary Pittsburgh, which chronicles Goldblum as comes back to his native city to star in a July 2004 production of The Music Man at Pittsburgh CLO.

So what makes Pittsburgh such a great city for the world of make believe?

Director of the PFO, Dawn M. Keezer, says on the PFO Web site that for one, Pittsburgh is a great location for diversity: "An urban center, historic neighborhoods, country estates, and contemporary suburbs can all be found within one-half hour's radius of downtown. You will also find period architecture, modern skyscrapers, industrial sites, and small towns available for location filming."

She also says that versatility and experience can be found here. Pittsburgh has been filmed as New York City, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Indiana, and Maine, and "Director George Romero and public television station, WQED, have provided opportunities for local Pittsburghers to work on national and international productions."

While Pittsburgh is great both visually and talent-wise, the Film Tax Credit Act of 2007 has also helped to draw filmmakers to the city. The tax program offers a 25 percent transferable tax credit to film productions when they spend at least 60 percent of their budget within the state. According to the Pittsburgh Business Times, a legislative study found that the tax credit "produced a fiscal gain of $4.5 million between 2007 and 2008, and supported nearly 4,000 jobs."

Anyone interested in being cast as an extra in a production can call the Pittsburgh Film Office's 24-hour automated hotline for news on upcoming casting calls and auditions, as well as information on other industry jobs that are hiring: 412-281-3343. The PFO can also give you more information on local casting agencies which help in finding local talent. Just call their main line at 412-261-2744.

It may not be Hollywood or New York City, but with its rich cinematic history and exciting future, Pittsburgh, Pa. is a city that movie lovers everywhere should keep an eye on.