A Report on the Steeltown Film Factory Script Contest and Reading

I went to Steeltown Film Factory's Script Contest and Reading today. I think Carl, Jodi, Kris and the rest of the Steeltown team have done many interesting things related to promoting filmmaking in Pittsburgh over the last few years. While I did not have anything entered in the contest, I was curious to hear other people's short scripts be read and evaluated. The contest, which ran in November and December of last year, attracted 110 entries and announced 10 semi-finalists. Based on today's judging, there will be five finalists who'll be given a week to revise their scripts based on judges' comments (and, one hopes, the audience's reactions).

Drama students from CMU table-read the scripts. Final script judges were Asher Garfinkel, President of Readers Unlimited, Author, Screenplay Analysis: The Art and the Business, Bernie Goldman, Producer, 300, Land of the Dead, Minette Seate, Senior Producer, WQED Multimedia, and Laura Harkcon who co-wrote The Lost Room. It was very interesting to hear the judge's reactions to the scripts.

I wasn't a judge, and I liked all 10 of the semi-finalist scripts presented. But, in my opinion, these were the four best scripts of the day:

• "N'At" by Adriana Ramires. The strongest script of the semifinalists, with the riskiest theme - when is a rape a rape? And how does the rapist deal with it? Very good characterizations, good sense of place.
• "Jed the Humanoid" by Nate Minier. A fantasy about a robot who lands in 1996 and tries to adjust. Very funny; think of it as The Terminator turned inside out. The two stoners Jed winds up with were right out of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." You can even friend Jed on Facebook!
• "Roll the Dice" by Lawrence Phillips, Dave Fedor, Joe Wincgryk, II and John Freightner (AKA the comedy team Hustlebot). A script by four guys submitted to a contest about four guys who won a script contest and took their winnings to a casino to try to win more...Hysterical in places, and self-referential in a Charlie Kaufman kind of way.
• "Lightweight" by Randy Kovitz & Deborah Hosking. A young woman returns to Pittsburgh after her father dies, and sees the clash between classic Yinzers and the rest of the world. Nice touch of magical realism, many good jokes about South Siders.

The contest judges will select five finalists, and I'll link to the list when they're announced.

I plan to go to the next Steeltown reading, which will be February 20th at Pitt, and see to how the five finalists revised their scripts. Steeltown will have information on that upcoming event soon!

Trailer for She's Out of My League Is Out - Movie Due Out 3/12/10

The trailer for She's Out of My League, that was shot here in Pittsburgh in spring 2008, has been released.

League trailer.

The trailer looks reasonably sharp, and Pittsburgh looks great!

However, IMDB also had an early poster up, and, sorry to say it, the poster looks awful.

Were you one of the thousands of extras to work on League? Want to have a premiere party when the movie's out? Leave a comment on this post, let's see what we can work out.

Next Three Days Wraps Up Local Shooting

Paul Haggis's thriller The Next Three Days has finished up local shooting. They shot all over the county and above the county (the memorable
helicopter blitz of downtown in early November). The Next Three Days stars Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks and Liam Neeson.

CBS' Three Rivers "On Hiatus"

Three Rivers is "on hiatus." It may not be cancelled yet (there are a few unaired episodes) but it's unlikely to be renewed.

I wanted to like this show, but came to the conclusion it would have made a much better made for TV movie than a series.

The Road Will Have a Midnight Show Next Tuesday

If you've been following the long and winding story of the production and distribution of The Road, you know that the release has been delayed a few times. What was supposed to be a "wide" release on November 25 has been restricted to 31 cities.

Luckily, Pittsburgh is one of those cities. And, Fandango has just announced that there will be a midnight show over at the AMC in Homestead on Tuesday night.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this. I'll probably have to wait until Wednesday to see it (I haveinsomnia, and driving the 30+ miles home at 2am doesn't appeal to me). But that'll be fine.

Extra Call for "The Chief"

(E-mail forwarded from Fourth River Casting)

The Chief, a one-man show about Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney starring favorite Tom Atkins, is being retired after several hit seasons of presentation at the Pittsburgh Public Theater.

A live performance of The Chief is being taped on November 12th at Shadyside Academy, and we're looking for audience members interested in being part of this historic event. Audiences will see a full production of the show and be provided with refreshments. Participants will be required to wear clothing appropriate for a night at the theater, be available to stay through the estimated 5 hours of taping, and will act as extras, filling various areas of the theater and recreating reaction shots.

THERE IS NO CHARGE. This may be one the last opportunities to see this tour de force, but all audience members must be confirmed to attend. Spaces are limited, and will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Participants will not receive financial compensation, but will have the chance to see the production free of charge, and additionally will receive small refreshments (not a full meal) and a copy of the DVD when released. The shooting will take approximately 5 hours, beginning in late afternoon.

If interested in being a part of this historic taping, please send an e-mail to fourthrivercasting@yahoo.com for more information.

Don't miss your chance to see this incredible play, saluting one of the legends of Pittsburgh sports history and featuring one of the legends of Pittsburgh entertainment!

Great Post-Gazette Article on Love and Other Drugs

I'm a big fan of Ed Zwick, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway and Hank Azaria and am glad it sounds like the filming is going well. I would have liked to have been an extra, but between getting a contract job and being away, I missed the extra call for the Civic Arena last week.

The Three Rivers Film Festival Announces Its Schedule

Every year, I intend to see something at the Three Rivers Film Festival. Last year, I got to see The Passion of St. Joan of Arc, but that's because I was in the choir singing the accompaniment.

This year, there are some small local films and many foreign films. It would have been nice to have seen one of the film shot here last year, like In Northwood, Shelter, or The Road, but none of them are in the schedule.

The festival does include Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus with Heath Ledger and many others and Young Victoria with Emily Blunt and I might try to go see them. I hadn't heard of any of the other movies being shown except for Precious...et.c. which was the People's Choice winner up at the Toronto Film Festival.

Is Liam Neeson Coming to Town?

Russell Crowe has been seen about Pittsburgh, working on his thriller The Next Three Days with Elizabeth Banks. Liam Neeson has apparently signed on to join this movie.

Three Rivers

Back in March, I was one of a bunch of extras who worked on the pilot for Three Rivers. We spent a very long day at a piece of the Convention Center that overlooked the Allegheny River, walking back and forth as hospital employees. Well, I made a day's pay and walked for probably six of the fifteen hours I was on site. I met Beth and Jojo that day, and heard that Chad was there on another day.

Everyone kept saying they were sure that the pilot would get picked up and that it would be filmed in Pittsburgh.

*sigh* I wish I'd taken a bet with everyone who said that. I thought the show might get picked up, but I knew it was going to be filmed in Los Angeles.

So, since the filming of the Three Rivers pilot in Pittsburgh, the doctor in charge was recast, and the pilot was reshot at least twice in Los Angeles. The show itself is being shot in LA. While there are some very lovely aerial shots of Pittsburgh in the show, as far as I can tell no one from Pittsburgh had anything to do with the show as it was broadcast.

I'm glad that the show was at least set in someplace other than New York or LA. But I think it'll be a lot like Grey's Anatomy in that you have one shot that screams SEATTLE and no evidence that the writers know much about the city.

I have mixed feelings about the show. On the one hand, the issue of organ transplantation is an important one and it's shocking how many people ignore it. So to have a TV show that discusses it every week is an interesting choice on CBS's part.

On the other hand, it's a tough issue to dramatize. Usually, one person dies (except in the case of kidney or partial liver transplants) and one person lives (unless they have major rejection or infection issues). So how can you dramatize this issue without coming off as being hopelessly manipulative? I hope they find a way.