Pittsburgh Film Industry Discussion

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so as a new resident of Bloomfield... I'm reading my free copy of "The Bulletin", which covers the going-ons in Bloomfield, Garfield, Friendship, E. Liberty and Lawrenceville... and there's an article on "Smart People"...

so they used one of those beautiful large houses on Graham St. in Friendship as the doctor's (Dennis Quaid) house...

the movie is set entirely in PGH... much of it filmed at Carnegie-Mellon...

a bit disappointed to find out that "Smart People" is set in THE EIGHTIES... just like "Mysteries" and "Rock Star"... while I generally like 80s period films... the 80s was not a kind decade to PGH... it would be nice to actually see a contemporary version of Pittsburgh portrayed on the silver screen for once...

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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07039/760293-120.stm

'God Grew Tired of Us'
'God Grew Tired of Us' tracks African refugees as they adapt to America
Thursday, February 08, 2007

By Barbara Vancheri, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A young man named John Bul Dau provides the title to the documentary "God Grew Tired of Us" and one of its most heart-wrenching moments.


National Geographic Films/Newmarket
Regarding doughnuts with sprinkles, the "Lost Boys" wonder: "Is this a food?"

At age 13, he was one of the oldest "Lost Boys" of Sudan and certainly one of the tallest. That meant he became a leader by default but, in fact, his maturity and sense of duty might have made him a leader no matter what.

He was in charge of 1,200 other boys, orphaned or hopelessly separated from their decimated families, and he shepherded them through life and death. "I learned how to bury the dead bodies. That was part of my job. I have to go and bury my fellow brothers," he says.

"Imagine at the age of 13. ... It was so bad."

And yet he did it, never shucking his sense of responsibility once he left a United Nations refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya, and settled in Syracuse, N.Y. Two other remarkable young men, Daniel Pach and Panther Bior, landed in Pittsburgh, where they, too, proved the human spirit can be remarkably resilient.

Immigrant stories form the foundation of America, but the Lost Boys were just 3 to 13 when orphaned by a civil war and forced to flee their villages on foot through the desert. They encountered famine, dehydration, disease, hyenas, lions and rebel soldiers; they had only each other, and they never forgot that.

John, Daniel and Panther took a distant spot on a world map and made it home. Arriving in cities where everything was foreign, from refrigerators and alarm clocks to doughnuts with sprinkles ("Is this a food?"), potato chips and Downtown bus stops, they carved out lives.

Although Daniel and Panther once wondered how they would become acquainted with the ways of Pittsburgh, they learned to field questions about their homeland, to juggle jobs, bus schedules and college classes and to become accustomed to a culture where a group of young men entering a store together is seen as intimidation rather than a sign of a makeshift family.

Hearing narrator Nicole Kidman say that merchants filed complaints with the police over this makes you embarrassed to be a Pittsburgher. After all, the boys once had traveled in a line that stretched for miles. They were bound, as if by an invisible rope, as much as mountain climbers are lashed together for protection.

"God Grew Tired," directed by Christopher Quinn and Tommy Walker, was years in the making. It started with a trip to a Kenyan refugee camp in 2001 -- they were drawn first to Daniel, who created something called "Parliament" and entertained the others -- and the filmmakers accompanied the young men to America.

They spent the next four years visiting Syracuse and Pittsburgh, and the movie documents the men's assimilation and milestones, such as marriage plans, unexpected family reunions, new jobs and, briefly, efforts to improve life in Africa.

In August 2004, Pittsburgh Filmmakers booked another movie called "Lost Boys of Sudan." The subject is the same, but not the subjects. As with stories of Holocaust survivors or World War II veterans or Ellis Island arrivals, they are all different.

That it takes a lesson about the aftermath of a distant civil war and brings it to Pittsburgh simply makes it all that richer. It addresses a complicated chapter of world history, and it shows us the faces of sorrow, survival, second chances ... and inspiration.



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(Post-Gazette movie editor Barbara Vancheri can be reached at bvancheri@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1632. )

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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07065/767052-254.stm

Underwood to direct film here
Tuesday, March 06, 2007

By Barbara Vancheri, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Blair Underwood, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate, is back in Pittsburgh, this time to direct his first feature film.


Blair Underwood -- His movie is set on the North Side.

The actor is in town preparing to make "The Bridge to Nowhere," a crime drama starring Ving Rhames, along with Mt. Lebanon native Daniel London (recently seen in fest favorite "Old Joy") and others still to be announced. Principal photography will start March 26 and is expected to last about four weeks.

The movie is about a group of 20-something North Siders in dead-end jobs who are always scheming to make extra money, producer Mike Wittlin said yesterday. They cook up an idea that involves prostitutes, but their resulting pimp and drug business takes off and gets out of hand.

Rhames, who has 10 projects in various stages of production, will play a mentor to the North Side newcomers. The movie, written by Chris Gutierrez, is budgeted at just under $2 million and it will feature Pittsburgh as Pittsburgh.

"The Bridge to Nowhere" will represent Underwood's most ambitious directing project -- his credits so far include music videos and a 30-minute short called "The Second Coming."

The 42-year-old Underwood, who found success early with such projects as "L.A. Law," is often cast as the male romantic lead. He starred in "Something New" opposite Sanaa Lathan a year ago, and more recently, he played a teacher on "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and is working on an HBO series, "In Treatment."

Smithfield Street Productions, named for the Downtown home of the first Nickelodeon, has set up shop in Green Tree and is still nailing down locations. Expect to spot crews in the Woods Run area of the North Side, along a bridge or two (although the title also is symbolic) and elsewhere around the city.

"Everybody's been wonderful, the city of Pittsburgh, the mayor's office, Dan Onorato. Dawn Keezer bent over backward to help us out. We're Pittsburgh guys, we're loving this," Wittlin said. He and fellow producer Brian Hartman, from Shadyside, expect to create 100 jobs with their production.

Nancy Mosser Casting is handling local actors and (come mid-March) extras. Call 412-434-1666 for more information.


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(Post-Gazette movie editor Barbara Vancheri can be reached at bvancheri@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1632. )

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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07079/770835-254.stm

Night clubs and casting calls may not mix
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

By Barbara Vancheri, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



A "casting call" for a Pittsburgh movie proved to be too much of a good thing, prompting the DejaVu Lounge to double its announced cover to $20 on Thursday -- and sending some experienced actors away in anger.

Yesterday, one of the owners of the Strip District club claimed he broke even for the night, the production company underscored it had not organized the event, and casting agent Nancy Mosser said she had been invited to stop by and did get nearly 200 applications filled out for "The Bridge to Nowhere."

She said about 10 speaking roles (in addition to extras) remain to be filled but acknowledged, "That isn't how you do casting for movies. You start with Screen Actors Guild members and actors with resumes, and there were some people there that had headshots and resumes. ... You don't do it normally through a nightclub."

Some hopefuls read lines with actor Blair Underwood, who was at the club for a couple of hours. He will make his directing debut with "The Bridge to Nowhere," scheduled to start shooting in Pittsburgh next week.

Mosser is still handling local and extras casting, and interested parties can contact her office at 412-434-1666.

Last week's event was organized by the club, and while it got publicity for the Strip District venue and fresh faces into the door (and to Mosser), it also angered experienced actors, who say $20 may sound like a bargain to a newcomer, but auditions never carry fees.

"Legitimate casting is never done where you have to pay to audition," Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office, confirmed yesterday. "It sounds like a great big miscommunication," she said, emphasizing the legitimacy of the "Bridge to Nowhere" producers, who hope to make more than one movie here.

Part of the problem had to do with how the event was announced: through an e-mail press release that made no mention of a cover charge. When the Post-Gazette inquired about a cover, Jim Cook, who is one of the bar owners and a lawyer for the production company, said there would be a $10 cover charge to get inside. Some news reports made no mention of a cover.

Yesterday, he said TV reports drew so many interested parties that he had to hire extra staff and doubled the cover, but few people bought food or alcohol.

Cook said 190 people paid the fee. "We didn't make any extra money," especially since he couldn't take advantage of the crowd eager to watch the Pitt basketball game, which was a magnet elsewhere.

"I broke even on the bar and gave them a chance to get in a movie," Cook said, acknowledging the event was designed in part to promote the business. "I really think people got what they paid for."

In the future, however, Keezer said it's important to remember that casting is not done on a "pay to play" basis.


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(Post-Gazette movie editor Barbara Vancheri can be reached at bvancheri@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1632. )

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lots of info in this article... and a witty title

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07082/771813-237.stm

Tuned In: City's attributes captivate makers of hostage series

Friday, March 23, 2007

By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

You know Hollywood has arrived in Pittsburgh when the West Coast folks bring a touch of home with them: designated parking spots nearest the production office front door for the show's top producers.


Gina Gayle/Associated Press
John Leguizamo will star in Spike TV's "The Kill Pit" dramatic series, to be filmed in Pittsburgh starting Wednesday.

It's a perk found on every lot in Hollywood, and it's been transplanted to the former Lawrenceville warehouse that serves as a soundstage and production office for Spike TV's "The Kill Pit."

The series chronicles a bank robbery perpetrated by an Iraq war veteran (John Leguizamo) that turns into a hostage crisis. Donnie Wahlberg plays the police negotiator who tries to end the siege peacefully.

Other actors cast in the eight-episode summer series include Frank Grillo ("Prison Break," "Blind Justice"), Jennifer Ferrin ("As the World Turns"), Jeremy Davidson ("Roswell," the upcoming "Army Wives"), Leo Fitzpatrick ("Kids," "The Wire"), Mike McGlone ("The Brothers McMullen"), Michael Hyatt ("The West Wing") and Dana Ashbrook ("Twin Peaks").

An additional 10 to 13 roles will be filled by local actors -- cast by Donna Belajac -- including, but not limited to, Karen Baum, Patricia Cray, Brandi Engel and Larry John Meyers.

"None of us were aware of the talent pool in Pittsburgh," said Todd Harthan, a writer/co-producer on "Kill Pit." "To our pleasant surprise, it was quite deep."

Filming begins Wednesday on locations around town and will continue through June. The series premieres July 22 on Spike TV.

At some point, the production will take over Market Square (expect bus route detours when that happens). The old G.C. Murphy's building at the northeast corner of Market Square on Forbes Avenue will be used as the exterior of the bank. Harthan said a restaurant across the square, La Gondola, will be used as the exterior of a diner where negotiators set up their base of operations.

Interiors of both the bank and the diner were under construction last week on the show's soundstage. The L-shaped bank will include a steelworker-themed mural on one wall and will mix a modern look with what's supposed to be the bank's original marble floor and columns.

Harthan, who wrote several episodes either alone or with series creator James DeMonaco ("The Negotiator," "Ryan Caulfield: Year One"), said the pair worked out of Rockefeller Center in New York while writing. They would visit nearby bank lobbies for inspiration, looking around at the interiors and drawing the eye of security guards who eventually asked if they had business in the bank.

"The Kill Pit" was originally set in New York, DeMonaco's hometown, but after production company Lionsgate picked Pittsburgh as the filming location, executives encouraged producers to change the setting.

"We were like, wow, there's a subway in the show, we don't even know if there are trains in Pittsburgh. We knew nothing about it," Harthan said. "Then we were like, let's shoot in Pittsburgh and say it's New York. We went through that phase. But once we got here, it all went away."

Now they've scouted the Duquesne Incline for possible filming and T stations Downtown. And when Harthan can't remember what Pittsburghers call their subway, he said script coordinator Kylie Straub, a Pittsburgh native, reminds him.

Steve Shill, a veteran director with credits ranging from "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" to "The Sopranos" and "Rome," will direct all eight hours of "The Kill Pit."

"Every time we went on a scout to the different neighborhoods and different parts of Downtown, he'd say, 'We have to shoot here. We can't not shoot here,' " Harthan said of the director's enthusiasm.

"There will be no doubt about where this show is set," Shill said. "We want to get out and about and see the city. ... Our idea is to make Pittsburgh part of the DNA of the project."

Both Shill, a native of Keswick, England, and Harthan reside in Los Angeles, but they've been in Pittsburgh for a month and will be acting as "Kill Pit" show runners for the first season. Tim Iacofano, a veteran producer/director on "24," is also on staff as a "Kill Pit" producer.

Although Spike TV is positioning "Kill Pit" as a mini-series, if successful, there are plans for the show to continue into a second season in the same way that Showtime brought back its mini-series, "Sleeper Cell." Season two of "Kill Pit" would focus on another hostage situation in Pittsburgh that the Wahlberg character will have to resolve.

In January, Wahlberg said he signed on to star in "Kill Pit" -- named for the spot where hostages are held during the siege -- because of the writers and producers involved, as well as the chance to act opposite Leguizamo. His character is a top negotiator who finds himself in an escalating situation.

"There are so many exterior forces that start to come into play," Wahlberg said, "so this really, sort of cocky negotiator thinks this is going to be a textbook negotiation and a few superiors try to trump his authority. ... What is about to unfold is so much bigger than anyone can imagine, where this crisis is gonna go."

The show's name may change -- some want to take "Kill" out of the title, but then "The Pit" might make it sound like "Pittsburgh is a pit" -- but the early scripts are locked and the stars are doing their research. Leguizamo has spent time talking with veterans on Staten Island, and Wahlberg visited with a police negotiator in New York.


'Kill Pit' casting


Nancy Mosser Casting will be casting extras for "The Kill Pit." Anyone not on file with Mosser already who is interested in extra work should print out a form from the company's Web site, MosserCasting.com. No phone calls, please.


'Action News' picks Pittsburgh


Earlier this month I wrote about the fall Fox pilot "Action News," co-created by Steve Levitan ("Just Shoot Me"), an old friend of KDKA news anchor Ken Rice. At the time, the show -- starring Kelsey Grammer ("Frasier") and Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond") as news anchors -- was set in Buffalo, N.Y., but Rice was pushing to get the setting moved to Pittsburgh.

A publicist for 20th Century Fox Television confirmed Tuesday that the show will now be set in Pittsburgh, although he attributed the change to Fox Entertainment president Peter Liguori weighing in on the Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo debate and picking Pittsburgh. Production designers have begun gathering clips of local newscasts (perhaps for comedic inspiration?) and plan to commission photos of the city to be used as the backdrop to the anchor desk.

But don't hold your breath waiting for Grammer and Heaton to come to Pittsburgh to film scenes. "Action News" is a multi-camera sitcom that will be almost entirely shot on a soundstage on the Fox lot in Century City, Calif. The show will be filmed in the same style as "Frasier," which only traveled to Seattle to film once in its 10 seasons of production.

Regardless, with "Kill Pit," "Action News" and the upcoming summer TNT drama "Heartland," Pittsburgh will be the setting of three scripted prime-time series scheduled to air in 2007. That has to be a record.


Another local shoot


"Kill Pit" isn't the only TV show currently in town. A production company making four new episodes of the Discovery Channel docu-reality series "Surgery Saved My Life" has landed at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The episodes are expected to air sometime this summer after the show's 9 p.m. June 28 season premiere.

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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07093/774570-237.stm

'Pit' changes its title to 'Point'

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

The Spike TV summer hostage drama series that's shooting in and around Pittsburgh has a new name: "The Kill Pit" has become "The Kill Point."

The title change comes as little surprise. TV show titles are often in flux, and even a few weeks ago series co-producer Todd Harthan said the show's title could change.

"Kill Point" stars John Leguizamo as an Iraq War veteran whose bank robbery plans go haywire and he ends up taking hostages. Donnie Wahlberg plays the police negotiator called in to help end the crisis.

Yesterday, "Kill Point" was filming in Three PPG on a balcony above Primanti Bros., where snipers take up position across from the bank. The old G.C. Murphy on Market Square at Forbes Avenue will be converted into the bank exterior in coming weeks. Scenes in front of the faux bank will be shot in mid-May and will require 300 to 500 extras per day.

Nancy Mosser Casting is seeking people ages 18 and older to work as extras for minimum wage, 12- to 14-hour days, including people who could appear for eight consecutive weekdays (meals, snacks, parking provided). Mosser is especially eager to find male military veterans to play SWAT team members, snipers and police officers. Extras to play protestors and supporters are also needed along with people with burn scars and missing limbs "to show the depth with which our military [members] has suffered for their country."

Those interested can visit Mosser Casting -- 239 Fourth Ave., Suite 1217 -- or fill out a talent registration form online at MosserCasting.com, noting availability under "special characteristics."


-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

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more on "Bridge to Nowhere"... and 4 more films to be shot here!


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_501877.html

Underwood returns to Pittsburgh to direct 'Bridge to Nowhere'


Director Blair Underwood works on the set of "The Bridge to Nowhere" Friday night at Young Brothers bar in Brighton Heights.
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review


Director Blair Underwood (center) is working with producers Mike Dolan (right) and Ben Barton on "The Bridge to Nowhere."
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review


Cast members and extras rehearse a scene from "The Bridge to Nowhere."
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review


Bijou Phillips (second from right) and Alexandra Breckenridge rehearse a scene from "The Bridge to Nowhere" with Thomas Ian Nicholas (right) and Danny Masterson.
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review


Bijou Phillips (right) and Alexandra Breckenridge rehearse a scene from "The Bridge to Nowhere" with Danny Masterson (left).


Director Blair Underwood (second from left) talks with Danny Masterson (right) and Ben Crowley on the set of "The Bridge to Nowhere." In the background is Daniel London.
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review


Bijou Phillips (right) and Alexandra Breckenridge rehearse a scene from "The Bridge to Nowhere" with Thomas Ian Nicholas (background).
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review

By William Loeffler
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, April 10, 2007


When Blair Underwood says he's glad to be back in Pittsburgh, he doesn't sound like another slumming celebrity shoveling the schmooze.
Between takes on the set of "The Bridge to Nowhere," surrounded by crew members in ballcaps, headsets and cargo pants, Underwood pauses to sign autographs. He wears a long-sleeve, olive-drab T-shirt, jeans and an Army-style cap that says "Rebel." He sports a goatee. What looks like a tiny diamond earring sparkles in his left ear.

When a woman calls, "Mr. Underwood -- a picture?" she's just asking him to stand still while she takes a shot with her camera phone. But he insists the two of them pose together while a friend snaps the photo.

"I'm not Sienna Miller, and you can quote me on that," he cracks, flashing that killer smile that fluttered pulses on "L.A. Law" and "Sex and the City."

Set in Pittsburgh, "Bridge" is a crime drama about four buddies who get in over their heads when they start pimping and dealing crack. It features Ving Rhames, Bijou Phillips, Alexandra Breckenridge, Danny Masterson, Daniel London, Sean Derry and Bingo O'Malley.

"We're very fortunate," Underwood says. "We have an experienced crew. This cast is amazing. They may or may not be household names, but they all have a body of work."

The indie drama is the second project for Greentree-based Smithfield Street Productions, which was founded in December by Mt. Lebanon native Michael Wittlin and Brian Hartman, who grew up in Shadyside. Both spent several years working in the Los Angeles film industry.

It's Underwood's feature-length directorial debut. If he feels pressure, he's not showing it.

As a drama student at Carnegie Mellon University, Underwood says he underwent a trial by fire his junior year when he got the lead in a production of Moliere's "Don Juan."

"I had a weekend to learn the lines," he says.

If he could survive that, he can get through anything.

"I just try to stay calm in the face of adversity," he says.

Young Brothers Bar, a local watering hole along Woods Run Avenue, has been changed to Duke's Bar. A gaunt yellow-painted building across the street doubles as a hotel where the hookers do business.

That's not the only name change.

"The prostitute that dies, we changed her name to Sienna," Wittlin says, lowering his voice.

Smithfield Street Productions will shoot another four films, here, he says. The first, "Tremble," is set to begin shooting in August.

"Everything we do is under $2 million," he says, gesturing with an unlit cigar. "Think about box office numbers and what you could consider a flop. Flops are moneymakers for us."

"We know exactly how we're going to put the film together," says Hartman, whose first film-crew job was on "Silence of the Lambs." "We know exactly what shots we need. That cuts 70 percent out of the schedule."

Slouched at the head of the alley outside the bar, actors Thomas Ian Nicholas ("American Pie") and Ben Crowley ("Glory Days") get into character for a scene. Wittlin and Hartman watch the action on two high-definition television monitors. They're impressed at how Underwood softened the scene between the two, replacing macho antagonism with a degree of brotherly warmth.

Two other partners in the company are Ben Barton and Mike Dolan. Dolan was defeated last year in a special election to fill the 30th congressional seat vacated by disgraced state congressman Jeff Habay.

The crew shot some scenes in the closed State Correctional Institution down the road, says Barton.

"That place is like Shawshank," he says. "You don't have to do anything."



William Loeffler can be reached at wloeffler@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7986.

[themaguffin]

"The prostitute that dies, we changed her name to Sienna," Wittlin says, lowering his voice.

that's funny.

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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07109/779074-55.stm

Tinseltown dreams on the Mon

McKeesport man looks to expand Glassport studio

Thursday, April 19, 2007

By Margaret Smykla

Even with a cigar clenched in his teeth and lots of padded girth, no one would confuse McKeesport's John Yost with film mogul Louis B. Mayer. Then again, no one would confuse Glassport with Hollywood.

But a Tinseltown on the Mon could be on its way if Mr. Yost can work out a deal for some property in Glassport on which he wants to expand his fledgling film studio.

From his Glassport office in an old warehouse overlooking railroad tracks and empty buildings left from the borough's glory days, Mr. Yost envisions the area as a home to movie studios on a scale unmatched in Pennsylvania.

Today, he said, film crews come often to Western Pennsylvania, but they shoot, then leave. His idea for expanded Glassport facilities would offer full post-production facilities that would provide the "brick and mortar" space for building "cities'' and other large-scale sets, which he estimates would slash production costs for filmmakers by $50,000 to $75,000 a day.

He estimates such a setup would cost a whopping $40 million to create. He would finance it privately, but tax cuts would play a role. Mr. Yost spent Tuesday in Harrisburg at a meeting with state film industry officials and Gov. Ed Rendell, talking about his ideas.

Yesterday Mr. Yost said Gov. Rendell told him that he expects the Legislature to vote later this year on new funding and tax credits for statewide film developments.

Mr. Yost, 40, is a writer, director and actor whose credits include lots of commercials as well as television and film roles. He played a Secret Service agent who protects the president on "The West Wing" television series and portrayed an FBI agent in "The Clearing,'' a movie starring Robert Redford. He also did a bit in "Lift," a well-reviewed film short shot in Pittsburgh in 2003.

"People say it can't be done, and we're doing it," he said, referring to the two buildings his operation already occupies in the former Copperweld building at Seven Allegheny Square, Glassport. The site is home to five multimedia ventures he owns under the holding company Mogul Mind, LLC. About a dozen people work there full time. It is also a hot spot for interns from local colleges who work for credit.

His businesses on site are Hotcards.com, for printing; Sonic Pictures, for motion picture production; The Film Mafia, for television commercial production; S.Net, for creative development and Black Box Studios.

The latter houses all the production equipment for shooting a film, commercial or music video. It includes a 900-square-foot soundstage, hair/make-up salon, green room, construction area, four editing suites and more.

The building was formerly Allegheny Rebar, a machine shop, and was empty except for "a ton of dirt," four years ago when he bought and renovated it for $40,000.

"It's a one-stop shop,'' he said of the streamlining of services through the companies to reduce costs for clients, such as advertising agencies, political campaigns, producers and small companies without a large marketing department.

He called S.Net his "most exciting'' venture with 40 projects in different stages of being pitched, developed or produced.

One of those is "Resort Too Cooking,'' a concept he devised that is part travelogue and part cooking show, which he hopes the travel or food channels will buy.

In the pilot, Mr. Yost, as host, teases a chef at a ''water park'' and the pair shares tips on food preparation. Mr. Yost also rides the ''park's'' water slides and offers a brief history of the travel site.

As much as he enjoys Glassport's small-town culture he said he might have to move because his lease is up for renewal in December, and he needs more space.

He said he is also talking with four other small communities within a 60-mile radius of Downtown.

"We're moving at glacial speed,'' he said of his conversations with Glassport about acquiring surrounding land.

More than two years ago, Mr. Yost asked Glassport council to take over by eminent domain some 7.8 acres and some empty buildings adjacent to his property, so he could level the site and build movie studios.

Records show the property owner is Elko Industrial Tradings in Toronto, Canada. Taxes are up to date.

Mr. Yost said while the borough exhibited initial interest, the follow-through has been lukewarm.

Solicitor Gary Matta said that eminent domain cannot be used and the borough doesn't have the financial resources to invest in it.

Still, council President John DeSue said that "Glassport has been nothing but cooperative; we want the business in town.''

And town Mayor Terry DiMarco said the expansion -- and the 125 new jobs Mr. Yost said it would bring -- "would be a great help to the town.''

Sandy Urbanski, former president of the Glassport Development Corp., is enthusiastic about Mr. Yost's plans.

"I think he has a lot of great ideas, and the ability to do this,'' she said.

Mrs. Urbanski said she would welcome new jobs and increased business for local establishments that an expansion could provide.

Mr. Yost is formerly of Penn Hills and graduated from Duquesne University with a degree in finance. When he realized he was not happy in his chosen profession about six years ago, he decided to pursue acting, which he had dabbled in during high school and college.

He belongs to the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, American Guild of Music, Artists and the Actors' Equity Association.

He is married with two sons.

Mr. Yost is scheduled to direct a training video, which he also wrote, on May 8 for a company which makes communications systems for emergency medical services, fire and police.

Filming will take place at various Mon Valley sites, such as the Glassport borough fire station, just a block from Mogul offices.

For more information, visit www.mogulindllc.com.



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(Margaret Smykla is a freelance writer.. )

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http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/tunedin/

Friday, May 4, 2007

Visiting 'The Kill Point'
Walking through the Lawrenceville warehouse that houses the sets for Spike TV's "The Kill Point" feels like strolling through Market Square: There's the Original Oyster House and, further down the block, Jenny Lee Bakery. Around the corner, you can see the spires of the PPG building.

No, they didn't rebuild Market Square here, but a large swath of this part of Downtown is visible on a translight, a long, gigantic curtain with a photo of Market Square on it. The translight hangs outside the windows of the Three Rivers Bank, the primary set for "Kill Point."

In the eight-hour series, premiering with its first two hours on July 22, John Leguizamo plays Mr. Wolf, an Iraq War veteran who stages a bank robbery. It turns into a hostage situation and a cop named Horst (Donnie Wahlberg) has to try to end the crisis.

The exterior of Three Rivers Bank is being built as a facade on Forbes Avenue at the real Market Square. The production will take over Market Square beginning May 14 for up to eight days of on-location filming, diverting bus routes and sure to draw onlookers.

The crew was already at Market Square for some filming atop a Three PPG building and scenes of snipers on other rooftops.

When cut together on film, the transitions from real Market Square exteriors to the fake bank interior should be seamless, right down to the bricks that line Forbes Avenue both in reality and the faux bricks that line the street on the soundstage.

The bank interior is painted in a "light dusty rose," per crew members. It has fake marble floors and columns and a stairway to a second story balcony. Along the wall leading up the stairs is a huge mural of steelworkers toiling in a plant. Pictures of steel plants, blast furnaces and steelworkers hang on almost every wall of every room of the set, which includes not only the public areas of the lobby, but also back rooms and offices.

The bank has already sustained heavy damage from a fire fight. Bullet casings lie on the floor and pock marks from an exchange of gunfire dot the walls. The bank's front doors, made of glass, are also riddled with bullet holes.

Attention to detail extends to the smallest touches, including business cards on a desk for a bank employee named "Daniel Spaniel" to Three Rivers Bank home equity loan brochures that tout "Home Mortage" services, complete with a typo. (No one will see it on camera.)

In a scene shot Wednesday, Leguizamo took a call from Wahlberg's negotiator, who tries to strike a deal to secure the release of a hostage. The scene is shot in a small, claustrophobic conference room. Later, another scene was filmed in the bank lobby as Leguizamo's fellow robbers (played by Frank Grillo, Leo Fitzpatrick and J.D. Williams) watch coverage of the crisis on a TV newscast.

One of the challenges in writing about a TV show that I'm going to have to ultimately review is learning enough about it, but not too much. I want to be as surprised by plot turns as the rest of the audience. So when director Steve Shill ("Rome," "The Tudors") started showing me screen grab photos from earlier in the shooting schedule, I finally had to stop looking because I feared the pictures were possibly giving away too much.

But nosing around the set doesn't do much damage. I was able to watch video of a news reporter, played by former WPGH news anchor Leslie McCombs (formerly Leslie Pallotta), relaying information about the hostage situation for a non-existent Pittsburgh TV station, WWEJ Channel 14.

And although I don't know much about the bank manager character, my guess is he's a bit of a suck up: On the wall of his office, separated only by a painting of a steel plant, are framed photos of Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato. (A photo of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell hangs in an outer office.)

Already "Kill Point" has shot on the Duquesne Incline and at the convention center. Future shoots include the vault in a former West End bank and locations in McKees Rocks and along the Allegheny River.

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'Kill Point' filming brings a new rhythm to Market Square

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette photos
Geoffrey Cantor, left, who portrays the bank manager Abe, gets ready for a take during the filming of the Spike TV show "The Kill Point" yesterday in Market Square.



By Rob Owen
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A passer-by's double-take was not out of place in Market Square yesterday morning: Everything looked normal except for a caravan of cars simultaneously backing up Forbes Avenue.

"Resetting back to one!" shouted a production assistant on Spike TV's "The Kill Point," giving background extras their cue to return to their starting locations for the scene.

After the cars backed up and the extras were in position, a crew member shouted "Rolling! And background!" to kick things off again.

On cue, the cars began moving forward, bikes cruised down the street, and the extras -- pretty much indistinguishable from people who turned up to watch the filming -- began their choreographed movements through the square.

It was just a little slice of Hollywood in Downtown Pittsburgh where "The Kill Point" crew will film through next week.

Scenes shot yesterday morning were calm compared to what's to come: gunshots, protests and rallies.

The eight-hour series, premiering July 22, chronicles the robbery of fictional Three Rivers Trust in Market Square (the old G.C. Murphy building received a temporary facade face-lift to play the role of a bank). John Leguizamo stars as the leader of a group of Iraq War veterans who plan the heist. Donnie Wahlberg plays the police negotiator who makes his command post across the square in La Gondola, which has been renamed Marcos' for the TV show.

Before scenes involving the bank siege begin, the "Kill Point" crew filmed establishing shots, the brief scene-setters that give viewers a sense of place. To avoid continuity gaffes with regard to the time of day, a worker posted a round "Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership" placard over the clock in Market Square.


At Market Place and Forbes Avenue, an entrance to the old G.C. Murphy Building has been changed to the Three Rivers Trust for "The Kill Point."

Brian Balog of Johnstown, a stand-in for actor Geoffrey Cantor (who plays Three Rivers Trust branch manager Abe), took his spot on a piece of colored tape stuck to the sidewalk in front of the bank. Crew members moved cameras into position for the shot that shows Abe talking to an armored truck security guard, who walks away from the bank entrance, past newspaper boxes set up by the production (including one for the long-defunct InPittsburgh alternative weekly) and climbs into the Security Transport Service truck.

Balog responded to a casting call and was given a role as a Pittsburgh police detective extra in scenes with Wahlberg inside Marcos'. Balog, a former territory manager for an outdoor power equipment provider, is about to launch his own technology business with friends, but first, he's learning how Hollywood works. After getting cast as an extra, his ability to follow instructions earned him additional tasks, including work as a stand-in and reading Wahlberg's lines off-camera while Leguizamo filmed a phone call scene.

"I am stunned at the hours they work and the camaraderie they maintain in the workplace at every level, even when they work 14-to-16-hour days," Balog said. He doesn't even mind the commute from Johnstown. "When do you get a chance to read lines with John Leguizamo? It's worth the commute for that alone."

His isn't the only commute affected by "The Kill Point." Because of filming, Forbes Avenue is closed to vehicles from Wood Street to Stanwix Street, including the portion of Forbes that cuts through Market Square. Port Authority buses that normally run along Forbes will detour, taking a left on Wood Street, right on Boulevard of the Allies and right onto Stanwix Street.

At 8 a.m. yesterday morning, detour traffic -- including several buses -- was backed up on Forbes from Wood Street to Smithfield Street, but "Kill Point" producer Tim Iacofano ("24") said early media reports about the street closure probably helped keep backups to a minimum.

"I didn't hear too many horns," he said, adding that merchants in Market Square have been "very generous in their support of what's going on here."

For some of the merchants, the filming has cut into business. Sergio Muto, owner of La Gondola, said his customer traffic was off 50 percent, but he's happy with the publicity the show will give his pizza place.

At Dogs Dun-Wright, owner Michael Wright said the production crew was making a good-faith effort by buying 100 hot dogs for the crew.

"We'll have to see how it goes for the rest of the week," he said.

At the newly opened City Cafe, business partners Emil Lester and Jeremie McKnight said the filming is good for the city (when the project was announced last fall, executives for production company Lionsgate Entertainment said they expect to spend about $18 million locally on the project), but maybe not so beneficial to individual businesses around Market Square.

"We've only been open a week, so it's kind of hard to gauge the ebb and flow," McKnight acknowledged.

Yesterday afternoon's scenes included shots of Leguizamo, dressed in a suit and trenchcoat, entering the bank with his crew. A scene involving a shootout between the robbers and security guards was also planned.

Despite signs warning passersby that they may be filmed, at least one woman seemed unconcerned.

"You're in the shot, ma'am," a production assistant said to a confused woman who was trying to cross Forbes.

Once the take was done and cars rolled backward up the street, she continued on her way.




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(TV editor Rob Owen can be reached at rowen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2582. Ask TV questions at www.post-gazette.com/tv under TV Q&A. )

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TV series 'Kill Point' films in Downtown

By Rochelle Hentges
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, May 15, 2007


Market Square has turned into "The Kill Point" this week, with the Spike TV series crew taking Downtown hostage to film a bank heist and shootout in the streets.
"The Kill Point" series, starring Donnie Wahlberg (of "New Kids on the Block" fame) and John Leguizamo ("ER"), is the first TV show to be set and filmed entirely in Pittsburgh. The week-long shoot will shut down Forbes Avenue between Wood and Stanwix streets, Downtown, and detour at least 20 bus routes around the set, but it also casts the city as a character in the bank-heist series.

"We couldn't do this in New York. It'd be impossible," said director Steve Shill. "New York wouldn't stop. They don't stop for this kind of thing."

The series, which originally was called "The Kill Pit," ditched its Manhattan backdrop for Pittsburgh after scouting the location, inspired to film scenes on an incline and in the tunnels.

"There's visually a great opportunity for us," said Shill, who is deliberately filming all exterior shots of Market Square with wide-angle shots to let the city-scape peek through. "We see the heart of the city in the background for free. We have great views no matter which way we look."

"The Kill Point" began filming smaller scenes in March on a Lawrenceville set. The story follows a group of American Iraq war veterans who stage a bank heist Downtown. The robbery turns into a hostage negotiation, with Leguizamo playing the heist leader and Wahlberg playing the hostage negotiator.

Wahlberg and his team take over a coffee shop in Market Square for their command center, and snipers look down on the bank from PPG Place.

"The series is incredible, because it's got a hidden political ideology about the vets coming back and not being taken care of," Leguizamo said.

Although Market Square was closed to traffic Monday, shops and restaurants still were open for business, pigeons still came out to roost, and the regulars continued to play chess along the low-lying walls in the center of the Square. A few passersby even became unwitting -- or, perhaps, just clever -- extras.

Nancy Mosser Casting has been hiring 3,500 extras for the series, about 100 of whom were on hand for Monday's filming. Brian Balog, 40, of Johnstown, was hired to play an extra as a detective opposite Wahlberg, but he also has acted as a stand-in and was subbing as a production assistant Monday.

"I've done nothing in the past like this," Balog said. "I've had many memorable experiences. I got to act two scenes of dialogue off-screen in place of John Leguizamo."

Most of the speaking roles have been filled by locals, with 31 of the 52 actors coming from the Pittsburgh region, says Donna Belajac, an independent casting director who has hired local actors for "Flashdance," "Silence of the Lambs" and "Wonder Boys."

"The number of big roles we've got to do (for 'The Kill Point') far exceeds anything else I've done here," Belajac said.

Many of the roles are recurring throughout all eight episodes of the first season, which is set to air July 22 on Spike TV.

"An actor making $40,000 for eight weeks of work in Pittsburgh is just incredible," she said.

When film crews come to Pittsburgh, they pump an average of $20 million into the local economy, says Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office.

"The Kill Point" has rented warehouses for filming, hired local talent and production crew members and stays in local apartments and hotels.

The production also has created a buzz around Downtown. Stacey Dodds, 28, of Pleasant Hills, talked her colleague, Amy Lentz, into having lunch in Market Square Monday after she passed through on her way to work and saw the film crew.

"I think it's good for the Pittsburgh economy. It's nice to get the exposure," Dodds said.

But will they watch the series?

"Oh, yeah," said Lentz, 30, of Monroeville. "If worse comes to worst, I'll DVR it when it premieres. We can say, 'OK, we saw that, we saw that.' "



Rochelle Hentges can be reached at rhentges@tribweb.com or 412-380-5670.


John Leguizamo acts out a scene Monday for "The Kill Point" in Market Square. The Spike TV series about a bank robbery is the first television show to be set and filmed entirely in Pittsburgh. Nancy Mosser Casting still is looking for extras, especially war veterans or those with scars or missing limbs.
Michael Henninger/For the Tribune-Review

[AaronPGH]

Got to witness two gun battles today. Once during my walk to work, and also during lunch hour. Loud as hell! Pretty cool stuff.

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Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton in the Fox sitcom “Back to You.”

Fox’s “Back to You” also uses tried and true stars. With its homely title, It’s a vintage-looking multicamera sitcom about a Pittsburgh newsroom. There’s very little to suggest it’s cool. But in the preview Thursday, the quippy, wide-faced stars — Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, both hyperaccomplished in prime time — seemed genuinely to irritate each other, in the kind of fast, feisty scenes with real payoff that TV stars like this couple can reliably deliver. If “Back to You” fails with this pedigree, the conventional sitcom really should be buried. (Please? Can we agree to that?)

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'Heart' of UPMC team sparks Pittsburgh tv series

By William Loeffler
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, June 15, 2007


As a teenager growing up in Mt. Lebanon in the '80s, David Hollander closely followed the exploits of a team that had nothing to do with black and gold.
This outfit was a liver and kidney transplant team, led by visionary surgeon Dr. Thomas Starzl.

Their breakthroughs at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Oakland inspired Hollander to create "Heartland," a television series set in Pittsburgh at the fictional St. Jude Regional Transplant Center. He also directs and executive produces the show.

The series, which premieres at 10 p.m. Monday on TNT, stars Treat Williams as Nathaniel Grant, a pioneering transplant surgeon with a hectic schedule and fractured personal life.

His risk-taking brings him into conflict with his mentor, played by Dabney Coleman, and St. Jude's organ donor coordinator, played by Kari Matchett, who also happens to be his ex-wife.
"Starzl was walking on the medical moon," says Hollander, in a written statement. He was fascinated by the "social impact, how one stranger could give life to another stranger."

It's not Hollander's first series to be based in his homewtown. Hollander created and executive produced "The Guardian," a television drama series set in Pittsburgh and partly filmed here. It starred Simon Baker as a reluctant child advocate attorney and ran from 2001 to 2004 on CBS.

Hollander will direct his first feature film, "Personal Effects," this fall.

Bill Morris, transplant administrator of the UPMC Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute at Montefiore hospital, worked as a medical adviser on the show.

Morris, who lives in Squirrel Hill, began advising Hollander when he started writing the script for the pilot two years ago. Morris made several trips to Pasadena, Calif., during the shooting of the pilot, where he worked with set and costume designers, the special effects department and the actors. He also vetted the scripts for medical accuracy.

"David, being from Pittsburgh, was inspired by the sense that he grew up during the Thomas Starzl era," Morris says.

Before moving to Pittsburgh, Morris was CEO of an organ procurement organization in upstate New York. He was a first responder, the one who approached the relatives of an individual who had been declared brain dead, to persuade them to donate their loved one's organs.

Hospitals are required to report brain-dead patients to their designated organ-procurement organization.

"People inviting you into their lives at the worst possible time is an amazing thing in and of itself," he says. "A mother and dad who just had a child struck by a car and is now brain dead. The child is 6 years old, and the father is grappling with the fact that he didn't wear a helmet because he bought him a baseball cap for his birthday, and he was wearing that instead."

Morris' current job at the UPMC Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute focuses on the organ recipients.

"I've seen both sides," he says. "I think that probably appealed to David. He didn't have to have a separate medical consultant on the donor side and the recipient side.

"He made a commitment to me that he would be true blue to organ donation and transplantation," Morris says. "Of course, it's Hollywood, it's drama, but it will cause people to talk about organ donation in a positive light."

"Heartland" also stars Gage Golightly, Rockmond Dunbar, Morena Baccarin, Danielle Nicolet and Chris William Martin.

Starzl, who is known unofficially as the father of transplantation, performed the world's first successful liver transplant at the University of Colorado in 1967. He came to Pittsburgh in 1981 and helped transform the University of Pittsburgh into a world-class transplant center. In February, he received the National Medal of Science from President Bush at the White House.

On average, a transplant is performed every 12 hours at UPMC Presbyterian, UPMC Montefiore or Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Over 20 years, more than 12,000 transplants have been performed.



William Loeffler can be reached at wloeffler@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7986.

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Tax credit bills would make Pennsylvania more enticing to filmmakers
Pittsburgh Business Times - June 15, 2007
by Peter Van Allen and Patty Tascarella

Filmmakers are poised to spend up to $500 million in Pennsylvania by year's end -- with one catch.

They're watching what will happen with proposed legislation that would increase the tax benefits of filming feature movies, television shows and commercials in Pennsylvania. Two separate bills have been introduced that would offer greater tax credits and other rebates. Advocates are putting on the full-court press to pass the bills before the Legislature adjourns June 30.

"It's vitally important to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the film industry of southwestern Pennsylvania that these bills are passed," said Dawn Keezer, executive director of the Pittsburgh Film Office. "It's the only thing that's going to keep us competitive in this marketplace."

Both Keezer and Sharon Pinkenson, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, said film companies are basing decisions to make movies here on whether the legislation is passed.

"Lionsgate is in town filming a series, and if we get the tax credit, they'll bring more work," said Keezer, who has been based in Los Angeles since last summer but was lobbying in Harrisburg June 11.

An executive from Lionsgate, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based production house, was part of a meeting Gov. Ed Rendell hosted with leaders from the state House and Senate and filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. Lionsgate has been filming the Spike TV series, "The Kill Point," Downtown. Shyamalan, director of "The Sixth Sense," is an eastern Pennsylvania native who has set most of his movies in or around Philadelphia. Rendell has been

receptive to the discussion of increasing the credit for filmmakers, Pinkenson said.

The $500 million represents the total budget of films, TV shows or commercials that have said they would like to film here in the second half of the year. Some $350 million is earmarked for the Philadelphia area, Pinkenson said.

Keezer, who has led the local film office since 1996, said tax credits for filmmakers serve as an economic development tool. Film production companies spend money on local hotels, restaurants, location rentals, film-and-sound production companies, security companies, limousine drivers and, of course, taxes. The resulting movies and TV shows help market Pennsylvania as a tourism destination.

Many places see film production as an economic development tool. Canada got into the game in the 1990s, offering an 11 percent tax credit, which was often matched or doubled by individual provinces. In the United States, New Mexico and Louisiana offered tax credits.

In 2004, Pennsylvania got into the act as well, by offering tax credits to filmmakers who spent at least 60 percent of their budget in state. However, because the tax credits were capped at $10 million for the whole state, filmmakers quickly realized the limits.

Pinkenson said that in the current fiscal year, ending June 30, the incentives were accounted for by July 11 -- 11 days into the year.

Even the proposed cap "is going to get chewed up very quickly," said Charlie Humphrey, executive director of Pittsburgh Filmmakers, an Oakland nonprofit. "I understand it's a start, but I'd like to see the cap go up."

Under the current proposals, there would be one law that would create incentives for filmmakers with a budget under $2 million -- makers of TV spots, documentary and independent filmmakers and the like. Those filmmakers who spend 60 percent of their budget in Pennsylvania would receive a 20 percent grant on all their expenses.

A second proposal would offer a refundable tax credit of 25 percent for productions with a budget over $2 million -- again, for productions that spend at least 60 percent of their budget in Pennsylvania, and there would be no annual cap or per-project cap.

Todd Eckert, a North Side-based film producer whose United Kingdom-made film, "Control," won three awards last month at the Cannes Film Festival, believes the incentive package could level the playing field.

"If this thing actually passes, and you have just this streamlined, wholesale, no-BS kind of program, films that were supposed to shoot in Massachusetts and New York and anywhere else will shoot here," Eckert said. "It may be even better for Pittsburgh than for Philadelphia because it's cheaper to shoot here."

PETER VAN ALLEN is a reporter with the Philadelphia Business Journal, an affiliated publication. He may be contacted at pvanallen@bizjournals.com. PATTY TASCARELLA may be contacted at ptascarella@biz-journals.com or (412) 208-3832. Reporter TIM SCHOOLEY contributed to this story.

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Tuned In: 'Kill Point' filming wraps as talk of tax break intensifies

Friday, June 29, 2007

By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"All these people do is eat!" an extra said, marveling as crew members chowed down between filming scenes for Spike TV's "The Kill Point" last month in Market Square.


Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette
Donnie Wahlberg plays the police negotiator in Spike TV's "The Kill Point," filmed in Pittsburgh.

With that, an entertainment business hallmark made its way to Pittsburgh: Food provided by what industry folks call "craft services" is key to sustaining the cast and crew on a Hollywood production.

But Pittsburghers had more to learn about dealing with a film crew in town, something that could become increasingly important if tax breaks currently before the state legislature are approved. (If that doesn't happen, then no worries about educating ourselves; there won't be any films or TV shows coming here -- they'll all go to Connecticut, which has instituted aggressive tax breaks for filmmaking.)

Today is the last day of filming on "Kill Point." I visited the Lawrenceville set for the last time Monday to talk to producers about their overall experience making the eight-hour series (premiering July 22 on Spike TV) in Pittsburgh. My first visit to the set in March was accompanied by snow flurries; my last visit coincided with hot and muggy weather. In between and over 66 days, "Kill Point" employed 250 people full-time, 80 percent of them locals. At the height of the two-week Market Square shoot, an additional 300 extras were on the payroll, and the production spent at least $18 million of its approximate $23 million budget locally.

As for their experience, producers uniformly praised the work ethic of the local crew.

"The crew that's here is exceptional," said co-producer Bill Hill. "Most of these people I would take anywhere in the country. They know what it's like to come to work and show up and do the job. The attitude is wanting to show off Pittsburgh and what Pittsburgh can do. We just need more of them."


Rebecca Droke, Post-Gazette
Director and co-executive producer Steve Shill goes over a scene on the set of "The Kill Point" in Market Square.

If the tax breaks go through, Western Pennsylvania is poised to reap the economic rewards, said Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office.

"I had phone conversations with five feature films in the space of two hours," Keezer said from Los Angeles last week. "Those were all based on tax credits. If those don't pass, we're not getting the [films]. They all want to talk to us now because they know it's in the works. People are spreading the word."

Lionsgate, the company that produced "The Kill Point," has also expressed a desire to return if the tax breaks are passed.

If more TV and film projects descend on Pittsburgh, there are lessons to learn from "The Kill Point" shoot in Market Square. The production took over the space for two weeks, upsetting some local businesses that saw their profits erode.

Never mind that WPXI overdid the "angry business owners" story, airing multiple reports, some with inaccuracies and a largely negative slant. But business owners' concerns are legitimate. Even "Kill Point" staffers were sympathetic.

"I think we strained things down there, inevitably," said director Steve Shill. "It was hard for local businesses to deal with it. There are occasions I've opened my front door and found the street full of white [production] trucks, and I didn't like it. I think they grinned and bore it, and we're grateful to them."

Here's where the problems started: Some media reports said Market Square was closed during the filming. Not true. Forbes Avenue was closed to vehicle traffic, but contrary to at least one report, foot traffic was not being stopped at Wood Street, nearly a block away.

Production assistants, some of them young, inexperienced and hired just for the Market Square shoot, were stationed at entry points, stopping pedestrians while the cameras rolled. What they weren't always good about was letting passers-by know they could proceed in just a few minutes. Hill admitted there was a learning process in teaching the new hires to communicate with the populace and let people through between takes.

"I think we've all learned a lot," Keezer said. "This was our first television series, and there's lots of room for improvement. We've begun conversations with the city to find ways we can do things a little better."

Before the next big production takes over part of town, there needs to be a public education campaign. Maybe the Film Office can call a press conference and present a "how-to" guide for citizens on what to expect from a film crew.

"In Los Angeles and other places where there's shooting all the time, people know where they can go and move," said "Kill Point" producer Tim Iacofano, a veteran of "24." "People just do their thing, and it doesn't get in the way."

As TV productions go, the Market Square shoot was also a bit of an anomaly.

"We were in there a long time," Iacofano conceded. "Normally in episodic television you go somewhere for two days, tops. Being there two weeks was probably a bigger disruption than anyone anticipated. If it was two days, it probably wouldn't have been a big deal."

Talking to Market Square business owners, it's clear there's a whole soap opera going on in that space that the rest of us are oblivious to (a recent rumor circulating there that "Kill Point" was coming back for re-shoots in July is not true). Their reactions to the shoot varied wildly.

At City Cafe, which opened just before filming started, Jeremie McKnight said foot traffic got worse during the second week of the shoot.

"It was probably good for the city generally, but locally, we took a hit," he said.

But Sergio Muto, whose La Gondola pizzeria was used as an exterior in the film (he won't say how much he was paid for that), said his sales were down only the first week.

At Dogs Dun Wright, which sits directly across from the exterior of the faux bank used in the show, owner Patty Wright said the production attempted to make good on the disruption by occasionally buying bunches of hot dogs (star Donnie Wahlberg purchased 80 one day for the cast and crew), but it still wasn't enough to make up for a normal day's sales of 150 hot dogs. She ended up satisfied with the production company anyway: Their security guard stopped a man from breaking into her shop one night.

At the opposite end of Market Square, a block from where most of the filming took place, Costanzo's restaurant owner JoHan Costanzo is still trying to collect $2,500, which she says amounts to 10 days' rent, from the production company. She contends that the blockade dissuaded people from coming to her restaurant. She was also offended by the presence of craft services trucks that parked in front of her restaurant.

"I think what they should have done was close down the square completely and paid us all a little bit to do what they wanted to do," Costanzo said.

That sounds like the production-company-as-ATM approach to having a film crew on the block.

"The Film Office was a great in helping to educate the businesses who have not been involved in filmmaking, but I think they need to educate more," Hill said. "Just cause it's Hollywood doesn't mean there's a ton of cash and that cash is not just there to be handed out. I think some people have the misconception that just because someone is shooting, someone will be doling out cash. That's what destroys a town for filmmaking."

Let's not have that happen. With a little more communication before the next big production comes to Pittsburgh, perhaps some of these conflicts can be mitigated.

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Deal close on film tax breaks

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

By Tim McNulty and Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A dramatic increase in state tax credits to help film and television productions in Pennsylvania was still on the drawing board yesterday, and final approval by lawmakers was still unclear.

Discussions were under way for a $75 million tax credit program to lure large productions to the state, matched with $5 million in grants for smaller ones. That would be a huge increase over the current incentives.

"We went from a $10 million incentive program to $80 million this year," said Dawn Keezer of the Pittsburgh Film Office. "We are thrilled and are very excited about the new opportunities that this will be bringing to the Commonwealth and Southwestern Pennsylvania."

Keezer said $215 million in filmed entertainment productions have expressed interest in filming in Western Pennsylvania if the tax credits came to pass, with another $320 million in productions interested in filming in the eastern half of the state.

To qualify, 60 percent of film expenditures (on wardrobe, transportation, food, lighting and such) would have to be in the state. Of that spending, productions could get up to 25 percent back in tax rebates.

It could take several days for legislators and the Rendell administration to finally approve the 2007-08 budget.


-- Post-Gazette staff writer Tim McNulty and PG TV editor Rob Owen

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Hundreds pack Altar Bar for 'Kill Point' premiere

By Rochelle Hentges
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, July 23, 2007


Anthony Mahramus leaned forward in his seat, staring intently at the big screen TVs in Altar Bar.
"Oh, this is the scene," said Mahramus, 24, of Canonsburg, as John Leguizamo demanded to speak to Donnie Wahlberg in the season premiere of "The Kill Point," which aired last night at 9 on Spike TV.

"When we were outside, they were saying this is the scene," said Mahramus' friend, Bryan Novak, 24, of Canonsburg. It also happened to be a scene in which Mahramus, Novak and their friend Justine Ezarik, 23, of Carnegie, all played extras.

"I've got heart palpitations," Mahramus said as the three watched Leguizamo stride toward the door -- and then cut to commercial. "Of course."

"The Kill Point" is the first TV series to be set and filmed entirely in Pittsburgh. Leguizamo plays Mr. Wolf, the leader of a group of bank robbers trying to hit the mythical Three Rivers Trust. Wahlberg plays Horst Cali, the lead hostage negotiator for the Pittsburgh Police Department.
The Pittsburgh Film Office threw a party for the local cast and crew at Altar Bar last night to watch the world premiere live.

"It's such a postcard for Pittsburgh," said Jessica Conner, assistant director of the Film Office. The opening shot showed the Duquesne Incline, followed by Leguizamo driving over the Ft. Pitt Bridge into Downtown. "You see Downtown, you see PPG, the convention center."

And now production companies know that an entire series can be filmed in Pittsburgh, Conner said. "I think we're going to get busier," she said.

"Pittsburgh has a lot of potential," said producer Bill Hill, of Lionsgate, which co-produced "The Kill Point" with Spike TV. "We have a lot of projects we want to bring here."

Last night's two-hour premiere episode was met with sporadic cheering and applause at Altar Bar as the 100-plus crowd spotted themselves in scenes. "That's me! Did you see my head?" Novak exclaimed as he appeared over Wahlberg's shoulder in Market Square, where the series filmed for two weeks.

Ezarik held her digital camera over her head, taking pictures of her mirror image on screen, as she played a photojournalist reporting on the bank heist. "Well, that was a few weeks of our lives," she said.

Like Ezarik, most of the extras worked 12-hour days, sometimes for several weeks, only to get a few glimpses of themselves in the background. But many consider it a fair trade for the behind-the-scenes action.

Dave Ogrocowski, 39, of McDonald, met his girlfriend while playing a TV news cameraman in the series.

"There was this girl I met on the set. I was kind of flirting with her, and she was playing a reporter," he said. When his scene called for him to drive a news van, skid to a stop in front of the bank and jump out, Ogrocowski made his move -- and convinced the crew to put his lady interest in the shot.

"We were paired up for the rest of the movie at that point, and now we're dating, pretty much exclusively," he said.

A few locals were cast in recurring roles throughout the series, including Brandi Engel, 20, of Mt. Lebanon. Engel plays a hostage, Cass, and is considered a "regular" in the series.

"For my character, something pretty intense happens as the show goes on," she said.

"The first three weeks of filming, I had so many bruises and cuts on my legs from dodging bullets," Engel said. "When you're filming, you have to do the takes over and over again, so you get a pretty good workout actually."


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Catch it
If you missed last night's premiere of "The Kill Point," you can watch an encore presentation 10 p.m. Wednesday on Spike TV. Following episodes will be aired Sundays at 9 p.m.


Rochelle Hentges can be reached at rhentges@tribweb.com or 412-380-5670.

[EventHorizon]

You can also watch the first episode and up coming episodes on ifilm.

here's the first episode:The Kill Point S1E1