Movies In Pittsburgh

Call for extras held for 'Steel Town,' the latest movie to film in the 'burgh

Tina Olszewski-Steele and her son have had a summer filled with weekend trips and outdoor adventures.

On Saturday, they decided to try something different.

"We were just coming back home from the Phipps when we decided to stop and see if it was busy," said Olszewski-Steele, as she and 5-year-old Nathan waited in line with others at the Pittsburgh Radisson in Green Tree to audition for a spot as an extra in "Steel Town," the latest movie filming in Pittsburgh. "This summer we've kayaked, we've went rock-wall climbing, we went to the Phipps and now we've auditioned for a movie."

Filming for "Steel Town," a movie about two women who join forces to transform an inner-city school, has been under way this summer in Squirrel Hill and other parts of the city. It stars actresses Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis. Gyllenhaal's brother, Jake, spent months in Pittsburgh in the summer and fall of 2009 filming "Love and Other Drugs," which was released last year.

Dawn Keezer, executive director of the Pittsburgh Film Office, said the Western Pennsylvania area ranks among the Top 10 cities nationwide for film production, and she credits the state's $60 million film tax credit, which provides an incentive for filming movies here.

"This is fantastic exposure for our area, and it brings money and jobs to the region," Keezer said.

In addition to "Steel Town," several other movies are filming or have just wrapped filming in Pittsburgh. The latest installment of the "Batman" movies, titled "Magnus Rex," is filming at several local locations and a call for extras drew nearly 9,000 people Downtown last month. The movie "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" with Emma Watson wrapped in June, Keezer said.

Nancy Mosser, owner of Lawrenceville-based Nancy Mosser Casting, said she has seen a large increase in the number of people looking for work as extras locally. Extras are paid minimum wage for the first eight hours of work and get paid time-and-a-half after that, Keezer said.

"The last three or four years have been amazing as far as local filming goes," Mosser said. "The last time the area was this busy was in the early 1990s when a lot of television movies were filmed here. But these are now mostly big-budget feature films. It's wonderful."

Matthew Bright, 14, of Butler, was one of hundreds who decided to try his hand at Hollywood at yesterday's call for 800 extras at the Radisson. He hoped it would be a "new experience.

Silk Screen Gala-6 Scintillates Again | The Pittsburgh Patrika

By Sandhya Krishnan

Getting a diverse, colorful and well-connected crowd together is no easy feat and Executive Director Harish Saluja seems to pull it off effortlessly every single time. On May 6 2011, The Silk Screen Festival team hosted their Annual gala at the Omni William Penn hotel and an estimated 300 patrons showed up in their ethnic best.

Drawing attention were Kathy and Sean Engel, attired in Indian traditional wear. Sean was seen sporting a bridegroom look from Udaipur, complete with a glittering turban, while Kathy paired her turquoise Jaipur saree with jewelry from Delhi. “We love Asian culture” said Kathy, adding that they plan to celebrate their anniversary by catching some of the movies at the festival.

The selection of food was diverse too, from Indian fare from Taj Mahal and Mediterranean from Alladin’s to Thai from my favorite place, Thai Cuisine. Several lovely pieces of origami made up the décor while a length of the room was lined with auction items. Inspired, I followed the kimono route to meet Kumiko Lancet and her team. Every year they are a part of the festival and this time they were the prelude to the main event. Their band of singers and musicians entertained the crowd with traditional Japanese songs from 7.30-8.00 pm.

The entertainment was interesting and new, though from what I heard some pieces made a repeat appearance. As excited I was to see the myriad performances, I thought the artistes deserved more attention, either by the layout of the room or by having the audience seated.

I love that Silk Screen is a part of our art scenario in Pittsburgh. The movies are always exciting, the marketing is great and the festival is one the city looks forward to every spring. And the gala, besides being a well-attended gorgeous evening, stood testimony to the fact that success comes in all colors!

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