Hollywood On The Mon?

Pittsburgh is slowly but steadily becoming quite the shooting location for many major motion pictures and films.  And many of us think this is a new trend.  But if you check your film history, you'll find that The Perils of Pauline (1914), Angels In The Outfield (1951), The Rat Race (1960), Night Of The Living Dead (1968), Slap Shot (1977), and Flashdance (1982) were all shot in the Pittsburgh area ..... just to name a few.  In 2010 we had Mafia, A New York Heartbeat, River of Darkness, One for the Money, Abduction, I am Number 4, Sibling and Riddle.  But, are we living up to our full potential?

The Pittsburgh Technology Council, Idea Foundry, Pittsburgh Film Office and Carnegie Mellon University obviously think not because they are partnering in the Pittsburgh Entertainment Technology Project -- An organization designed to find businesses that ought to be in pictures, and put them in touch with Hollywood.

Schell Games, Inc. on the South Side is an example.  They already have 50-plus people working for some of the largest entertainment companies in the world. Schell created "Pixie Hollow," an online game featuring Tinkerbell of Disney's "Peter Pan" fame. And this summer, Schell plans to release "Jelly Kingdoms," an iPad application, or "app" game with jellybean warrior

Schell along with DeepLocal Inc. of East Liberty and interactive technology developer Evil Genius Designs Inc. of the South Side -- will be making presentations at the Entertainment Technology Center in South Oakland where about 100 representatives of entertainment technology companies, plus suppliers and funding organizations, are expected to attend.   The partnership will develop a marketing initiative aimed at Hollywood decision-makers, along with a contest to identify top arts and technology companies and will hopefully educate the studios on the West Coast about the technology pool here in Pittsburgh.

For instance, a Hollywood-based entertainment company recently licensed Evil Genius's technology to augment games that are played on Blu-ray movies at home. That technology can turn a landline or mobile phone and tablet devices into game controllers. Pittsburgh also has companies that do animation, lighting, film editing and trailers.

The hope is that the partnership will bring more movie projects here, while stabilizing the region's entertainment companies and preventing them from heading for bigger markets.

Pittsburgh Film Office
The Pittsburgh Technology Council
Idea Foundry
Carnegie Mellon University
Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate