Hartwood Acres Manion Set For New Fox Series

Hartwood Acres Mansion

Hartwood Acres ...... a place suffused with a warm, nostalgic glow of guided tours, weddings, visits with family to view the Christmas lights, sled riding on the grounds .... will be seen it in a very different light. The beloved mansion will be transformed into a shadowy, sinister lair full of subterranean chambers, mysterious portals, malevolent spirits and murderous intent for "Locke & Key," the pilot for a proposed Fox television series.

Filming started last week, and also is taking place at the 31st Street Studios complex in the Strip District. "Locke & Key" focuses on three siblings, played by Jesse McCartney ("Greek"), Sarah Bolger ("The Tudors"), and Skylar Gaertner as the youngest, Bode. Nick Stahl ("Carnivale") plays their uncle, and Miranda Otto ("Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers") plays their widowed mother. Mark Romanek ("Never Let Me Go") is directing the pilot.

"Locke & Key" is based on a comic book series by writer Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez. Both were in town last week for a book signing at New Dimensions Comics in West Mifflin. Hill, the son of horror-novel icon Stephen King, seems to have horror in his blood. Although he's an acclaimed novelist ("Heart-Shaped Box") and short story writer in his own right, Hill grew up as a comics fan, and the "Locke & Key" series is his first foray into the format.  Hill has been coming to Pittsburgh for a long time, beginning with an acting role in George Romero's "Creepshow" (1982), which was written by his father. In that film, he plays Billy, a young boy who is punished by his father for reading horror comics.  Every time Hill is in town, he tries to make a pilgrimage to Monroeville Mall, where Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" was shot.

Numerous television pilots have been shot here, some successful ("Justified"), some less so ("Three Rivers"). There also was a short series, "The Kill Point,' which aired on Spike TV. So far, none of the pilots have turned into full-time episodic television series. "Locke & Key" has a chance to change that if it goes into a full series.  If the pilot goes well, the series will be shot in Pittsburgh and that means 10 months of work each year for possibly five years.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

31st Street Studios
Dawn of the Dead
Hartwood Acres
Joe Hill
Locke & Key
Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate
Strip District