Promised Land and Out of the Furnace Continue Shooting, Other Local Movie News

It's been a busy spring (again) for movie-making in Pittsburgh.  Both Promised Land and Out of the Furnace have been shooting in the region since April.  In addition, the ultra low budget Monongahela also shot here this spring, featuring the Monongahela River!

Pittsburgh was also supposed to be the home of two TV series, but Hemlock Grove pulled out, apparently due to some tax credit dispute.

Trailers for movies shot here last spring are either out (Won't Back Down) or will be making a grand debut on the MTV Movie Awards on June 3 (Perks of Being a Wallflower).  The first poster for One Shot showed up at Cannes this week.  These movies will come out in the fall of 2012.

Foxcatcher, a movie starring Mark Ruffalo and Steve Carell, is sue to start filming in Western Pennsylvania this fall.

Busy Moviemaking Season Returns to Pittsburgh

For the last few years, spring and summer have been the busy times for movie shoots in the Pittsburgh region. This year has been no exception.

The big local movies here this spring include:

• Abduction - the Taylor Lautner movie, mostly shot here last summer, but returned for several days of reshoots in early May.
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower - the Emma Watson movie, written and directed by a Pittsburgh native, has been here for about a month and will continue to shoot in June
• Steel Town (formerly Still I Rise) - the Viola Davis/Maggie Gyllenhaal movie about educational controversies, will be shooting throughout June.

Steel Town is actively recruiting extras, especially kids. There are many classroom scenes, and many scenes of parents/community rallying to help support change coming to the school.

Much of a shooting day involves waiting around, so kids must be able to quietly amuse themselves, and must be able to take direction while on set. I'm honestly not sure what the pay rate is for kids, but they cannot
work as many hours as adults. Tips for Surviving as an Extra (applies to kids as well as to adults!).

To apply, E-mail name, phone number, photo and age to fourthrivercasting@yahoo.com

But, what many of us are particularly looking forward to is The Dark Knight Rises, AKA Batman. Directed by Christopher Nolan, it'll be one of the biggest movies ever shot in Pittsburgh. The 'burgh is only one stop on its international shooting tour, but I think it's going to be in Pittsburgh longer than anywhere else.