Recently in Past Events Category
Just in time for the Halloween season, on October 26, 2007, Hollywood special effects wizard and Pittsburgh native Greg Nicotero, and his longtime friend and original mentor, actor/special effects artist Tom Savini (GRINDHOUSE, LAND OF THE DEAD), will talk about their craft and showcase some of their amazing Hollywood creatures “in the flesh.”
Pittsburgh, PA - How does one go about becoming the Director of Development at Castle Rock Entertainment for five years, the Senior Vice President of Hunt/Tavel Productions, the head of development for Freestyle Pictures, and a producer for a multi-award-winning film starring William Baldwin, Ricki Lake, and Cheri Oteri? Former Mount Lebanon resident and NYU alum Dana Jackson can explain.
Pitt alum and New Castle native John Dellaverson is coming back to Pittsburgh to discuss his experiences as a Hollywood executive, producer, and entertainment lawyer.
Thomas Schatz, film scholar and executive director of the University of Texas Film Institute will be in town to discuss how a new film school can enable students to become skilled professionals, artistic visionaries, and pioneers of an ever changing medium.
On June 22, 2005, Steeltown hosted a premiere of George Romero's Land of the Dead, which sold out the Byham Theater and raised $40,000 to benefit Steeltown's forthcoming filmmaking workshop and competition, the Steeltown Film Factory. The event attracted such prominent filmmakers as Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez and was declared by the Post-Gazette to be "as close to a lovefest as Pittsburgh gets without sports being involved." George A. Romero's Land of the Dead was the acclaimed director's long-awaited return to the horror genre he invented (and who literally created the film industry in Pittsburgh), beginning with the seminal Night of the Living Dead and continuing with Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. More information: Romero's latest debuts at Byham.
On October 25, 2003, Steeltown organized and produced the first ever Pittsburgh Entertainment Summit ("Summit"). Many of Steeltown's most prominent advisors participated in this weekend-long entertainment forum, meeting with local civic leaders and members of the cultural community to discuss how decisions are made in Hollywood and to identify strategies as to how this region could compete more effectively for national film and television productions. Entertainment expatriates who participated in the Summit included Chicago director Rob Marshall, Jim Carrey manager Eric Gold, director Jamie Widdoes (8 Simple Rules), producer/executive Bernie Goldmann, screenwriter Peter Ackerman (Ice Age), writer/producer Maxine Lapiduss (Roseanne), Jack Smith (co-executive producer, Young & the Restless), actor David Conrad (Men of Honor), Night of the Living Dead director George Romero, and Lizzie McGuire creator Terri Minsky.
Steeltown also worked with WQED to co-produce a Mid-Atlantic Emmy-nominated one-hour television special, which allowed a wider audience to witness the dialogue that occurred at the Summit. In preparation for and during the Summit weekend, and in producing the On Q special and the promotional film, Steeltown utilized and provided professional experience to over thirty local students and filmmakers. Many others who couldn't make the Summit such as John Wells, the exec. producer of ER and West Wing, Shirley Jones (Miss Pittsburgh 1952), and comedian/actress Mitzi McCall (Ice Age) were part of a short film called Pittsburgh: Hollywood's Best Kept Secret, produced by another expatriate Laura Davis and her husband Tjardus Greidanus about how Pittsburgh nurtured them as artists, and the potential the city has to become an outpost for the entertainment industry. The Summit included public events at WQED and the Andy Warhol Museum that were attended by more than 500 people from a diverse cross section of the region. More information: Get Reel.
