Through a year-long series of non-profit programming events, the Steeltown Film
Factory will engage expatriate and local professionals from Southwestern
Pennsylvania with a track record of success in film and television to mentor
emerging talent in this region, and, after a selection process, allow the most
promising talent to produce up to three short films about Pittsburgh. Steeltown
hopes to launch this in time for the film to be premiered as part of
Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary celebration. In addition the Film Factory will
also produce a behind-the-scenes television show similar to "On The Lot,"
"Project Greenlight" or "American Idol" that would follow these professionals as
they mentor local talent. Pending funding, the tentative timeline for this
nonprofit programming is:
Phase 1 - Following an intensive workshop on screenwriting
and story ideas by successful film and television producers ("Steeltown
Advisers"), a call will be made for 30-page screenplays for short films with a
Pittsburgh-related theme.
Phase 2 - The ten best writers will
then be chosen and allowed to pitch their ideas to a panel of Steeltown Advisors
who will give them industry-based feedback. After re-writing their 30-page
screenplays, three to five semi-finalists will do staged readings of their
material assisted by Steeltown Advisors. One to three finalists will be
selected to make their short films.
Phase 3 - The Finalist(s) will
produce their films with the assistance of Steeltown Advisors over the
summer.
Phase 4 - The premiere of the completed film(s) and the
behind-the-scenes television show on WQED will coincide with the Pittsburgh
250th Anniversary celebrations in 2008. Winner(s) will be flown to Los Angeles
to meet with Steeltown Advisers in hopes of creating new opportunities to
develop commercially-viable intellectual property/content.
In June of 2005, Steeltown hosted The Land of the Dead premiere to benefit this
filmmaking competition/workshop which attracted such prominent filmmakers as
Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez to the city and was declared by the
Post-Gazette to be "as close to a lovefest as Pittsburgh gets without sports
being involved." This fundraiser raised the first $40,000 for this filmmaking
workshop--an impressive amount, but not enough to kick off what the Steeltown
advisers thought would be a signature event for the city and a way to attract and
retain some of the talent needed to develop a true entertainment industry in
Pittsburgh. Subsequently, Steeltown has joined forces with WQED and succeeded
in attracting some additional funds from prominent local foundations, but is
looking for crucial support needed to launch the competition in time for
Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary.
For sponsorship and underwriting information, please contact Steeltown's
managing director Jodi Klebick at 412-622-1325 or
jodi@steeltown.org.
