Saturday Morning in Pittsburgh – Steeltown Entertainment Project – The Directors Pitch, originally uploaded by IheartPGH.
I think one of the amazing thing about Pittsburgh that probably doesn’t get talked about enough is that Pittsburgh offers all kinds of amazing opportunities in every sort of thing for people to try, learn about and get involved. When you see the bios of some of the panelists and advisors and their Pittsburgh roots and it is greatto see how all of this talent comes from and back to town.
I am writing this on my blackberry (please excuse spelling) in the auditorium on the seventh floor of Alumni hall. I am here because the Steel Town Entertainment Proejct is championed by Carl Kurlander – who is super passionate about Pittsburgh. I am also here to learn more about story telling and story selling. Writing posts for IheartPgh has made me realize the power of story telling – while I have spent much of my time learning about using online media to tell a story – I am eager to learn more about writing and video as another vehicle for story telling.
Carl is the executive producer of this organization that is all about connecting and promoting the Hollywood Pittsburgh connection – and there is a huge Hollywood Pittsburgh connection. Check out www.steeltownfilmfactory.org for more.
This year they have launched the Film Factory competition – writers are participating in a year long competition. I where 3 films will share $25000 to produce their 4-12 min films which tell a Pittsburgh story.
Today – the 5 writers are pitching their scripts to a panel of directors. The directors on today’s panel all have Pittsburgh roots.
Here is a brief bio on each:
– James Widdows – "Hoover" from Animal House, Charles in Charge and director of over 300 tv episodes
– Lisa Smith – Project Greenlight 2
– Heide Waldbaum – Visual Production Manager on "Avatar"
