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Four Short Films by Pittsburgh Filmmakers – Sat. Dec. 3

Lindsay — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:08:15 +0000

There is a lot happening in the Pittsburgh filmmaking scene. We aren’t just talking about the big films – yes Tom Cruise has been in town. But there are lots of smaller projects happening here too.

This Saturday, December 3 there will be a screening of four short films by Pittsburgh filmmakers the event is titled A Night of Altered Reality and will be held at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont. I first learned about the film, Lightweight, from the Steeltown Film Factory competition and it is exciting to see the finished film. The Steeltown Film Factory is an annual competition that is open to anyone – the submission period for the 2012 contest is now open.

The four films that will be screened are:

A Night of Altered Reality, a screening of short films that intersect at the corner of Surreal Street and Dream Drive.
The Hollywood Theater Dormont Pennsylvania
Saturday, December 3, 2011
7:00pm until 10:00pm

BikeFest + Batman = The Batcycle

Lindsay — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:28:31 +0000

Bike Pittsburgh is celebrating all things bicycle in Pittsburgh from August 12-21, 2011. 10 days, 1 big bad fundraiser, 70+ bicycle events for cyclists of ever level, a photo contest and fun in the sun – thats BikeFest in a nutshell. We have our eye on many great BikeFest events – but there is an extra special one this Sunday – The Batcycle.

The Batcycle – Bicycle Ride

Sunday, August 14, 2011
6-8pm
Meet at Dippy The Dino in Oakland

Image via Wikipedia

To celebrate the new Batman movie being filmed in Pittsburgh, we will go on a Batman themed ride. Dress up like Batman, Robin, or any other Batman character, although costumes are not required. Decorate your bicycle if you’d like. This is a no-drop ride at a relatively slow pace. We will swing by downtown filming locations, and get as close as we can to the road closures. This ride will end at Dippy. Bring your family and of course kids are more than welcome. Rain does not cancel, helmets are required, and our route length will be around 10 miles or less.

Click here for the entire BikeFest Calendar.

This Weekend, Party Like its 1984

Lindsay — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:58:16 +0000

Didn’t make it out to the Penn Brewery for their 80′s birthday celebration? Looking for more ways to celebrate the 80′s? You are in lucky. Two words – Purple Rain, Purple Rain!

Yes, this weekend you can bask in the 80s with a celebration of Prince (or if you prefer the artist formerly know as Prince). The Hollywood Theater in Dormont is hosting a Purple Rain Party. Dress as your favorite rock star and head over to the theater for music, prizes and Purple Rain on the big screen.

Purple Rain Party
Where: Hollywood Theater, Dormont
When: Saturday, August 6, 2011 6-9p,
Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=231103883567491

(via PopCity Media)

Blogging Batman In The Burgh

Lindsay — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 20:32:41 +0000

Batman is here, in case you missed it, or maybe you are reading this blog post from another city – the next batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises” is being filmed in Pittsburgh for the next few weeks. Lots of photos and info are being shared online. We have set up a Tumblr blog and Twitter to try to track all of the info. Check out Batman’at and follow @batmanat on Twitter.

Have a photo to share? Submit batman photos and news here.

Are you a Tumblr user? If you want to help us with the tumblr email iheartpgh – at gmail.com

On Sat. May 21 – Fineview will be transformed to Spineview Movie Set

Lindsay — Thu, 19 May 2011 21:33:10 +0000

Another awesome collaboration to show off more of wonderful Pittsburgh! Saturday, May 21, 2011 – is the annual PopUp Pittsburgh – this is the annual project of the Leadership Pittsburgh students. Each year – PopUp Pittsburgh plans a big day long festival in a different neighborhood. I checked out the PopUp Pittsburgh Uptown 2 years ago and had a great time checking out many hidden gems of uptown neighborhoods.

But wait, this collaboration also involves zombies. This year PopUp Pittsburgh is taking over Fineview for the day – and trasnforming the neighborhood in to Spineview. Fineview will be the location for filming a zombie film about the neighborhood and history – and everyone is invited to attend the filming.

There will be food, fun and movie related activities complete with red carpet. We made the residents of Fineview the stars as they tell you why Fineview is a fine place to live. Do you want to be a star? We will be filming our short film, Spineview and you can be an extra. Spineview tells the tale of a proud neighborhood that is beset by zombies. The residents band together to clean up the neighborhood and defeat the zombies. We need a few good zombies and a few bad ones too. Come dressed as a zombies and we will put you on the red carpet and in the film. Best zombie contest starts at 1:00 PM on the red carpet with top 3 getting a featured scene in Spineview plus a swag bag! Parking will be available at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, located at 302 North Avenue. Shuttle service to the event will be provided from 12:30 – 7:00 pm. We will see you in Fineview on May 21st starting at 1:00 PM. More info at http://www.popuppittsburgh.com/

Lights, Camera, Fineview
Saturday, May 21, 2011
1pm-6pm
Fineview
Facebook Event – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179305455449180

Read more about the project in this PopCity Media article.

Banff is Back- April 8, 9 & 10

Lindsay — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:35:22 +0000

I have a thing for sportsy, outdoorsy films – it is a pretty interesting way to get a little bit of the outdoors mixed in with a the story of interesting athletes. One of the neatest bars I have been to – Mai Tai Bar in Honolulu – gets major points – not for aestiques – it is actually on the roof of a mall in Honolulu – but bonus points for their entertainment - they have live isalnd music in the bar and show skiing and surfing films on the TVs. (There is also a Mai Tai Bar in Daytona Beach – that I visited earlier this year with the hopes of shipping a drink and watching surf films – instead the evenings entertainment was the cover band Spandex Super Heros).

But back to Banff – the Banff film festival is THE outdoor film festival and each year they put together a collection of the best outdoor films. Venture Outdoors brings the festival to town and this year – Banff is bigger than ever with three days of films.

Friday, April 8 -7pm
Saturday, April 9 – 7pm
Sunday, April 10 – 2pm

Each day will have a different line up of films- check out the complete line up here.

Tickets are available here.

Check out the 2010/2011 trailer

Click here to view the embedded video.

Get Swept Away at the Science Center This Weekend

Lindsay — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:56:16 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Kind of ironic that I am writing this post during one of the rare times that Pittsburgh is under a tornado warning. I have been talking about tornados recently – one of my dear friends just found out she will be moving with her new husband to Oklahoma this summer. This is kind of sad news for me because right now she lives in Hawaii – and I think that I would rather visit Hawaii more than Oklahoma - although I am always up for visiting new places ( I had a surprisingly delightful trip to Montgomery, Alabama last year.)

But back to the topic at hand – Tornados - fortunately for us – Pittsburgh rarely gets tornados. But the documentary film Tornado Alley will be blowing into town this weekend to open its run here in town. To celebrate the film’s arrival the Carnegie Science Center wants you to get wrapped up in the tornado stuff.

Sean Casey of Storm Chasers will be here on Friday and Saturday with the Tornado Intercept Vehicle
Saturday, March 26, 2011 – Tornados with a Twist – a special screening of Tornado Alley and discussion with Sean Casey – reservations are required for this

Click here for all of the details about Tornado Alley at the Carnegie Science Center.

Check out the trailer for Tornado Alley:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Hollywood Pitch – Hollywood Returns to Pittsburgh for the Film Factory

Lindsay — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:12:29 +0000

This is one of my favorite events that I attended last year. I have long been a fan of Carl Kurlander and I think that the Film Factory is one of the most interesting projects in town. For the 2nd year in a row – the Steeltown Entertainment Project is sponsoring a HUGE film competition. Each month they hold a different event and the entrants are narrowed down.

Right now there are 10 quarter finalists who made it to the pitch phase.

This saturday you can watch these finalists pitch their film ideas to an all star panel of judges.

James Widdoes – stared in Animal House and is currently the director of Two and Half Men and he was born here in Pittsburgh
Bob Kusbit – an executive for MTV and CMT and he works out of Pittsburgh – check out the Post-Gazette’s story on his Pittsburgh office here.
Lauren Elmer – Sony Classics Executive
Asher Garfinkle – President of Readers Unlimited

Even though I was not participating in this contest last year – I attended “The Hollywood Pitch” to learn more about the project – and it was a lot more fun than I expected. I thought I was just going to stop by for a few minutes but I ended up staying for the entire day – you can read my post from last year here. If you like movies and want to see how a film goes from idea to reality I think you will enjoy attending on Saturday morning.

There is a $10 cost to attend – but keep an eye on the Steeltown Film Factory Fan Page – they have had trivia questions and have been giving away passes all week.

Steeltown Entertainment Project’s Film Factory
The Hollywood Pitch
Saturday, February 19, 2011 – 11am
University of Pittsburgh’s Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
$10 ($5 for Students) – Register online here

Those Summer Nights…

Lindsay — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:52:48 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

You might be familiar with the Oaks Theater because they have been showing horror films this halloween season. Well the Oaks theater is back with even movie entertainment – the Grease Sing-A-Long. For a certain segment of the movie viewing population – I could see how this could also be scarier than a horror film – but I am betting that there are some Grease fans in Pittsburgh.

The Oaks Theater – which is located in Oakmont – is bringing the Grease sing-a-long to Pittsburgh in a big way.

A newly restored print brings the highest-grossing musical of all time, GREASE (1978), to the big screen as a sing-a-long. Join Danny and Sandy with your own crew of T-Birds and Pink Ladies for a carnival ride back to those amazing summer nights!

Come to our Friday or Saturday 7:30 performances dressed as your favorite character and be entered into a drawing to win some nifty Grease-themed prizes.

And remember, this is a sing-a-long, so audience participation is always encouraged. Bring friends, have fun and sing your heart out!

Grease Sing-A-Long at the Oaks Theater
Friday, October 22 through Thursday, October 28
Friday and Monday through Thursday @ 5:00 & 7:30
Saturday and Sunday @ 2:30, 5:00 & 7:30
Purchase tickets for select shows online here.

“Grease” Gets A Re-Release And A Video Game (thefrisky.com)
Now Available: Grease: The Game for Nintendo DS and Wii (gonintendo.com)

Celebrate Gene Kelly's Birthday!

Lindsay — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:51:43 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Another fun Pittsburgh trivia fact is that Gene Kelly – the iconic American actor, dancer and singer in the rain – was born in the Highland Park neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty is named after Gene Kelly and Billy Strayhorn (another Pittsburgher who is best known for collaborating with Duke Ellington).

The Kelly-Strayhorn Theater opened in East Liberty in 1914 as the Regent Theater and has had many different roles through out the years. 11 years ago the theater was reopened with the new name of the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. You can read more about the history of the theater here.

On Saturday, August 21rd, 2010 – you can celebrate Gene Kelly’s birthday (his actual birthday is August 23rd) at the theater. Click here for more details on the Kelly Strayhorn Theater website.

2pm Tour of the Theater
3pm Screening of Cover Girl – admission to the film is $2
Cake will be served

Here is the song Put Me To the Test from the film Cover Girl