By Regional Industrial Development Corporation
Mar 3, 2023

Construction is finally underway at the historic Carrie Furnace site.

“Pittsburgh was the Silicon Valley of the world,” said August Carlino, Rivers of Steel CEO. “And that’s what’s so critically important about the development that RIDC is advancing here. Because that development represents the new stage of Pittsburgh’s industry.”

Apart from the existing steel structures preserved by Rivers of Steel and repurposed as a popular arts and entertainment venue, the adjacent site has sat vacant for years.

“When I grew up here, years ago when this mill was thriving, a lot of local residents worked here,” said William Price, Rankin Borough Council president. “There was a lot of local small businesses in Rankin. But that all died when the mill shut down.”

The phased development will have portions for various commercial uses, including flex-tech, R&D, biotech, film production, workforce education and training life sciences, light manufacturing and assembly, and other similar uses. In February, RIDC engaged PJ Dick, one of the region’s largest construction companies, as construction manager for the first phase of construction.

Phase one

Phase one, which consists of more than 13 acres, includes the main access road into the site and utility extensions (water, sanitary, electric, gas, fiber, storm, lighting and traffic signalization). The road infrastructure and utility work, which is expected to be complete summer of 2023, is currently being performed by Mele, Mele, & Sons.

“This will be RIDC’s sixth major development in the Mon Valley,” said Donald F. Smith, Jr., RIDC president, “which was the critical industrial valley in Southwestern Pennsylvania and the cradle of the American Industrial Revolution.”

RIDC’s other Mon Valley investments include Keystone Commons, City Center of Duquesne, The Pittsburgh Technology Center, Mill 19 at Hazelwood Green and the Industrial Center of McKeesport.

“You’re going to see an evolution of this site over time that’s transformational,” said Rich Fitzgerald, Allegheny County executive. “Robotics, life sciences, artificial intelligence and next generation manufacturing will be a big part of it.”

Film studio underway

At the same time, plans are also being developed and design work is underway for a film studio at the site. RIDC is working with the Pittsburgh Film Office and other interested parties on creating The Film Furnace — a film studio campus with purpose built sound stages and other amenities.

“What we’ve seen throughout the country and throughout the world is that when new sound stage facilities are built, other businesses come and surround it,” said Dawn Keezer, Pittsburgh Film Office director.

The entire site — 55 acres of developable land which would accommodate an estimated 550,000 to 600,000 square feet of construction — has as a backdrop the existing furnace structures, managed by Rivers of Steel as a national historic site.

Leading the region into the future while paying homage to its past

“You’re going start to see new modern buildings come out of the ground,” Smith says. “These flexible buildings that can accommodate technology companies, light assembly and manufacturing companies, all the sectors of the economy that are growing here in the Pittsburgh region. We’re building the new homes for them right here at Carrie Furnace.”

Also, the county plans to create a riverside pedestrian and bike trail along the Monongahela River and connect the Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge to the Great Allegheny Passage, as well as to the Westmoreland Heritage Trail via the Turtle Creek Valley.

Just as RIDC’s project at Mill 19 leads the region into the future while paying homage to its past, the Carrie Furnace redevelopment project will serve as both a historic landmark and a present-day node of economic activity and asset to the community.

Price adds, “Redeveloping the Carrie Furnace site is very important to the Rankin Borough because of the revenues needed. There are benefits that we think we would get from this as far as bringing more people back into our community. We can’t wait until this property is developed.”

Learn more about the Pittsburgh region’s economic development agenda, as the region increasingly becomes a leading player on the national stage.

The mission of the Regional Industrial Development Corporation is to catalyze and support economic growth and high-quality job creation through public policy advocacy, real estate development and finance of projects that advance the public interest. A not-for-profit entity, RIDC has developed over 2,800 acres in 14 industrial and innovation parks and manages over 7 million square feet.

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2023/03/03/construction-underway-at-carrie-furnace-site.html

Previously ranked No. 4 in Smaller Cities and Towns, Pittsburgh has joined the Big Cities list this year at No. 10!

The Pale Blue Eye, filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of MovieMaker Magazine‘s Best Places to Live and Work as a MovieMaker, 2023. Photo by Nate Patterson.

10.PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

We used to list Pittsburgh as one of our best small towns, but it can hold its own against much bigger cities. Shockingly affordable, especially given its beautiful housing stock, it boasts architecture that begs to be filmed, rolling hills, countless bridges crossing its three rivers, and world-class museums, music and food. People who visit from elsewhere often wonder why no one’s ever told them how cool Pittsburgh is, so folks: We’re telling you now. Plenty of movie people get it, though. Last year Pittsburgh welcomed back Dark Knight Rises star Christian Bale for The Pale Blue Eye, one of many productions wisely seizing on the atmosphere and tax incentives that make the Steel City so inviting. Others include the new Tom Hanks drama The Man Called Otto and Season 2 of Mayor of Kingstown. The tax incentives are great: 25% percent for eligible projects, with an extra 5% if you use Pennsylvania-qualified production studios or post-production facilities. Of the $100 million available through the program, $5 million is carved out specifically for independent films.

by Joshua Axelrod January 11, 2023

Director Marc Forster, left, and Tom Hanks on the set of the Pittsburgh-shot film “A Man Called Otto.” (Niko Tavernise/Sony Pictures)

Marc Forster knew exactly what kind of city would provide the perfect backdrop for his new feature, “A Man Called Otto.”

“I didn’t feel it should be on either coast,” Forster told the Union Progress. “It felt like it should be in the middle of the country, but somewhere where there’s still a lot of culture.”

Naturally, those parameters led Forster to Pittsburgh. He and his production team spent parts of winter and spring 2022 shooting “A Man Called Otto” in Western Pennsylvania. The second film adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s 2012 novel, “A Man Called Ove,” about an old grump gaining a new lease in life, was finally released in Pittsburgh theaters last week.

The Union Progress recently caught up with Forster to discuss shooting “A Man Called Otto” in the Pittsburgh area, making a movie about neighborliness with the man who once played Mister Rogers, working with Schmagel the cat and more.

Forster is a Swiss filmmaker with an eclectic directorial filmography that includes 2001’s “Monster’s Ball,” 2004’s “Finding Neverland,” 2008’s “Quantum of Solace” and 2013’s “World War Z.” After reading Backman’s novel and watching its 2015 Swedish film adaptation, Forster realized this story would work in any language because “we’re all familiar with Ottos” and decided he wanted to direct a version for American audiences.

He had always wanted to make a movie in Pittsburgh thanks to friends who had done so and came back raving about the city’s film, food and art scenes. So, he decided to set up shop here for “A Man Called Otto,” which follows the titular Otto Anderson (Tom Hanks) as his attempts to commit suicide are continuously foiled by his oddball neighbors who slowly chip away at his crusty exterior and remind him that life is still worth living.

Production designer Barbara Ling stumbled upon the Bellevue cul-de-sac that served as the film’s primary setting on Google Earth, Forster said. The opening scene of “A Man Called Otto” takes place inside the Busy Beaver of Lawrenceville, and another prominent moment occurs at Stangl’s Bakery in Ambridge. Forster explained that a scene where Otto contemplates suicide by train was shot in Lawrenceville on artificially created tracks because the railway they wanted to use was closed for construction.

Forster had nothing but admiration for Pittsburgh as a city and place to shoot a Hollywood movie.

“I loved it,” he said of his time in Pittsburgh. “I would come back any day again. I thought the crew was terrific, the people were amazing. I loved the food. The whole experience was amazing.”

Toward the end of his Monday interview with the Union Progress, producer Renee Wolfe hopped on the line to share her equally glowing review of Pittsburgh. She appreciated the “kindness and sense of community” here, as shown by the neighbors who brought over housewarming gifts during her temporary stay in Shadyside.

“We’re all trying to figure out who we are in America,” Wolfe said. “As we move forward into the next chapter, there’s something about Pittsburgh that has all the right elements. It’s going to be one of the most important cities in the next dialogue we have as Americans.”

“A Man Called Otto” is an unapologetic tearjerker that had me in a glass case of emotions by the time its end credits began rolling. Most of the heavy lifting is done by Hanks, who made his triumphant return to Western Pennsylvania following his Oscar-nominated turn as Fred Rogers in 2019’s Pittsburgh-shot “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” Forster credited Hanks for so vividly portraying “all the different shades of grumpiness in Otto.”

“When you work with an actor like this, I think it matters a lot that we both have very similar sensibilities of what we’re going after,” he said. “He has such great talent. As a director, it’s like talking to a great violinist. ‘Play a little faster, play a little slower.’ I gave him direction, and he just did it.”

Just as key to the cinematic alchemy of “A Man Called Otto” was the supporting cast, particularly Mariana Treviño’s Marisol, Otto’s new neighbor who refuses to let him languish in his misery. Forster said that he was blown away by Treviño’s audition tape, which she filmed herself from a hotel room in Spain while playing multiple characters. She was “so good and brilliant” that he no longer had any desire to see anyone else for that role.

Another critical piece of the puzzle was the stray cat that Otto reluctantly adopts. Though some of Otto’s furry companion was crafted via effects and dummies, Forster said that 90% of what viewers see on film was performed by Schmagel, a feline hailing from Columbia County in northeastern Pennsylvania.

“Sometimes he really performed and did things, and sometimes he didn’t,” Forster said. “I’m just relieved that the cat worked out so well.”

The film walks a tonal tightrope between Otto’s very real depression and lighthearted high jinks, a dichotomy Forster thought was important to display on screen “because that’s what life is often like.” He didn’t have Mister Rogers on his mind while shooting a movie about what it means to be a good neighbor in Pittsburgh, but the theme is still prevalent throughout “A Man Called Otto.”

“We live in a very divided world right now,” Forster said. “One of the things that I thought was interesting about this book was that it became so much more relevant in this day and age after the pandemic when loneliness became so much more acute. It’s about this man who has given up on life, and ultimately it becomes this life-affirming journey of this community coming together.”

His final message to the Western Pennsylvania community that helped him bring “A Man Called Otto” to life: “It was just an amazing time there. We’ll never forget it.”

Joshua Axelrod

Joshua covers pop culture, media and more at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he’s currently on strike. Contact him at [email protected].

Read the original: https://www.unionprogress.com/2023/01/11/a-man-called-otto-director-marc-forster-on-pittsburgh-shoot-tom-hanks-and-movie-cats/

Michael Machosky  July 25, 2022  Arts & Entertainment, Braddock, City Design, Current Features

Just last week, hometown hero Billy Porter’s made-in-Pittsburgh directorial debut, the coming-of-age romantic comedy “Anything’s Possible” hit Amazon Prime — but it’s far from the region’s only connection to Hollywood.

The Pittsburgh Film Office estimates that Western Pennsylvania saw about $330 million in economic impact from film and TV productions in 2021, though those numbers haven’t been finalized yet. For comparison, the annual average was about $150 million before 2021.

And 2022 looks like another blockbuster year.

Still from the “Anything’s Possible” trailer.

The local industry is growing, but so is the need for infrastructure.

Enter Carrie Furnace stage left.

“We’ve done well, using our repurposed warehouses,” says Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office. “31st Street Studio in the Strip has been amazing. We’ve got the former American Eagle distribution warehouse in Warrendale. We’ve got two former Westinghouse facilities that are being used as stages; we had a closed JCPenney as a stage out on Route 28 (for “Cha Cha Real Smooth”).

“What we’re building is something that can be used today, and for the filmmakers of the future. … This is important because the clients coming in expect to find this kind of facility … and we’d like to centralize the industry in one place.”

The state has awarded $7.6 million in grants and loans to the site’s owner, Regional Industrial Development Corporation. The bulk of that is for site preparation, infrastructure, roads, parking, and utility work needed to construct a 50,000-square-foot building hosting multiple sound stages.

“Pittsburgh is definitely a hot city for filming,” says Jesse Cute, vice president for Allied Global Marketing in Philadelphia, which promotes much of the film industry in the state. “Our film commissioner in Philly gets Pittsburgh-envy sometimes.”

Billy Porter mural featured in a still from “Anything’s Possible” on Amazon Prime.

So, Burbank by Braddock — that’s the plan?

“Ideally, we’ll have six more stages down there, plus the outbuildings that you need to make the industry happen, like production offices,” says Keezer. “And then, the longer-term plan is to have some businesses relocate down there to service the industry — what we’re calling the Pittsburgh Film Furnace.”

State tax credits end up influencing where a lot of film and TV projects end up. Pennsylvania boosted its film tax credit program to $100 million, a 30% increase, notes Keezer, but there are still more productions interested than there are tax credits available.

The areas in pink are envisioned as the most imminently developable parts of the Carrie Furnace site, spanning Swissvale and Rankin. The eastern end of the site (to the right) is expected to be developed first. Photo courtesy of the Allegheny County Department of Development.

This is a notoriously mobile business, and the film industry is growing outside of California in places such as Atlanta, New Orleans and Vancouver.

But Pittsburgh has a few built-in advantages. Unless you’re looking for beaches or deserts or a few other particular things, you can find just about any kind of “look” here, from Manhattan-like skyscrapers to the densely wooded wilderness — all just minutes apart, instead of hours. There are well-preserved buildings from many eras, from the 1900s to the 1990s. Crime drama “Mayor of Kingstown” was lured back to Pennsylvania for its next season from Canada, because it can use Erie for waterfront scenes. Also, there’s one thing you can find here that you won’t find in many other places:  gigantic factories, like the former steel mill at Carrie Furnace.

“If we need a steel mill (for a scene), well it’s hard to use a working steel mill,” notes Keezer.

Local film crews are well known for their hard work and competence.

“We have some of the best crew in the industry that live in Southwestern Pennsylvania,” says Keezer. “In the old days, when we were lucky to get one project a year, they would travel to work all over the country and all over the world. But we’re so busy now because they can stay home.”

Acreage west of the furnaces. Photo courtesy of Allegheny County.

If this industry grows further locally, it will need more workers, which opens up opportunities for struggling neighborhoods like Rankin, Braddock and Swissvale.

“It’s surrounded by communities that need an industry,” says Keezer. “We’ve created this workforce training program in partnership with the IATSE union. It’s the first place outside of New York where it’s happening. We start that on Aug. 6, and we need more people to work, and there are jobs available in this industry. These are good paying family-sustaining jobs that you don’t need a college degree.”

The Pittsburgh Film Office is a good place to check for upcoming jobs and training opportunities.