“When the (Pittsburgh) Film Office calls and says a film wants to come to Pittsburgh, we drop everything,” says Tom Hardy, past president of the Pittsburgh Hotel Association and current general manager of the Sheraton Station Square, which is undergoing a $15 million renovation. “It's become a very, very large part of our business.”
7 comments:
I think it's great that Pittsburgh is becoming (slowly but surely) a hot bed of film and television. Not only is it cool to see places you know in film, but it's great for the local economy and it can (and hopefully will) provide interesting opportunities for internships and jobs for CMU students. I would love to see the School of Drama continue to open up the film and television world just to provide some variety, and I think that this is an excellent opportunity to do so.
I think it's good to see Pittsburgh transform into a placeholder for films to shoot. Alot of people don't notice, but our area is slowly growing to be a film/theatre spot for artist.
I agree with everyone above that the film and television industry is doing really great things for our steel city. Although this article was purely about hotels in Pittsburgh, I can definitely see how the film and television industry has the potential to help almost all industries in the city. I think it is funny that the hotel manager explained how they "drop everything" when they get a call that a film is coming to town. This really shows how much the film industry is helping the hotel industry in the city. However, I do hope that these hotels aren't neglecting other guests while a film is in town. Just because a movie star is requesting a rooftop garden or a champagne bath does not mean the other guests in the hotel should be ignored in order to carry out such requests.
It's crazy how much the film and TV industry affect other industries when shooting. This is super neat because I never thought about all the needs that a big on-location shoot has, but it makes a lot of sense. It's essentially a lot of people needing a whole bunch of accomodations nearly 24/7 for several weeks, which is awesome for a city's economy and image. Like everyone, I love seeing that Pittsburgh is such a preferred film location.
I have been noticing a lot more film crews and location scouts in pittsburgh than I ever saw in Maryland. And (until recently) Maryland had great film tax benefits.
Film is doing well in the economy. We should be bringing film into our cities as much as possible. It literally pumps vast amounts of money directly into local commerce.
On a tangential note, I almost got hit my a Fox location truck not too long ago on Murray. Man, they would have settled that lawsuit, I'd have been set for life.
I think its really interesting to think on how we impact things around us. I remember when Chicago had a shot at being the host for the olympics and that was the first time it occurred to me that big event like that affect the economy of that place in a big way. Although this was just about hotels it still shows a much larger picture. You don't just stay in hotels you go out. You eat out. You drink at bars. Now that has many other ramifications such as when you get drunk at a bar you will most likely take a cab or other form of paid transportation. Late night drunk munchies. When I eat in shady side i am always compelled to go spend a few bucks at Kards Unlimited or if in Squirrel Hill at Avalon. Its just interesting to think about how far this goes.
This is really cool, I never really thought about how more and more movies are filming in the Pittsburgh area. This article brings to light something many people, or at least I, don't really think about, the impact a movie or production can have on the surrounding area. While I am sure there are negatives, there are also positives, such as this on the hospitality industry.
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