Steeltown launches Film Factory, screenplay competition
There may never be a better time for Steeltown Entertainment to launch what it's calling a Film Factory competition. All those aspiring or veteran screenwriters, who have been waiting for this since it was first floated years ago, here's the official press release:
New "Factory" in Pittsburgh to Educate Aspiring Filmmakers
OCTOBER 30, 2009, Pittsburgh, PA - Pittsburgh, long known to the world as the home of the steel industry, is now hoping to become the home of a new production center: the entertainment industry. Steeltown Entertainment Project, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organization founded in 2003, is hoping that their upcoming FILM FACTORY will be a catalyst in creating that industry here in our region.
The FILM FACTORY is a yearlong filmmaking competition, supported by a series of public workshops, panel discussions and staged readings, designed to engage aspiring filmmakers to create projects with Pittsburgh-inspired content. By bringing together local and expatriate resources in Southwestern Pennsylvania (SWPA), Steeltown hopes that the FILM FACTORY will help to transform this region's non-profit "Arts Sector" into a thriving "Entertainment Economy."
The competition kicks off at 10:30 AM on Saturday, November 7, 2009 with a filmmakers' brunch and panel discussion at the Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Avenue, Oakland, in conjunction with the opening weekend of the Three Rivers Film Festival presented by Pittsburgh Filmmakers. Tickets for Saturday's FILM FACTORY panel event are $10.00 adults, $5.00 for students with valid ID, and can be purchased at the door. FILM FACTORY is also sponsoring a VIP party at Concept Art Gallery in Regent Square on Friday, November 6, 2009 from 5:30 PM- 6:30 PM, and is a proud sponsor of the Melwood Screening Room during the run of this year's festival. For VIP event tickets, please contact the Three Rivers Film Festival at www.3rff.com.
Saturday morning's FILM FACTORY kickoff event is entitled, "Getting Started: Where Do Good Ideas, Great Scripts, and Talented Filmmakers Come From?" The distinguished panel, to be moderated by Steeltown's co-founder and local screenwriter Carl Kurlander (St. Elmo's Fire, Saved By the Bell, My Tale of Two Cities), will focus on the various stages of script development and filmmaking, a theme that will be carried on throughout the Steeltown FILM FACTORY.
Panelists for this event will include other Pittsburgh natives such as screenwriter Rob Lieber, who as written screenplays for Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, New Line Cinema, Walden Media, MGM and is currently developing the screenplay of "Septimus Heap: Magyk" for Warner Brothers; "Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting" Academy Award winner Stephanie Lord; and Lauren Elmer, Sony Pictures Classics Acquisitions and Post-Production Supervisor for "Gracie."
In combination with the series of panel discussions throughout the winter and spring of 2010, the FILM FACTORY invites students (aged 16 and up) and amateur filmmakers to submit original film ideas for the competition. The FILM FACTORY will start accepting submissions on November 7th with the deadline closing on December 31, 2009. Submissions must include a 10-12-page script along with a logline, a one-page synopsis and an optional sample of prior work, and may be made via the FILM FACTORY website at www.SteeltownFilmFactory.org. A committee consisting of local and expatriate entertainment professionals serving as judges will choose the most promising screenplays. The $25,000 total prize package for the FILM FACTORY will be used to produce the winning film or films: one to three short films wills be chosen and the funds will be divided and awarded at the discretion of the judges. The winning film or films will be produced in the SWPA region during the summer of 2010 and screened at the 2010 Three Rivers Film Festival. For submission guidelines and more information, please visit www.SteeltownFilmFactory.org.
The FILM FACTORY is made possible through the generous support of grants, sponsorships and in-kind donations from such organizations as the R.K. Mellon Foundation, the Colcom Foundation, the Laurel Foundation, Comcast, YourCFO, Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Point Park University, and the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.
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About Steeltown Entertainment Project
The mission of Steeltown Entertainment Project is to connect entertainment professionals, with Southwestern Pennsylvania (SWPA) ties, to projects, people and partnerships in order to support and invest in the socially and commercially significant film and media industry of the Pittsburgh region. Steeltown Entertainment Project sponsors several media initiatives in the area, including the FILM FACTORY and its Youth & Media Initiative. It is also working toward completing the documentary "The Shot Felt ‘Round the World: The Untold Pittsburgh Polio Story," and creating an Entertainment Incubator and Investment Fund. For more information, please call 412-622-1325 or visit www.Steeltown.org. For more information on the Steeltown FILM FACTORY, please visit www.SteeltownFilmFactory.org.