Local areas provide stage for movies, TV shows
Mike Watt and Amy Lynn Best, co-owners of Happy Cloud Media, LLC, in Eighty Four, at the Hundred Acres Manor in Bethel Park Haunted House
Courtesy of Happy Cloud Media, LLC
Amy Lynn Best, co-owner of Happy Cloud Media, LLC, in a promo shot in her role as Anita in âRazor Days.â
âI Am Not Okay With Thisâ was filmed in and around Brownsville. Fiddles Restaurant was featured in the show. (Photo courtesy of Netflix)
This photo originally ran in the Ăć±±œû”Ű when âMariaâs Loversâ was filmed in Brownsville.
Buffalo Billâs House in Perryopolis, which was used in the movie, âThe Silence of the Lambs,â is now a place where people can stay on the weekends. The movie is strongly represented at the house. (Photo courtesy of Alexis Fatalsky Photography)
Courtesy of Alexis Fatalsky Photography
Another room in Buffalo Billâs House in Perryopolis.
Courtesy of Alexis Fatalsky Photography
The living room quarters at Buffalo Billâs House in Perryopolis.
Courtesy of Alexis Fatalsky Photography
A porch view of Buffalo Billâs House in Perryopolis.
Courtesy of Washington & Jefferson College
Courtesy of Washington & Jefferson College
The Netflix series, âMindhunterâ was filmed partially at Washington & Jefferson College.
Courtesy of Washington & Jefferson
The Netflix series, âMindhunter,â was filmed partially at Washington & Jefferson College. This set is in the Lezear Chemistry Hall.
A classroom setting from the Netflix series, âThe Chair,â that was filmed partially at Washington & Jefferson College. (Photo courtesy of Washington & Jefferson College)
Courtesy of Alexis Falatsky Photography
A twilight view of Buffalo Billâs House in Perryopolis, which was used in the filming of âThe Silence of the Lambs.â
Scott Beveridge
Scott Beveridge
The restored âMariaâs Loversâ house at 208 Bank St. in Brownsville.
news@greenecountymessenger.com
âLights, camera, action,â a phrase associated with film and television, has been said plenty of times in this area.
The charm and history of Greene, Fayette and Washington counties have attracted a number of productions to the area. Plus, the Pittsburgh Film Office, which represents 10 counties to the film industry, offers a state film tax credit that is one of the best in the country.
Local people in the film industry like to film locally, too, since itâs more cost effective. That has been the case for husband and wife Mike Watt and Amy Lynn Best, who own Happy Cloud Media, LLC, now based in Eighty Four and once based in Waynesburg.
The coupleâs locally filmed movies include âWere-Grrl,â âSevere Injuries,â âA Feast of Flesh,â âDemon Divas and the Lanes of Damnationâ and âRazor Days.â Parts of âRazor Daysâ were shot in Fayette Countyâs Laurel Caverns and throughout Waynesburg.
âWe found that weâd rather use the money on local people than fly people in. Itâs a very welcoming environment,â Watt said.
There are also other reasons.
âWe can do any sort of terrain,â Best said. âYou can make it out to be anything you want. In western Pennsylvania, you have so many different terrains and so many different possibilities.â
Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office, said southwestern Pennsylvania can offer just about any kind of scenery â with the exception of a beach or a desert.
âOur most requested location is places that look like New York,â she said. âItâs far easier to film here than it is in the city of New York. Itâs all here, which makes it easier to work here.â
Jeff Monahan, a Connellsville producer, writer, director and actor, has been involved in a number of local projects. He said a house and hotel in Uniontown, Fayette County, were used in âGeorge Romero Presents: Deadtime Stories,â a 2009 horror film.
âThe great thing about being around here is you have the city and the country,â Monahan said. âCows are just 20 minutes away from downtown Pittsburgh. You have a lot of different looks, a lot of different architecture, you can have all the different weather you want.â
Monahan, owner of 72nd St. Films LLC, said a pilot for a series called âActors on: MacBeth,â shot partially at the Edwin S. Porter Theatre in Connellsville, as well as at the outdoor stage at East Park in Connellsville.
âItâs a great area to work out of as much as you can,â Monahan said. âWeâve had so many people open their doors for locations and things that you can use. You can keep costs down, work locally and work with local talent.â
Fayette County has also been the home for some classic cinema. Buffalo Billâs House in Perryopolis was used in the Academy Award winning film, âThe Silence of the Lambs.â
Chris Rowan, an art director and prop stylist, purchased the house in Perryopolis in January 2021. The admitted fan of the horror genre opened it later that year as a place where people can stay for the weekend.
âUsing my background, I wanted to create a unique aesthetic that would become memorable and create an immersive experience for the guests,â Rowan said. âI peppered in kind of the dark overtones of âSilence of the Lambsâ throughout the home. Itâs an absolutely stunning piece of property. Itâs such a grandiose home and it certainly hearkens to a time of past architecture. Thereâs just a timeless classic feel to the home.â
Filming was done in Brownsville for a movie called âMariaâs Loversâ in 1984. A house used as the primary film location has since been transformed into a bed and breakfast with a theme from the movie. And Fiddles Diner, a Brownsville landmark thatâs more than a century old, has been used for filming many times. âMariaâs Loversâ used the diner, and so did the movie âAbductionâ and the Netflix series, âIâm Am Not Okay With This.â
âI think (they use Fiddles) because of the age of it,â said Debbie Santello, the restaurantâs owner. âItâs an authentic old-school diner and thereâs not too many of those around much anymore that are authentic.â
Washington & Jefferson College and California University of Pennsylvania each have been popular destinations for filming, too.
The movie âFoxcatcherâ used both campuses. W&J served as a backdrop, while Cal U.âs arena was transformed into a site for an international wrestling tournament in the movie. A bathroom in the lobby of Cal U.âs convocation center was used for an airport bathroom scene.
âThe opportunities weâve had for students to shadow (people working with the movie or show) and to witness that and give them exposure to a career field they may be interested in or may have never seen before, I think is really exciting for our campus,â said Becky McMillen, director of student auxiliary operations at Cal U.
The Showtime series, âAmerican Rust,â also has used Cal U.âs campus.
âItâs obviously the aesthetics,â McMillen said of what the campus offers filmmakers. âCal U. has that classic college look that a lot of films are looking for.â