1. Current Events – ‘Outsiders’ Liz Hand 1
Some twenty years or so ago, my mother answered a classified advertisement for an extra
position for a movie that was filming in Pittsburgh. Dawn Keezer’s name was always in the
news and my mother often obtained work through Nancy Mosser’s agency. Since then, I noted
about five different places on the web that hire Pittsburgh extras and it has turned into a
burgeoning industry here in our region. Outfits from Ohio hire for Pittsburgh extra’s too and
there are auditions in the Strip District at the 31st Street Studio. But, now that they are filming on
the very street that I grew up on, I decided to take a closer look for myself into the economics of
it all.
The ‘Outsiders’ TV series filming comes on the heels of the famous author, John
Grisham’s recent book “Gray Mountain.” Obviously, mountaintop mining hits a chord with
many people as a great social injustice. This TV series will show how a fictitious clan in a small
coal mining town fights for preserving the pristine beauty of the surrounding mountains. Instead
of filming in the state of Kentucky, two locations in the Greater Pittsburgh region were chosen to
depict the clan’s home base. Braddock’s Trail Park, which borders Turner Valley Road near
Guffey (North Huntingdon) was turned down due to lack of convenience. So, to our surprise the
Henry Kaufman Park in Monroeville will substitute for Shay Mountain, Kentucky.
The main entrance to the park is off of the street where I grew up. It is just about one
(city) block away. These woods were our playground as kids. My brother and I would sneak
down the back entrance through the overgrown access road to the far end of the park. There was
a rock wall where we would pretend to look for dinosaur bones and an old rusted out baseball
backstop that we would climb for exercise. Plus, my brother threw my tennis shoe on the far
edge of the top engendering in me some fence climbing skills. I was very curious to check out
this set.

2. Current Events – ‘Outsiders’ Liz Hand 2
On May 22, 2015 I parked my car in what we call “Rosecrest Village” and walked down
the access road. It was clear and wide, but looked like a somewhat treacherous slope for driving
the trucks down into. I was greeted by a worker from the Teamsters Union by the name of
Shawn. He said that they were currently filming. I was surprised as there were no cars around.
They wisely parked all of the cars in through the main exit bordering Rockwood Street in the
upper lot. I noted that the two other guys were using three wheelers to get back and forth from
one end of the park to the other.
They have been very respectful about trying to keep as low key as possible. There were
even representatives of the set going door to door informing nearby residents of what was to
come and collecting signatures of acknowledgement to hand in to the Monroeville Borough.
They made it known that locals (especially those on Rosecrest Drive or parts of Poplar Street)
would have preference over others with the selection of extras.
Why did they choose to shoot this television series in Pennsylvania? That was a question
I had in mind to research. Nonetheless, there are striking similarities between the woods in
Pennsylvania and Kentucky. The location here is a hill, not a mountain, but they can do all kinds
of tricks with film and photography. It is appropriate though that they picked this neck of the
woods because of the history of the little old house by the back access road and the dirt road
beyond. At one point in time there was a house full of “Hells Angels” living there. So, this
family depicted in the ‘Outsiders’ are rough and tough and “above the law”, as Owen (2015) of
the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has said.

3. Current Events – ‘Outsiders’ Liz Hand 3
The location seems very remote for a sprawling suburb like Monroeville. Besides a few
scattered homes it is mostly woods all the way down to Pitcairn. Because of the heavy rain last
week there were some difficulties with trucks getting stuck in the mud. The gatekeeper Shawn
was proud to inform me that all the employees were members of the Teamsters union and that
they use all locals for the set other than the professional actors. Although there was no tour given
today due to the current shoot I did get a peek at the little shack. Shawn advised me against
taking pictures and posting them on Facebook because as he put it; “The FBI will be at your door
within minutes.”
A few blocks from the back entrance a Monroeville firetruck with sirens and a man
known locally as “CJ” was on a megaphone near the Park broadcasting the current shoot to the
neighbors. They were having a little fun. It has created some excitement in this mostly geriatric
neighborhood near the Monroeville Mall.
The first article I found was on post-gazette.com and it quoted the dollar figure for film
credits. The title of the article gives a dollar figure for film credits and reads as, “Pennsylvania’s
annual $60 million film credits cap unlikely to increase this year.” Evidently, this cap presents a
problem for future films. The tax credits are set for individual states and the producers of
“American Hustle” originally wanted to shoot their film here, but since “Pennsylvania ran out of
tax incentives before the project could get there and ‘American Hustle’ went to Boston”, Radwin
(2014) has said. The writer informs us that this is the 10th year for the incentive program and that
“Pennsylvania film offices claim the program is responsible for injecting hundreds of millions of
dollars into Pennsylvania’s economy”, Radwin (2014) has said.

4. Current Events – ‘Outsiders’ Liz Hand 4
The article goes on to inform us that “Pennsylvania has produced more than 300 films,
TV shows and commercials”, Radwin (2014) has said. It is thought that the $60 million cap
would slow down the growth within the industry and make it hard to compete nationally.
Accordingly, “between 2007 and 2012 Pennsylvania added 19,000 jobs and injected thousands
of dollars back into the Pennsylvania economy”, Radwin (2014) has said.
About a month or so ago there was an advertisement in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that
listed days and times to audition for the television series, ‘Outsiders.’ The website is located at:
http://www.31ststreetstudios.com. In the drop down title, under the heading “About”, is a link
to “Why Film in Pittsburgh?” I was surprised to learn that Pittsburgh has been a favorite
destination of film producing companies since the 1940’s. The reasons given were not
surprising. They tied in with our diverse topography, interesting architecture, and economical
work environment. At one time it boasted that “Pittsburgh was host to over ten films a year.”
The website further informs us that” the last ten years garnered nearly $100 million dollars in
measured economic impact for this area” and “the market has returned.” This is because of the
activity that the film industry has brought in the last twelve months. It has “brought 150 million
dollars to the Pittsburgh region.”
No doubt the presence of the 31st Street Studios is part of the reason for the success.
Although it has only been a force on the Pittsburgh scene since 2011 it can “continue to help the
film industry here”, Karlovits (2015) has said. Dawn Keezer is also quoted in the article saying,
“movie work has brought an average of more than $100 million in annual revenue to the area in
the past five years”, Karlovits (2015) has said.

5. Current Events – ‘Outsiders’ Liz Hand 5
Another news item was found in this past Sunday’s Pittsburgh Tribune Review that
highlighted an NBC obstacle-course set up at the “Carrie Furnaces.” Funny how something that
has been seen by some as an eyesore had “the magic of Hollywood lighting” it up, Price (2015)
has said.
The movie industry has helped Pittsburgh in these tough economic times. Some of the
key players like Dawn Keezer and Nancy Mosser are still working hard to make Pittsburgh a
filming destination and providing the needed talent. The 31st Street Studios, a relatively new
business has been successfully working to audition talent at their studios. While there is concern
about tax credits; there are at least a couple projects going on currently in Pittsburgh.

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References
Guidry, N. (2015, April 13). Potential extras line up for TV series 'Outsiders', being filmed in
Pittsburgh. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
Karlovits, B. (2015, February 22). 31st Street Studios making it big. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,
p. 16.
Owen, R. (2015, April 22). 'Outsiders' TV series to begin filming in Pittsburgh next month.
Retrieved April 24, 2015.
Price, K. (2015, May 24). 'Ninja Warrior' breathes life into Carrie Furnaces; NBC obstacle-
course show draws a crowd, requires nerves of steel. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, p. 11.
Radwin, M. (2014, August 17). Pennsylvania’s annual $60 million film credits cap unlikely to
increase this year. Retrieved May 23, 2015.

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Photo Credit: WGN America. This picture supplemented the April 22, 2015 Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette article about the TV series filming in Monroeville, Millvale, and throughout
Pittsburgh.

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Roughly 1200 people auditioned during a Saturday and Sunday try-out at the 31st Street
Studios in the Strip District of Pittsburgh according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Photo Credit: Nate Guidry/Post-Gazette April 13, 2015
“Grace Kollar, 4, and her little brother, Jackson Kollar, 3, of Bridgeville, wait to register
as extras for ‘Outsiders’, a television series to be filmed in the Pittsburgh region.”