Film : Buzz

After her direct, Pittsburgh-to-Paris Delta flight, Murray will be one of 150 interns at the star-studded international film festival.

"My suitcase is filled with cool Pittsburgh 'swag,' as we say in the entertainment biz. I have Terrible Towels, Penguin Towels, Primanti Bros. T-shirts, Heinz pickle pins and more. Watch out Cannes, I'm coming, and I'm bringing the Burgh with me!" she writes.

Murray has spent the last four years immersing herself in the Pittsburgh film industry. In 2009, she took a one-year hiatus and studied film and French language in Paris at the Sorbonne and the American University of Paris. Murray currently works under Carl Kurlander an associate producer at Steeltown Film Factory.

Read Cait Murray's Cait at Cannes blog.

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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Barbara Vancheri reports that Abduction is being made by Lionsgate, which came to Pittsburgh last year to film the mixed martial arts movie Warrior along with the suspense thriller The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe. Lionsgate also made My Bloody Valentine 3-D here and the TV series The Kill Point.

John Singleton, a double Oscar nominee for writing and directing Boyz N the Hood, is expected to direct Abduction, a Bourne-type thriller about a teen who begins to realize he's not who his parents claim.

Pennsylvania's tax credit program is once again being cited for helping to lure moviemakers here, reports the Post-Gazette.

"The film tax credit has been extremely successful for Southwestern Pennsylvania. We had approximately $100 million in new money in 2009 and are hoping for the same or better for 2010," said Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office.

Read the complete Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.

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The goofy romantic comedy, which came in third in its opening weekend box office, was filmed on-location in Steel City.

"The city has never looked more inviting. It made me want to live there--and I already do," writes movie editor Barbara Vancheri.

"Market Square alone, now a muddy construction site, was turned into a summery open-air restaurant with tablecloths, white twinkle lights, topiaries, a man fashioning balloon animals and lots of happy, shiny people strolling around after dark. Filmed largely in spring 2008, the R-rated romantic comedy is like one big 'Wish You Were Here' postcard with shots from a Penguins game, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh International Airport, polar bear exhibit at Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, Mount Washington overlook and PNC Park. It doesn't get much better than this in its portrait of Pittsburgh."

Read the complete Pittsburgh Post-Gazette review of She's Out of My League.

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Pittsburgh steals more than just one scene in the trailer--the airport shows up frequently, the Golden Triangle glows by night, the characters hit up a Penguins game at the Mellon Arena, and Market Square serves as the setting for a swanky dinner date.

Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership's Market Square blog features tons of photos from the filming of Market Square's makeover from its classic Pittsburgh self into an elegant outdoor restaurant.

Click here to read the complete Market Square blog post.

Click here to watch the trailer for She's Out of My League.

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"When Armless premiered here Friday night at the Yarrow Theater, who showed up? That's right--a large contingent of his former college buddies from Pittsburgh who were rooting on Azar's foray into making feature films. "

Azar, a CMU drama major who graduated in 2002, has won a Daytime Emmy for his work on soap opera As the World Turns. Armless, which was entered into Sundance's NEXT category (for films that seek to "stretch a low budget to create big art") stars several Pittsburgh actors, including Daniel London (Patch Adams, Rent, Minority Report).

Click here to read the complete Hollywood News article.

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The blog post also links to a Post-Gazette article about both Love and Other Drugs (starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway) and Unstoppable (starring Denzel Washington) filming the region.

Also of note is the new CBS medical drama, Three Rivers, being set in Pittsburgh. The show, which premiered Oct. 4, has been getting mediocre reviews (Metacritic shows an average score of 48 out of 100). The L.A. Times gives Three Rivers perhaps its best assessment--the critic calls it "a center of calm" that's "as sleek and multi-pronged as any CSI episode." However, others are less favorable--"uniformly bland," says TV Guide. Still, curious types can try out Three Rivers at CBS.com.

To read the complete Pittsburgh Art + Technology blog post, click here.