Major Movie Production Studios heading to SE Pa. (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: houses, buying)

[rainrock]

This is a major coup for Pa and especially the Philadelphia region. Currently Toronto has a stranglehold on Film making on the eastern part of N.America, this news will definitely take a bite out of their pie and bring some of the movie making revenue down to Pa.


Coming Attraction: A Movie Studio in Southeastern Pennsylvania



by KYW's Mike Dunn

Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell has announced that a California movie mogul plans to build a major motion picture studio in the Delaware Valley, at a site yet to be determined.

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[Marodi]

Cool. Would be nice to have money coming into state for once.

[Icy Tea]

There are Hollywood stars( or used to be stars anyway) that live in se Pa and they're never seen. They keep a really low profile which is probably why they chose the area. The area's location is very good, midway between DC ( political activists are always there) and NYC, the center of culture, media glitz and high society. With more and more wealthy people buying farm estates in the area, we might have more stars being seen.

[rainrock]

The east coast really needed to get in on the movie action. 40% of the countrys population lives within 6 hour drive of Philadelphia. There should be lots of filming to go around from a Philly area studio base. Pittsburgh,Lancaster,Lehigh Valley,Poconos,South jersey,Dc ,Va.,NYC,Bos,New England etc.

Just within 20 miles of Philly you can go from glamorous Rittenhouse Square, historic Old City,preppy University City, gritty N Philly, affluent Mainline+Chestnut HIll, incredible countryside scenes in the suburbs.As Rendell said there are so many things here that you can't get in Albuquerque where another Film Studio just opened for business. That studi is bookee solid for the next 2 years and I belive a $350 M animation studio will be built in Albuquerque. This is a very big deal for the Philly area imo.

I know a few higher-ups who work for QVC(located in West Goshen/West Chester) and the famous people that visit the set and area, love it here. Such a nice change from the arid, overcrowded, smoggish southern california, and the overcrowded insanity of manhattan.

Heres one guy who has definitely set down roots in the Philly area. He lives in Willistown Township Chester County which is between Newtown Square and West Goshen.


Shyamalan Remains Fenced In

by Natalie Finn

A variety of creatures might romp through M. Night Shyamalan's movies, but the filmmaker doesn't want them romping through his yard.

Willistown Township has approved the eight-foot fence the Lady in the Water auteur put up around the 123-acre estate he owns in suburban Philadelphia to keep out deer, Narfs and other things that go bump in the night, despite neighbors' complaints that the barrier is an eyesore.

Residents criticized the township for granting Shyamalan a permit to erect the fence in the first place, saying the wall of plastic netting around the director's property blocks their own views and will bring property values down.

"While those views are not lost on the board, our decision must be based upon...a fair interpretation of the zoning ordinance provisions that are at issue," the opinion read.

Court records state that Shyamalan bought part of what used to be a 500-acre estate two years ago for $17.9 million, per the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In keeping with his penchant for privacy, the former Oscar nominee hasn't said much about his plans for the land, which also contains a main residence and some outbuildings, but township officials have said that he's considering installing a garden onsite, and therefore doesn't want it to become a feeding ground for deer.

But despite the township's favorable ruling, which was issued Wednesday, the zoning board has since changed the maximum height for new fences to six feet.

Shymalan, who lives in nearby Wayne with his wife and their two kids, prefers to stay close to home and has used Philadelphia as the setting for all of his films since 1998's Wide Awake.

While the 36-year-old visionary has won friends and influenced people, including the zoning board apparently, with blockbusters such as The Sixth Sense and Signs, he might have to mend a few fences in Hollywood after the widely panned Lady in the Water, which bombed at the box office and captured Shyamalan double dishonors for Worst Director and Worst Supporting Actor at last weekend's Razzie Awards.

[Ohiogirl81]

Currently Toronto has a stranglehold on Film making on the eastern part of N.America

That's because labor is much less expensive in Canada; the unions aren't as strong.

I'll bet Fast Eddie isn't aware of that.

And we all know that you can't take a you-know-what in Philadelphia unless the unions put a nickel in the toiilet. Or in the urinal, in the case of the Comcast Center.

[Icy Tea]

Shyamalan did a great movie with The Sixth Sense( although the surprise ending was anything but) but he's done nothing but duds ever since. Signs, maybe wasn't terrible but it was weak, The Village was too hokey and implausable, and Lady In The Water was a huge disappointment. I've written him off, but maybe all it takes is one hit to get back on top.
Ohiogirl81 makes a point about the unions in Philly. They almost got the Real World Philly project stopped before it ever got started. Not that that would have been bad since that cast was the worst they ever had and they never did anything on the show anyway. But the Philly cops beating each other up early on was fun.
Right now that MTV's Viva la Bam( sp?) in Westchester is the area's claim to fame and I just don't get that show's point. We can definitely use more Hollywood level exposure.

[rainrock]

Yes, good point indeed about the unions which basically makes this 3 way race-(Philadelphia -Delaware Co.-Bucks CO.) a 2 way race. Delaware + Bucks.

My guess is that it will be built wherever the land is the cheapest. Perhaps the Chester Waterfront or Morrisville/Bristol area. Its not going to look like Hollywood or Universal Studios thats for sure.

I personally would rather see it built in a nice area like New Hope or Radnor so the area gets a positive rep but I just dont see that happening. You could conceivably see Hollywood types with banksrolls of $50M plus putting down some roots in this area if they had a 15 minute commute to say Malvern,Villanova, Radnor,New Hope etc. Phillywood if you will.

Bringing Hollywood actors,writers, directors to work in Chester might be a disaster.

[ricksr]

The Navy Yard has plenty of room and seems to be continually filming something down there. M Night Shyamalan's new movie is being filmed in 2 or 3 buildings right now. There are several large warehouses that are and could be used, with good access to I95 and center city for on location sites. Parts of Annapolis, The Woodsman and some others were filmed there. After being almost vacant for some time, the place is finally beginning to grow.

[Joe Linett]

Any more news about the new motion picture studio coming to Pa?

[newmarlig]

A friend's son is in the Shyamalan movie (The Happening) coming out this summer. He is in the classroom scene. They filmed at the Masterman School in Philly. It stars Mark Wahlberg (who played Vince Papale in Invincible, so he's spent quite a bit of time here.)