Project looks to bring arts to Pittsburgh

Vibrant portraits gazed watchfully from their canvases at The Andy Warhol Museum on Saturday… Vibrant portraits gazed watchfully from their canvases at The Andy Warhol Museum on Saturday evening while a crowd of people with names often seen as printed text in ‘Entertainment Weekly’ were dressed to the nines to discuss Pittsburgh’s next renaissance.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Hollywood heavyweights and local leaders gathered to combine their collective forces at Pittsburgh’s first Entertainment Summit, aimed at utilizing the city’s cultural institutions.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Steeltown Entertainment Project, a newly formed non-profit organization comprised of writers, actors, directors and entertainment professionals, hosted the summit.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Their goal is to turn Pittsburgh into a ‘thriving arts and entertainment community’ by providing support and guidance to a variety of entertainment artists, who, like themselves, struggled at one point.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘If I could just help someone to fund their next project, buy their next meal or get more studio space, this would be worth it,’ said David Conrad, who costars on NBC’s ‘Miss Match.’ Conrad’s Pittsburgh ties, shared by others at the event, prompted him to sign up for the Steeltown Project.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s all here,’ Conrad said as he quoted from the film ‘The Deer Hunter.’ According to Conrad, Pittsburgh holds so many untapped resources, the greatest being its people.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Jamie Widdoes, ‘Animal House’ actor and director of ‘My Wife and Kids,’ believes that the greatest unutilized resource is the collective energy of Pittsburgh residents.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We all have a common bond, Franco Harris’s Immaculate Reception and Bill Mazeroski — we should draw on this,’ Widdoes said.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pittsburgh is a city brimming with firsts.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The first ‘moving picture’ theater — known as a nickelodeon — was founded in downtown Pittsburgh. Also, being home to the first public radio station (KDKA) and the first community-owned television station (WQED) identifies the town as a pioneer of entertainment, according to a documentary shown at Saturday’s event.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Although Pittsburgh was once a Mecca for talent, the city has seen little of the $130 billion revenue generated from the industry

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Steeltown, still in its beginning phases, plans to bring back a portion of the multi-billion dollar money pool by connecting new and established artists to generate material that can be sold to production companies, networks and producers.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ To do this, Steeltown plans to bring workshops and instruction to Pittsburgh in a Sundance-style event. Its purpose is to help develop artistic vision and skill in screen and script writing.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ If there is a strong desire coming from community leaders, an industry can be created and projects incubated, Eric Gold said. Gold, manager of people such as Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey, said Steeltown will be successful in stimulating production.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Drawing young entertainment professionals to the city is essential, according to Peter Ackerman, screenwriter of ‘Ice Age.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Many college students are graduating and leaving the city to go to places like Boston and Los Angeles,’ he said.’ According to Ackerman, Steeltown has the potential to draw a younger generation of entertainers to Pittsburgh and keep them here.