Since Harrisburg boosted state tax incentives last year, Pennsylvania has become a hot place to do movie business. More than $500 million in projects are underway or planned during the next three years, said Michael J. Barnes, business manager of IATSE Local 8, the union that represents crew and technical workers.
The projects include M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender (a trilogy budgeted at more than $250 million) and the eight-figure action flick Transformers 2, as well as smaller-budgeted independent projects and episodic television.
In the last two months, the region has been one big backlot, generating not only film business but excitement among celebrity watchers.
The comedy The Dream of the Romans began filming in Center City and Old City on March 17, with Lauren Graham and Jeff Daniels. The comedy Tenure, with Luke Wilson (Owen's brother) and Gretchen Mol, started shooting April 7, mostly on the campuses of Bryn Mawr and Rosemont Colleges.
And the drama Happy Tears, with Demi Moore and Parker Posey, began rolling on April 24 in Prospect Park, Center City and Old City.
Next month, filming of Michael Bay's Transformers 2 with Shia LaBeouf and Teresa Palmer will begin, and two TV series - FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and CBS's Cold Case - will return for another season.
Two major studio films were shot here last year: Shyamalan's The Happening with Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, in theaters next month, and Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lovely Bones with Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz, due next year.
Producers are stepping up work, in anticipation of a possible Screen Actors Guild strike this summer. Talks continue on a new contract.
Locally, the business boom is "allowing people to step up," said Diane Heery, a Philadelphia casting director. "Someone who's been a [production assistant] can be a second assistant director. It's opened up the market."
