On Sunday, screenwriters will gather at the new Sun Center Studios in Chester Township to share scripts set in Philadelphia. At night, the studio will host a birthday bash honoring the office, which has brought to town the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington.
The story of the birth, near death, and turnaround of Philadelphia's film office has many heroes, including R.C. Staab, film commissioner in January 1986, when it opened for business. But mostly, says Staab, now a newspaper executive in California, it is the story of how Pinkenson, a former dental hygienist with a passing resemblance to Goldie Hawn, scooped up the fumble and ran with the ball.
"Philadelphia is a movie town today," Pinkenson says, "and that 'cool' factor may be the most important accomplishment of my career."
In 1986 the film office scored one movie, the department-store fantasia Mannequin, accounting for an estimated $6 million spent in the region. In 2009, 17 movies and TV shows were made here, including M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, James L. Brooks' How Do You Know, and the A&E series Teach with Tony Danza. Direct spending was $286 million.
"In my years as an elected official there's probably been no better return on investment than the film office," says Gov. Rendell, who appointed Pinkenson when he was mayor of Philadelphia.
The film office was born of adversity. The city had an image problem in 1984 when director Alan Parker came to make Birdy and butted heads with unions and city officials.
"Parker publicly damned Philly as a film location," says Staab, who had been running the state film commission. "This was also the era of the MOVE bombing. The thinking was that a film office was a small investment that might yield big returns."
