Oddly enough, Jersey itself wasn’t really an option, based on how cost-prohibitive it would’ve been to shoot in Highlands (the shore town our new flick is largely set in). Highlands, unfortunately, falls outside the sixty mile radius of the “Zone” – a nebulous union parameter outside of which the show is forced to put up and pay per diem to every crew member who has to travel to set. Ultimately, this adds to the budget, and we can’t afford to spend the money there, as whatever green isn’t being spent on the de riguer coke and whores has to be allocated for making Philly and the surrounding areas look more like New Jersey.

By basing the production in Philly, we can take advantage of the wonderful crew base that’s been growing here, courtesy of M. Night Multi-Syllabic-Last-Name (the SIXTH SENSE guy), who, apparently, refuses to shoot anywhere but the Philadelphia area, and has made the Powers That Be enough bank to stand by the courage of his convictions. When a brother’s never made a flick that’s broken the thirty-million dollar glass ceiling, he doesn’t get to stomp his feet and say “We’re shooting the whole fucking movie in the real Highlands.” Well, he can, but he’ll wind up basing out of Philly anyway. Money talks, and motherfuckin’ Silent Bob walks.

Another beneficial aspect of Philly over Toronto is that we can simply cross the Ben Franklin bridge and actually shoot in the damn state the flick’s named for. The nearby town of Paulsboro will be playing the role of Highlands for most of the show, when Highlands isn’t able to play itself. For the purists (namely me), however, we’ve scheduled a few days of shooting in the real Highlands, as well as a few days in Manhattan – the city that also plays a crucial role in the flick.

But I’m not gonna lie: the biggest advantage to shooting in Philly is the Cheese Steaks. The whole fucking flick can go straight-to-video for all I care, so long as I get to chow down on Cheese Steaks for the next few months.