• The town: A great deal of shooting has been taking place around the Monroeville, PA area. This is a fairly big town around 10/15 minutes outside of Pittsburgh, best known for housing the mall where “Dawn of the Dead” was filmed. In fact, a day of shooting was spent inside the mall last week, where shoppers actually witnessed Seth Rogen doing a walk and talk with costar Craig Robinson. But it doesn’t end there – While the original draft of the script named Minnesota as the location, is it remaining as such? A local closed high school has been renamed “Monroeville High School”, convincing us that the town in our film will indeed hold that title. This makes sense, given all the free signage that they can now shoot (city signs, street signs, etc). Plus, Monroeville, Minnesota has a nice ring to it.
• So far, the film has been very location-based. No work on any sound stages, so far (from what we know). This means that we’ll see a lot of familiar locations from the Pittsburgh area in this one. As a new article confirms (in our next story), film crews have been spotted in the nearby town of Hazelwood, PA this week.
• Extras news – We hear some extras have been called to the set for filming of a high school related scene for the greater portion of this week. No word on exact dates. No word on how many extras are being used for this scene — While we know a few details of the nature of the scene, we are keeping it under wraps for now for fear of potential plot spoilage.
• Other extras news – Our friend and Clerks II banner contest winner, Paul, heads to town next week to film his onscreen appearance. Fans will be jealous when they hear what and where it is. Needless to say, it pays to enter Kevin’s contests and perform well.

That about sums it up, at least for the moment. Check out the most recent SModcast for a nice segment where Kevin and Jay discuss the first 3 days on set. We imagine that SModcast’s weekly episodes from Pittsburgh will continue to offer great film tidbits, which we’ll summarize as best we can. We’ll also be archiving all the best bits for the Zack & Miri production site. Stay tuned, the excitement’s just getting underway.

Kevin Smith brings Hollywood to Hazelwood

By Adam Brandolph
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Across the street from the fictitious Monroeville High School, in real-life Hazelwood, a crane sits on the side yard of a two-story house.

The crane, used to hold movie cameras in high places, is one of the remnants of the first Pittsburgh location shoot for “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”

Maverick director Kevin Smith will be shooting the film, about two friends who try to solve their cash-flow problems by making an X-rated movie, in the city over the next 40 or so days.

The crew took over about three blocks of the neighborhood last Friday and through the weekend. Shooting was halted early yesterday because of the frigid temperatures.

Smith’s publicist wouldn’t explain Hazlewood’s appeal as a stage set. “Just a location thing,” said Kevin Smith’s publicist, Amy, who didn’t give her last name.

Smith shot his 1995 flick “Dogma” in various city locations, including the abandoned St. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church in East Liberty.

Mishell Williams, 33, lives down the street from the filming location on Hazelwood Avenue. She said she wasn’t sure why anyone would want to film a movie there.

“The people of Hazelwood are some of the nicest in the world,” she said, “but the neighborhood is ugly. The houses are old and falling apart or boarded up.”

Outside the “Monroeville High School” — actually the closed Gladstone Middle School on Hazelwood Avenue — boarded-up houses lie vacant and business is scarce.

Reports out of Tinseltown say the film’s budget is in the $15 million and $25 million range. How much of that will be spent in Pittsburgh is not known.

“Filming in Southwestern Pennsylvania helps our entire region,” said Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office. “It’s always good when new money is being brought into the economy.”

Film crews spent $20 million in the city last year, and $300 million since 1990, Keezer said.

Sophia Stewart, mother of the owner of RS Market on Second Avenue in Hazelwood, said the film was shooting all night long on Friday. Production and security crews from the movie came in to buy coffee at her son’s store, she said.

“I had to make a cup of coffee at midnight. I didn’t think they were going to leave, because it was so late,” Stewart said.

There were other reports that some locals were paid for the use of their property, although that couldn’t be confirmed by Smith’s publicist.

As a director, this will be Smith’s eighth movie.

This story, along with others, will also be archived for easy access at our new Zack & Miri Make a Porno Press Page.

Adam notes: “No, I’m not wearing his pants. That would just be weird. Shirts and coats, on the other hand, are perfectly normal. I own some movie props and memorabilia, but nothing quite as cool as this. Big thanks to Kevin for letting his fans own a piece of his great movies. And your readers should just be happy I got outbid on Rosario Dawson’s camisole.”

Enjoy, Adam, and thanks for giving the stuff a good home.