Let me do some corrections…

“Last week, Tony Amen of Penn Hills and Jackson Nunn of Trafford, both frequent movie extras for Pittsburgh films, worked on a scene at Club Erotica in McKees Rocks.”

We did, indeed, shoot at a strip club in McKees Rocks.

“The prize for longest distance probably goes to Eddie Smith of Ireland, who read Smith’s message board, decided to “holiday” in Pittsburgh and volunteered as an extra. Dressed in a blue vest, he is portraying an employee of Janda’s HD Gallery, a television store where Miri works.”

Miri does not work in Janda’s HD Gallery.

“Smith, who also wrote the script, has chosen Monroeville, Minn., as the name of the fictitious town where the movie is set.”

The film is set in Monroeville, PENNSYLVANIA (aka, the actual Monroeville in the actual PA). We ditched the Minnesota setting months ago, when we decided to shoot in Pittsburgh instead. Hence, the film is set in (and around) the Pittsburgh area.

“The film takes place on Black Friday, the official launch of the Christmas shopping season, thus the decorations, says mall marketing director Mindy Suhoza.”

That scene in the mall is set on Black Friday – NOT the whole film.

And while it has nothing to do with the article, let me alert you to some shenanigans over at the IMDB. Mewes and Rogen both reported reading a “page” from the script on the IMDB message board for the flick that’s bogus. Essentially, the poster took the character names and wrote a page of dialogue. We’ve been so super tight with the security on the script (not for any particular reason; we’re just always pretty tight with script distribution) that I’d be shocked if any real pages ever got out.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

The coolest news here for us is that the film will actually take PLACE in Pennsylvania now, which we believe is a View Askew first and quite an honor for our state. In fact, this should make the film a distant cousin to the original “Dawn of the Dead”, which primarily filmed and was set in Monroeville, PA.

In addition, a local resident reports a new possible set spotted in the West End of the city — The entire area of the town has been decorated in a Christmas motif, with a snowy wintry look on the ground and surrounding cars. Pittsbugh’s west end was also utilized way back in the “Dogma” days for the famous diner scene. More news from the scene as we hear it!

Mr. Smith comes to Monroeville
Story By Zandy Dudiak, Staff Writer

Photos By Chris DiSabato of Gateway Associated Photographers


Snowmen and strings of bright, clear lights still dangle from the ceiling of Monroeville Mall five weeks after retailers deep-discounted winter coats and filled store racks with summer shorts.

Wearing his trademark full-length wool coat and long shorts, movie director Kevin Smith fits right in as he moves between a scene in the former Thomas Kincade storefront and the crew members standing just outside.

“I don’t know who they are,” says Joan Lunney, a volunteer at Monroeville Mall Ministry’s Talk Shop kiosk, as she watches the action.

While they may have some name recognition among mall rats and clerks — at least younger ones — Smith and the film’s stars, Seth Rogen of “Knocked Up” fame and Elizabeth Banks of “Scrubs,” still aren’t well known among the older crowd.

“They’re shooting a movie that’s coming out next Christmas,” Lunney says, unaware of the film’s somewhat-irreverent title, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”

The movie is not a porn film, but a yet-to-be-rated comedy about lifelong friends who make an adult film to solve their cash flow problems, only to find they have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.

The cast was filming at the mall last week.

While the details of the film are hush-hush, there will be some risque, though funny, moments. Smith’s films generally have an “R” rating.

Last week, Tony Amen of Penn Hills and Jackson Nunn of Trafford, both frequent movie extras for Pittsburgh films, worked on a scene at Club Erotica in McKees Rocks.

For Amen, who also appeared as an extra in Smith’s locally-filmed 1998 movie “Dogma,” it was deja vu of sorts. Amen worked alongside actor Woody Harrelson while shooting a scene for “Kingpin” back in 1996 when the strip club was called Mancini’s.

Crew member Jared Wellman, a Forest Hills native now living in Los Angeles, belongs to unions in both cities, enabling him to work as a lighting technician on films being shot either place. Though willing to talk about themselves and their local ties, Wellman and other crew members do not discuss details of movies in production with outsiders.

Cast member Craig Robinson, who plays warehouse worker Darryl Philbin in the television hit “The Office,” comes out from the storefront, takes a seat and gets a backrub in front of the Happy Feet kiosk. An autograph seeker approaches, camera in hand, and Robinson good-naturedly obliges.

But when Robinson is approached for this story, publicist Amy Cohn ends the interview before he has a chance to say more than a few words.

Just below them, toddlers and their parents play in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, oblivious that “Porno” is being shot above them. But a play area sign, in the spirit of the late Fred Rogers, reminds everyone that “You are always welcome in this neighborhood.”

Some fans traveled a distance to see the stars.

Shaun Brake and Justin Griffin, both Smith fans from Akron, Ohio, are leaning against glass and rail on the top floor of the mall waiting to get a photo of Griffin with the director and other performers. Griffin, who has a collection of photos of himself with celebrities, snagged one with Bill Clinton two weeks ago.

Griffin explains his rules — not entering the work space and watching for the stars to cross into public areas before making his approach.

Others, like Chad Bracken of Punxsutawney, made the trip just for the chance to see the film being made.

The prize for longest distance probably goes to Eddie Smith of Ireland, who read Smith’s message board, decided to “holiday” in Pittsburgh and volunteered as an extra. Dressed in a blue vest, he is portraying an employee of Janda’s HD Gallery.

Smith, who also wrote the script, has chosen Monroeville as the name of the fictitious town where the movie is set.

The entourage has been spotted filming along Monroeville Boulevard at the Monroeville Municipal Center and at Twin Fountains Plaza, where the former Meadows ice cream parlor has been converted into a coffee shop for the film. The giveaway is the touch of Tinseltown outside — two large tinsel Christmas trees still standing in February.

The scene takes place on Black Friday, the official launch of the Christmas shopping season, thus the decorations, says mall marketing director Mindy Suhoza.

This is the first movie filmed at the mall since George Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” 30 years ago. And that was filmed at night when the mall was closed.

Smith’s shooting schedule provides for some more public interaction.

Lunney, who hosted her own quilting show on the Monroeville cable access channel and runs cameras for the mall ministry’s cable show, leans over to a crew member assembling a large metal frame for a light diffuser, a task he may repeat many times before shooting wraps up about mid-March.

“I’ll pray for you if you want,” Lunney says.

“I need all the prayers I can get,” he replies with a smile.

This story’s been added to the archive over in our “Zack & Miri Make a Porno” press site as well — Expect that article list to get a LOT more extensive as the months roll on.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, or plan on visiting soon, do NOT leave town without making a stop at Laser Blazer. This isn’t your neighborhood Blockbuster, this is an absolute SUPERSTORE, run by folks who know and LOVE movies, comics, music, and all the other stuff that comes with it. The store stocks some of the rarest flicks, toys, and other swag, plus, of course, all your favorite new releases in all formats. And yes, Laser Blazer remains home to the biggest and best View Askew museum on the west coast, Stash West — It’s right in the heart of the store, features tons of props and amazing stuff to take photos of, and ALL of the fantastic swag that we offer online and at Stash East.

So, area residents and those of you heading in for business or pleasure — Don’t miss Laser Blazer. Stop in and ask for Ron, tell him News Askew sent ya and he’ll take fantastic care of you. Ron’s a BIG View Askew fan and an all around great guy. We’re not missing our chance to check out the new Stash West next time we’re in town…neither should you!

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, “Gigli”

“…Ironically, the failure of “Gigli” led writer-director Kevin Smith to radically pare down Lopez’s role opposite Affleck in “Jersey Girl,” but the couple play off each other brilliantly in the rarely screened original cut of that film, which Smith plans to one day release on DVD.”

* 2.40:1 Widescreen Transfer (1080p)
* Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French Dolby TrueHD 5.1
* Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
* Cast and Crew Commentary
* Technical Commentary
* Deleted Scenes
* Cast and Crew Outtakes
* Jay and Bob’s Secret Stash Commercial
* Storyboards from Three Major Scenes

“Mikey gets in the game and heads up OCC’s latest creation — a Wolverine bike for the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital. The cast from NBC’s “My Name is Earl” bursts onto the scene and gets the OCC team to build a My Name is Earl bike.”

My fellow New Jerseyan Kevin Smith appears to see the comic surrealism as well. In Smith’s facetious 1999 film “Dogma,” a misguided effort to modernize the Catholic Church’s image unfolds through a campaign entitled, “Catholicism Wow!” Complete with a revamped, “less depressing” and utterly absurd Jesus figure bearing the name “Buddy Christ,” the attempt at Catholic modernization is portrayed by Smith as both silly and hopeless.

“It’s very strange because I normally don’t direct television,” Kevin tells Cw.com. “Nobody ever asked me to do it before. I’ve had offers to come in on sitcoms which have already been up and running. But this was interesting because my agent called and said there’s a pilot of this show and they want you to direct it. I was like, why would anyone, based on my body of work, want me to direct a TV pilot?

“Generally my stuff seems to be very chatty, frank and obscene. I was so puzzled, I said I would like to read it and see who’s stupid enough to want to hire me. I read the script and I just dug it so much.”

Kevin was attracted to the Reaper pilot script as it reminded him of hit Simon Pegg film Shaun Of The Dead.

“I’m a big Shaun Of The Dead fan,” he says. “The sensibilities of the characters in Reaper are similar to my characters. The only difference between the characters I write and the characters in Reaper is none of these characters use four letter words because we’re on TV.”

“Reaper” returns Stateside to the CW with a new episode on March 4th.