Film shot in town hall screened at Seattle festival
People go to the Carnegie Borough building to buy a parking permit, rent a park shelter or attend a municipal meeting, but in July, the building became a timetravel agency for a locally made, award-winning film, “Happy Birthday to Me."
The seven-minute short won Best Film, out of 46 made in the Pittsburgh region, as part of the 48-HourFilm Project, earning it the right to go on to the final round in Seattle this month, where it competed with other award-winning national and international films. The film also won regional awards for best writing, best actress, best use of dialogue line and best sound design.
Director Caroline Collins, actor Patrick Conner, and one of the producers, Crystal Dawn Smith, traveled to Seattle to support “Happy Birthday to Me,” which had a March 2 screening, along with films made in New York, Nairobi, the Netherlands and Scotland.
“It is an amazing experience, an international competition. There were 148 films screened from all over the world. The European films were incredible to see,” Ms. Collins said.
Carnegie Mayor Jack Kobistek, who arranged for the “Happy Birthday to Me” film crew to shoot in the borough building on a Saturday when it wasn’t being used for official business, has gained a reputation in the independent film community as a filmfriendly mayor.
“I am hoping more people want to film in Carnegie. It helps the economy, and the residents enjoy seeing the film crews in town,” Mr. Kobistek said.
“Happy Birthday to Me” was written by Dormont resident Wendy Grube and edited by Amy Grove. It tells the story of a young woman who goes back in time to her birthday party in 1970. The birthday party scenes were shot in Mt. Lebanon.
Ms. Collins said another filmmaker she met in Seattle commented that their unusual choice of a municipal building as a location gave the film the feeling that anything could happen in that space.
“Using the council chambers for a time-travel story was a unique setting. We loved the room for the huge empty space. We would not have been able to communicate that with any other setting,” she said.
However, Ms. Collins added, “Location won't matter if it’s not a good story. Story is everything. I credit Wendy Grube for crafting a beautiful little story that was both sweet and funny, and doing it in only two hours."
A very tight writing deadline is emblematic of the 48-Hour-Film Project.
Everything must be completed within 48 hours — from typing the title of the screenplay to composing the final credits.
To prevent crews from working ahead of time, a genre — such as drama, detective story, comedy or even a musical — is assigned to each contestant at random. They also must incorporate a predetermined character, prop and line of dialogue.
“Marginaux,” a film from France, won the grand prize in Seattle for Best Film and will now go on to a screening at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Ms. Collins, who has a few new film projects in the works, may consider returning to Carnegie to film.
“Carnegie and Mayor Jack are very film -friendly. The location is beautiful, a perfect small town, and all the business owners are film-friendly, too,” she said.
“Happy Birthday to Me” can be seen at the 48-HourFilm Project website. It may also be shown at the Tull Family Theater as part of the initial Carnegie Screenwriters Film Festival, which is being planned for August in Sewickley.