‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ scouts film locations in county

The Denzel Washington-produced film of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” will be shot at least in part in Pittsburgh.

Netflix has been in town scouting locations for multiple projects, including “Ma Rainey,” said Dawn Keezer of the Pittsburgh Film Office, “We are thrilled that August Wilson’s stories are continuing to be told and bringing opportunities to our region today. It is great that they can have that synergy with his hometown.”

Allegheny County Council’s agenda for next week includes: “Ordinance authorizing Netflix Productions LLC to use property in and around Deer Lakes Park, as well as other county locations mutually agreed to, for the filming of a motion picture entitled ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,’ based on a play by August Wilson.”

The Hollywood Reporter, in a June 6 interview with Washington, wrote, he has “embarked on an ambitious televised cycle of August Wilson’s plays, the first of which, ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,’ is in preproduction for Netflix.”

In January, HBO Films president Len Amato said the American Century Cycle of 10 plays by the Pittsburgh native and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright was still in development at the network. It was announced in 2015 that Washington planned to produce all 10 at HBO — before he directed and starred in the Oscarnominated “Fences” for the big screen.

Washington filmed “Fences” in Pittsburgh’s Hill District and has returned as a champion of the rehabilitation and repurposing of the August Wilson House as a community and artists’ hub. “Ma Rainey,” set in 1927, had long ago been announced as his next project, but he was coy when asked if it would film in Pittsburgh.