George Romero to get Steeltown award from Greg Nicotero
Mister Rogers and zombies.
If nothing is shot in Pittsburgh ever again, the city's peculiar, impressive legacy in film and television is set for all time.
Of course, that's not the end of it. But that's where it all begins, more or less.
That's why the Steeltown Entertainment Project — which has played a big part in Pittsburgh's recent film and TV renaissance — is honoring “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) director George Romero and Bill Isler, longtime CEO of the Fred Rogers Company, with its Elly Awards on April 27.
“Fred Rogers and George Romero — you can't go to another town and find two people like that,” says Carl Kurlander, president and CEO of Steeltown Entertainment Project. “People who ‘stayed home' and built an industry.”
Before he invented both the modern horror movie and the zombie flick — and, perhaps the American independent film industry — Romero directed “Mr. Rogers Gets a Tonsillectomy.”
Romero is getting the Pioneer Award, presented by director, producer and special-effects guru Greg Nicotero (“The Walking Dead,” “The Chronicles of Narnia”). Nicotero, who's also from Pittsburgh, got started as assistant to special effects pioneer Tom Savini on Romero's “Day of the Dead” (1985).
Steve Tolin, who founded the Pittsburgh-based special effects company TolinFX, will receive the Impact Award, presented by Savini.
“(Tolin's) grown tremendously,” Kurlander says. “He's worked on ‘Jack Reacher,' ‘The Dark Knight,' the (theatrical production, directed by Patrick Wilson) of ‘The Full Monty' at CMU, a life-sized Noah's Ark in Kentucky.
“He works with so many people — dozens of contractors in Pittsburgh. He also manufactures some squib (movie gunshot) technology that he exports around the country.”
Isler, who also was the first executive director of the Fred M. Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children's Media at St. Vincent College, will receive the Legacy Award.
Pittsburgh-based filmmaker Julie Sokolow will receive the Indie Award. Her films “Aspie Seeks Love” and “Woman on Fire” have received awards from film festivals around the world. It will be presented by independent filmmaking giant Tony Buba, director of “Lightning Over Braddock: A Rustbowl Fantasy” (1988).
The Elly Awards are named for the late Ellen Weiss-Kander, founding executive director of Steeltown.
“When we started Steeltown in 2003, our premise was that our biggest export isn't steel, it's talent,” says Kurlander. “It was a crazy idea that people could stay here and work.”
Steeltown's first fundraiser was basically a gift from George Romero — the Pittsburgh premiere of “Land of the Dead” (2005), which attracted Romero super-fans Quentin Tarantino (“Pulp Fiction”), Robert Rodriguez (“El Mariachi”) and Simon Pegg (“Shaun of the Dead”) to the Byham Theater screening.
The Elly Awards will be at the recently restored Union Trust Building, Downtown, in a private screening room that was apparently built for Henry Clay Frick. The after-party will feature zombies and squib demonstrations.
“If we lost the Penguins or Steelers, people would be outraged,” Kurlander says. “Pittsburgh has its zombies, and they're George's zombies.
Michael Machosky is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
