Duquesne Incline / Menssen Moments
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We were on the right track.
In 2008, my cast, crew and I shot a feature-length movie in three states in two weeks. It was a wild ride.
"The Bride & The Grooms", a romantic comedy about a woman who accidentally gets engaged to four men at the same time, eventually made it to theaters in 12 states in 2009.
It starred Jacilyn Ledford, Shaphan David Seiders, Michael Wendt, Oliver Gray and Christopher Leabu.
Thanks to the generosity of everyone involved -- practically donating their talents -- the entire project cost $15,000. (We might have broken even had we had enough advertising money. But that's another tale.)
I wrote, directed, produced, edited and wore a lot of other hats for this movie. As I imagined the story, I knew one of the key scenes would take place on Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, with a gorgeous view of the city next to the Duquesne Incline -- two tram cars on tracks, going up and down the side of the hill.
As director of photography Christopher Jay Gresham set up one of the shots, I knew instantly it was a trailer moment. We framed up downtown Pittsburgh on the left, with a car from the Duquesne Incline descending on the right.
It was beautiful.
I chose it for the opening shot of my first trailer.
Someone else chose it for the opening shot of a Hollywood trailer.
Lionsgate's "The Next Three Days", starring Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks and Liam Neeson, also was shot in Pittsburgh. The trailer was just released, and as I watched it, I had a wild deja vu moment. Theirs was not filmed from the exact spot, but in this wide, wide world, it's pretty close.
So for at least one shot, we were on the right track.
Check out the first shot of each trailer:
"The Next Three Days" (2010):
"The Bride & The Grooms" (2009):
