Official trailer from “One For The Money” (Lionsgate)
HOLLYWOOD
Where was the movie “One For The Money” filmed?
If you knew anything about author Janet Evanovich‘s wildly successful series of Stephanie Plum mystery novels, they are all set in Trenton, New Jersey. It’s very much a part of the story’s charm (as charming as gritty Trenton can be).
But the movie was actually filmed in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. (Pittsburghers may recognize specific locations in Friendship-Bloomfield, the North Side, Braddock, Wilkinsburg, Shadyside, McKees Rocks, Ambridge in Beaver County and Kittanning, Armstrong County.)
Pittsburgh? Dear departed Uncle Sandor must be doing Buick-sized roostertails in his grave.
Why Pittsburgh?
Answer: Money.
Pittsburgh, AKA "Trenton, N.J."
“The Pittsburgh area has a very aggressive film commission,” says producer Gary Lucchesi, president of Lakeshore Entertainment, which finally brought “One For The Money” to the screen after 18 years of development hell. “We had a good experience here when we shot ‘The Mothman Prophecies’, so we were very comfortable coming back. I love Pittsburgh.”
A spokesman for the Pittsburgh Film Office said, “Since its inception in 1990, the PFO has assisted more than 105 feature films and television productions to southwestern Pennsylvania.”
He added, “These films have generated an economic impact of more than $578 million for the region.”
There is also the matter of the generous Pennsylvania Film Tax Credit.
Pittsburgh's "Stark Street" (Katherine Heigl)
Yes, money talks. And Trenton and Pittsburgh don’t look all that different (i.e., dull, unremarkable mid-20th Century American architecture, boarded-up buildings, polluted rivers).
But still…
Okay, readers, what’s harder to accept: Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum. Or Pittsburgh as Trenton?
Jerry Garrett
January 29, 2012
