Screening Pittsburgh: Cranberry Filmmaker Hopes to Become Next Spielberg

Joe Hollabaugh’s passion for movies, particularly Steven Spielberg movies, isn't obvious at first glance.

He doesn't wear an E.T. baseball cap or the round spectacles that Spielberg favors, nor does he carry a whip or sport a safari hat reminiscent of Indiana Jones.

While the Cranberry filmmaker is discreet in his love for Spielberg’s sci-fi adventures, the director inspires Hollabaugh when creating his own movies.

According to Hollabaugh, Spielberg managed to create opportunities for making films when none existed. Hollabaugh is trying to do the same.

“Not only do I want to do my own productions, but I also want to help other independent filmmakers make their films,” he said.

Hollabaugh, 35, developed a production company in November so he could produce the kind of movies he wanted to make. At least for now, he's also glad to be working in Pittsburgh.

Hollabaugh recently filmed The Light in the Shadows in Pittsburgh and Zelienople. More than 100 people attended the movie’s June 26 premiere at The Strand Theater in Zelienople.

With the classics Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Maltese Falcon as inspiration, Hollabaugh's black and white film takes place in the 1940s and follows Jane Harrison, a famous actress who is investigating the death of her husband, a well-known detective. Her journey leads her to an Austrian archaeologist and a mysterious box that might hold the missing clues to her husband’s death.

Hollabaugh’s independent film isn’t the only production using Pittsburgh as a backdrop.

In the past few years, Pittsburgh has been the setting of big-name film companies and well-known actors, including Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Jake Gyllenhaal. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, the third installment of the Batman trilogy, is being shot in Pittsburgh.

Hollabaugh said he signed on as an extra for The Dark Knight Rises. He also is waiting to hear back about a job as a production assistant with the movie.

As for his own filmmaking, Hollabaugh said he isn't as concerned with making high-octane, million-dollar-grossing films as he is with giving his audience an escape from real life for an hour or two.

Hollabaugh spoke about his drive for filmmaking, the potential for Pittsburgh to become an East Coast haven for Hollywood directors and producers and the films he wants to make.

“I want to dabble a little in everything in film,” he said.

His ideas include a sequel to The Light in the Shadows and another sci-fi movie that will take place in modern times. He has written a western-themed movie and a drama, and he has ideas for a documentary about actor Christopher Reeve and another about World War II veterans.

Hollabaugh filmed in Grand Isles, LA, for five days for a documentary about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He also helped produce a local independent film titled Lightweight, which is where he said he learned what it's like to work on a movie set.

Hollabaugh joined the Navy after high school because he wanted to see the world. Australia and Japan are two of his favorite places he traveled to, he said.

“When you travel you learn a lot about different cultures, different environments, and you learn a lot about other people,” he said. “It makes you appreciate a lot in your own life when you get to see other ways of life.”

After four years in the service, Hollabaugh turned to his creative side and wrote a short story, titled Bulkhead, about his experience in the Navy.

He attended Youngstown State University, where he majored in English. For 10 years, he taught English and video production to high school and young adult students in Urbana, Ohio.

During his free time in class, while students were taking tests or working on projects, Hollabaugh wrote ideas for movies and parts of screenplays. He graduated in May from Chatham University with a master’s degree in film.

“When I told people I wanted to go back to school for film, some people said there are a billion other filmmakers in the world, what do you have to offer?” Hollabaugh said. “It’s been 10 years for me, but you have to believe in yourself, or you are not going to be able to do what you want.”

Hollabaugh also believes in Pittsburgh’s potential as an up-and-coming movie town. Already he has movie scenes planned out at dream locations in Pittsburgh, including a chase scene at Terminal Way off East Carson Street in the South Side.

“Anywhere is amazing to shoot in Pittsburgh,” he said.

Hollywood movie producers once thought of Pittsburgh in the same way throughout the 1900s. The Boulevard of the Allies near Uptown used to be considered “film row” and had film exchanges from producers such as Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros.

Today, Hollabaugh is surprised no recent Hollywood companies have set up anything in-house in Pittsburgh.

“They might be hesitant because they left Pittsburgh once and because it is so far from California, the distance might be a problem,” he said. “But if I were the head of a studio I would think hard about putting something [in Pittsburgh.]”

If it were easier for him to tell his stories and help other filmmakers, Hollabaugh said he would consider moving to New York or California. In the meantime, he holds out vague hope that Spielberg will give him a call and ask him to work on the newest Indiana Jones movie.

“If [Spielberg] were to ask me to write it, I would totally write it,” Hollabaugh said. “Even if he asked me just to get his coffee, I would totally do that.”