If Philadelphia were to play a role in a teen sex comedy, it would play the girl who can't get a date for the prom - a Molly Ringwald character who somehow goes unnoticed by everybody except one weirdo (seriously, M. Night Shyamalan, give us some breathing room).
Why are so few Hollywood projects filmed in Philadelphia? In the seven decades since King Kong scaled the Empire State building, New York has been practically fetishized by cinematographers, whereas Philly is left hoping for another Rocky sequel.
Now, there is hope for a change.
A new tax policy in Pennsylvania offers tax credit to filmmakers who spend a majority of the budgets for their films in Pennsylvania. In addition, Variety reports that the construction of two state-of-the-art film studios - one in the Delaware Valley, the other in Norristown - is in the works. Seems Philadelphia is out to seduce Hollywood.
And seduction is certainly in order. Last spring's clunker of a sports drama, Pride, which trumpeted its 1970's Philly setting, was not actually filmed in Philadelphia, but in Shreveport, Louisiana. Even the eponymous TV series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia does a majority of its shooting in Los Angeles. A few recent indie films - the smart-for-a-chick-flick In Her Shoes and the creepy Kevin-Bacon-as-pedophile The Woodsman - showed the city some brotherly love. But such films are infrequent, and not conspicuous enough to elevate Philly to iconic status (a status that would bring economic boons with it).
Construction of the two Pennsylvania studios will begin this fall. In the meantime, we'll just have to wait for the next big release to feature a Philadelphia setting: next summer's The Happening - another creepy love letter from M. Night.
