Steeltown’s 6th annual Film Factory event will be an evening to celebrate independent filmmaking in Southwestern Pennsylvania and feature, Franksgiving, the Ellen Weiss-Kander Award winner of the 2014 Film Factory Competition, and a sneak-peek of some of the Steeltown-supported Community Showcase films. Local filmmakers share their experiences about how they made their films here in Pittsburgh. Steeltown will also announce its new development/mentorship program.

Just before Carl Kurlander, Steeltown Entertainment Project president, announced the winner of this year’s Ellen Weiss Kander Award, he foreshadowed the journey upon which its recipient was about to embark.
“The contest isn’t the end,” he told the crowd of hundreds gathered at Point Park University in May. “It’s the beginning.”
In the six months since, Stephen Knezovich has experienced many beginnings. Knezovich, winner of the $15,000 prize slated for bringing his short screenplay to the screen, has attended the first casting session, the first meeting of his crew, day 1 of filming. And, in the midst of all of it, he began a new life with his bride.
