THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER Cara McShane, USC TODAY Intern After receiving his diploma from Upper St. Clair High School in 1988, Stephen Chbosky went on to study at the University of Southern California. He graduated from the university’s screenwriting program in 1992 and began to work, writing and directing in both film and television. In 1999, his book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel, was published and became an immediate success among adolescent readers. This past summer, Chbosky was back in his hometown of Upper St. Clair to direct the film adaptation of Perks. The setting, although not stated in the book, is Pittsburgh, specifically Upper St. Clair. Anyone who reads the book and lived in Upper St. Clair during the time when Chbosky grew up will recognize landmarks and other references throughout the novel, such as the Big Boy restaurant and the skyline upon entering the city through the Fort Pitt Tunnel. Actor Logan Lerman plays the book’s main character, Charlie. The film’s other stars include Emma Watson, Paul Rudd, Nina Dobrev, Kate Walsh, and Mae Whitman. The producers of the film are Gillian Brown, Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Jim Powers, and Russell Smith. Shooting for the film took place all over Pittsburgh, including Dormont, the Parkway West, and Peters Township; however, the bulk of filming took place in our very own Upper St. Clair. According to publicist Sheryl Main, “for authenticity’s sake, he [Chbosky] wanted to shoot in familiar neighborhoods.” When Marcia Thomas put her house in Mill Grove on the market in March, her real estate agent called her with a “funny question.” He told her that a movie was going to be filmed in USC Township, and the production company was interested in
A transformed bedroom in a Mill Grove home served as a main character’s bedroom. 10
UPPER ST. CLAIR TODAY
Fall 2011
Shooting a winter scene
her house. Marcia had already bought a new home, so she happily allowed the producers to check out her property in Upper St. Clair. Over about a month’s span, the company visited the Mill Grove residence multiple times with different people before finally deciding to use her house. At that point, Marcia’s house was still on the market, and on April 20, she signed a contract with the production company. On April 24, Marcia and her daughter, Caroline Cherup, an Upper St. Clair High School senior at the time, moved out of their house and into the Crown Plaza Hotel on Fort Couch Road. The next day, Marcia’s real estate agent called to tell her that someone had made an offer on the house. The buyers were fine with the filming situation and settled on a price. After the crew made changes in and around the home, including painting, curtains, lighting fixtures, and landscape, filming at the Mill Grove location began on May 9. Marcia said the hours of filming varied, but the production crew was there “practically all day with 50 to 60 people in the house at any given time.” Not only was she was amazed by how many people it took for the production to come together, but she was delighted at how “extremely cooperative” the production company was through the whole transition. In fact, as I was speaking to Marcia, her furniture was being delivered to her new home through arrangements with the production company. Fellow Mill Grove area resident and Township Commissioner Bob Orchowski said, “I received some neighbor inquiries, but the onsite facility team did a stellar job in my opinion with getting hand-delivered printed information out to Mill Grove residents on what was to come and where vehicles and facilities would be
Avid onlookers