BHS workers see the 'Coopers'
PITTSBURGH — About 350 Butler Health System employees Wednesday got a sneak peek at a feature film that shot several scenes inside Butler Memorial Hospital.
“Love the Coopers,” which was originally titled “Let it Snow,” made its Pittsburgh premiere Wednesday at AMC Loews Waterfront Theater. The movie, produced by CBS Films, will have its wide release Nov. 13.
It was screened in front of an audience that included people from the region who appear in the movie and those who worked on it.
Though the cast was not on hand director Jessie Nelson was there and answered questions from the audience after the screening.
The movie takes place on Christmas Eve and follows the activities of the Cooper family members as they prepare to meet for dinner.
The cast includes John Goodman, Diane Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Alan Arkin, Olivia Wilde, Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried, Anthony Mackie and Jake Lacy.
The film is set in Pittsburgh and filmed at numerous locations in January and February. The dinner scene was filmed on a set, but other scenes were filmed at Pittsburgh International Airport, the Point Breeze neighborhood, the Galleria at Mount Lebanon shopping mall and Sewickley borough.
Butler Memorial Hospital, called “First Butler Hospital” in the movie, is used for the film's final sequence of events after one of the family members has a medical emergency.
It was the only location used in Western Pennsylvania where all the main members of the cast were included in filming, said Jana Panther, Butler Health System marketing director.
Shooting took place over five days in February, though the patients and employees were not affected because much of the filming took place in the lobby, gift shop and a wing of the hospital that was being used mainly for storage at the time.
Because of its involvement, BHS was given several hundred tickets which were given to interested employees after a drawing, Panther said.
BHS president and CEO Ken DeFurio said the hospital was first scouted and used for filming for one day in November 2014 for “Concussion” a drama starring Will Smith that is set to be released on Dec. 25.
Filming for that movie simply consisted of getting shots of a laboratory.
Though “Concussion” and “Love the Coopers” were produced and distributed by different companies, they used the same company for scouting locations around the region and BHS was approached a second time about hosting a longer shoot including more cast and crew, DeFurio said.
Before approving the shoot, DeFurio said administrators wanted to make sure that it would not be disruptive to patients and that the movie was family friendly and would not conflict with the values of the hospital.
Having the movie crew around for a week ended up being a positive experience, he said.
“Everybody from the director, to the actors and the entire crew, they couldn't have been more respectful. They did a great job of controlling traffic, it went very well,” he said.
The staff also got to witness first hand what goes into making a movie. Each day of filming started around 6 a.m. and continued until after midnight. While the actors were on the set, they also had body doubles dressed in the same exact outfits to help prepare cameras and lighting. The crew also brought machines that made snow, which was falling outside the windows in a couple scenes.Numerous areas in the hospital had to be painted or decorated as if it were Christmas time, though nothing was permanent.“Everything was completely restored, in fact they left it in better shape than when they got there,” DeFurio said.Greeted with a strong round of applause, director Jessie Nelson did a short question and answer program after the screening.She thanked the local people who helped make the movie a reality.“We had such an incredible experience shooting in Pittsburgh. There is a piece of all of you in this movie,” she said.The movie was written by Steven Rogers and took four-and-a-half years to go from a screenplay to a finished product, she said.She is hopeful that people will find “Love the Coopers” both meaningful and enjoyable.“I'm happy when people enjoy it. You make a movie to connect with an audience,” she said.It was challenging, but also rewarding, to assemble a cast that included Academy Award winning talents such as Keaton, Tomei and Arkin.“You learn every minute you direct,” she said about working with the cast.BHS employee Dee Dee Edwards said after the screening that she enjoyed the film, both for the story and getting to see the finished product after witnessing some of the shooting.“I felt every emotion that a person could possibly feel. I thought it was wonderful,” she said.
