Interview: Pittsburgh Director Ali Marsh On The '70s, Parenting, & More

Pittsburgh is a 16 minute long short film that follows a little girl named Mints whose flight is diverted to the titular location because of some technical issues, thereby forcing her to share a room with one of the flight attendants, Leslie. With each passing second, Mints comes to the harrowing realization that she is surrounded by adults who don’t care about her and she has to look out for herself if she wants to survive. I sat down with director Ali Marsh for a virtual chat about her short film, the evolution of parenting, recreating the ‘70s, and more.

Film Fugitives: How did you come up with the idea of Pittsburgh and how did it evolve into a short film? 

Ali Marsh: The story of Pittsburgh is based on a somewhat nerve-wracking actual event that happened to me as a kid. I’ve heightened it, of course, but it’s always been a story that stuck with me. It feels so emblematic of that particular time. Raising kids these days is an entirely different sport. I was working on a feature with these characters, and it suddenly occurred to me that there was this short film in there, this piece of the film that could live on its own but also maybe be a Proof of Concept for the feature.  

FF: What was the thought process behind setting the story in the ‘70s? 

Ali: The story is inherently linked to the era. It just couldn’t have happened like that any time recently. Also – I’ve always just had such a fondness for the look and feel of that era. There’s a kind of innocence to it, at least compared to the world we live in now, who could have predicted how much the world would have changed, but also there’s a sort of darkness or underbelly that appeals to me; a grittiness. And of course, parenting was a whole different ball game, in fact “parenting” wasn’t even yet a verb. Kids were, in my experience, mostly an afterthought.  

FF: What were the challenges of showcasing period-accurate vehicles, clothes, hotel rooms, and an airplane cabin?  

Ali: The car was pretty easy to find; I just looked on FB Marketplace and found a car for sale and asked the guy if he’d consider renting it for a film shoot.  That car was so gorgeous. I was in love with it. The hotel, we had a total blast creating that hotel room. My incredible production design team just went to town putting together the look. I had a bunch of stuff that I owned, lamps and art. Alan Bruckner had some amazing pieces in his collection and Jamie Brzeski rented a bunch of the furniture and phone. It was a ton of work but I was so happy with how it turned out. Similarly, the plane was a pretty standard model, probably from the early 2000’s (my producer Anthony Argento was able to find it for us!) and we bought the runner for the aisle at a dollar store and got fabric for the headrests… created some period accurate signage. And of course, wardrobe and props went a long way, too.  

FF: It’s one thing to create internal shots that look period accurate. But what about the external shots, specifically the airport apron and the outside of the Allegheny Airport Hotel?  

Ali: It was all stock footage that we tweaked a little bit! 

FF: If I am not wrong, the movie explores parenting, or how irresponsible adults behave, from the POV of a child. Do you think humans, in general, have emotionally matured since the ‘70s or regressed? 

Ali: That’s a really complicated and interesting question! It probably goes in two directions, right? The world has obviously changed exponentially and we all have unfettered and immediate access to infinite ideas and perspectives; that must have moved the needle on emotional maturation in some way. But as that information pertains to raising kids, reams have been written in recent years about how we’ve gone way too far in the direction of over involvement, over-protectiveness, not allowing kids to stumble and figure stuff out on their own. On the other hand, we become adults MUCH later now than we used to. We can chalk stuff up to an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex until age 25. So, in that way… I guess we are less mature!  

FF: Do you think the “winging it” style of parenting has escalated into the practice of millennials and Gen-Z-ers refusing to become parents or getting married? 

Ali: It seems to me that the choice not to have kids, which we see a lot of these days, has more to do with despair about the future of the planet than it does about narcissism. But, I could be way off base with that theory. That would be my concern, if I were making that decision today.

FF: While Michael Esper, Annie Golden, and Nadia Quinn are undoubtedly great, Delaney Quinn is a star. And, given her filmography, she comes with quite a bit of experience at such a young age. What was it like working with her?  

Ali: Delaney is just a superstar, as you say: wildly talented and intuitive. She was a total pro and so much fun to work with. I really didn’t know what to expect, directing a ten-year-old, but I can’t imagine it’s that seamless with all of them. As for the rest of my cast: chef’s kiss!  

FF: What are your favorite movies about parenting? And why? 

Ali: Two of my favorite movies about anything, not just parenting, are Aftersun and Little Miss Sunshine. I was really inspired by both. They’re so different from each other tonally, but they both have such a profound specificity of time and place, they both move at a pace that asks you to settle in for the ride, and I feel from both films a crushing love and heartbreak at their core.  And I suppose, yeah, both films feature 10-ish year-old girls figuring out how to move through the world with the parents they’ve been dealt with. As we all do!  

FF: What are some of the movies or TV shows that have shaped your style of storytelling? 

Ali: Another film I love and I think had an impact on how I wanted to tell the story – Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and The Whale. That one really resonated with me. It’s such an elegant and subtle depiction of self-discovery.  

FF: Do you intend to turn Pittsburgh into a feature film? 

Ali: That’s the dream! Mints has more to say, and more to learn.