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City of Steel

City of Steel is a 1 hour 30 minute documentary film about the rise and fall of the American steel industry in the greater Pittsburgh area. For over 100 years, communities around the Pittsburgh area were linked to the steel mills. It was a way of life that was passed on from generation to generation. Starting in the 1980's, the forces of globalization substantially wiped out this entire industry, throwing families and communities into a sudden decline.

Bruce Spiegel returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh to tell this important story that is lost on most Americans. It is a personal story of the human spirit and the bond that people had with the steel mills. It is a way of life that will never return and it is a story that must be told before we lose an entire generation of people who once lived it.

  • Bruce Spiegel
    Director
    Bill Evans Time Remembered
  • Bruce Spiegel
    Producer
    Bill Evans Time Remembered
  • Mike Stout
    Key Cast
    "Steelworker"
  • Steffi Domike
    Key Cast
    "Steelworker"
  • Joe Procacina
    Key Cast
    "Steelworker"
  • Charlie McCollester
    Key Cast
    "Steelworker"
  • Butch Katzanas
    Key Cast
    "Steelworker"
  • Moses Youngblood
    Key Cast
    "Steelworker"
  • William Hilla
    Key Cast
    "Steelworker"
  • David Jardin
    Key Cast
    "Historian"
  • Jo Ann Strichko
    Key Cast
    "Steelworker"
  • Ray Henderson
    Key Cast
    "Steelworker"
  • Barnie Oursler
    Key Cast
    "Steelworker"
  • Mike Bilcsik
    Key Cast
    "Steelworker"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 31 minutes 50 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 3, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    6,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Premiere Screening
    Pittsburgh, PA
    United States
    December 3, 2022
    American
  • The Impact DOCS Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    January 24, 2023
    Merit Award
Director Biography - Bruce Spiegel

For the last 25 years, Bruce Spiegel has been a producer/editor at CBS News/48 Hours. During that time, he’s also produced, edited and directed a number of films and documentaries. In 2002 he co-produced the award-winning TV documentary “9-11” which won both an Emmy (2002) and Peabody Award (2003). In 2012, alongside Wynton Marsalis (jazz musician and artistic director at Jazz at Lincoln Center) and Hugh Masakela (South African music legend), Spiegel co-produced a CBS News/48 Hours TV documentary titled “Nelson Mandela: Father of a Nation”. In the late 80’s Spiegel wrote and edited “Machito, A Latin Jazz Legacy”, a documentary that chronicled the rise of Latin music in the 40’s an 50’s. It has screened worldwide, and was the Jury Prize Winner at the 1986 San Antonio Film Festival and the First Prize Winner at the San Juan Film Festival in 1988. In 2006, he directed and produced “Long Road Home”, a documentary about John Malangone, a baseball phenomenon destined to be the next great Yankee catcher. The film won first prize at the Baseball Hall of Fame Festival in 2007. In 2015, Spiegel released a documentary titled “Bill Evans: Time Remembered” which tells the story of Bill Evans turbulent life and his unprecedented contribution to the jazz community.

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Director Statement

I grew up in Pittsburgh and for my generation Pittsburgh steelmaking was ingrained in our lives. Thousands of workers from the Mon Valley to Aliquippa made steel. It was a 24 x 7 operation and the mills became a permanent fixture in our lives.

Skyscrapers, cars, tanks, battleships, and guns were made of steel. From my bedroom window, I looked out at the Homestead Mills burning purple and red flames deep into the night. I thought steelmaking was never going to end. But in fact, it did.

From 1981 to 1986 the Pittsburgh Steel Mills disappeared and 153,000 workers lost their jobs and livelihood. What happened to this great and powerful industry? What were the signposts and events that led to this? This is the heart and soul of the film “CITY OF STEEL”

Over a 3-year period, I interviewed mostly steel workers about what happened here. Most of these workers, like Mike Stout, Charlie McCollester, Steffi Domike and Barney Oursler, were not just steel workers, but they were on the front lines of battling management when steel went into its decline. They really offer a unique approach on what actually happened to steel in Pittsburgh. And along the way, you get to see and “feel” the process of steelmaking and the sense of pride and accomplishment that these workers had in producing steel. I tip my hat to all the steelworkers who worked so hard in the mills. This is your story. A 90-minute documentary film titled: City of Steel.