Hollywood on the Cuyahoga: Northeast Ohio and the Movies

Hollywood on the Cuyahoga: Northeast Ohio and the Movies, sponsored by PNC Bank, showcases the region’s important contributions to the movie industry, which brings over $100 million to the local economy each year. Hollywood on the Cuyahoga: Northeast Ohio and the Movies complements “Ohio Goes to the Movies”, a statewide film festival and signature event of America 250-Ohio in 2026 that features Ohio actors, directors, writers, composers and others who bring the magic of the movies to life.

Hollywood on the Cuyahoga is a journey through Northeast Ohio movie history, and it is a remarkable one. The land that produces such well-known stars as Bob Hope, Paul Newman and Halle Berry, also produced legendary figures behind the camera. The Warner Brothers, directors Wes Craven and Jim Jarmusch, composer Henry Mancini and screenwriter Joe Esterházy all trace their roots back to Northeast Ohio. In the first half of the 20th century, Cleveland was the biggest center of movie poster publication in the country. In the 1950s,60s and 70s Cleveland became the capital of industrial filmmaking. And, since the 1980s, this region has seen scores of top moviemakers filming in our cities, suburbs and country sides. With the creation of the Cleveland Film Commission in the 1990s, film and TV production really began to grow with multiple productions taking place in the city at the same time and hundreds of professionals earning a living working those productions.