Turning Art Rooney’s Story into a Movie

The Chief, the play that expertly captures the life story of Steelers founder Art Rooney, hasn’t gone Hollywood quite yet, but Tom Chaffee is working on it.

Chaffee is a managing partner of The Chief Partners and the group has at least ensured Rooney’s story will exist in perpetuity with the play having run its course after almost a decade. The Chief is now a movie—it is available on DVD for $19.99—and it is a must-add to a Steelers fan’s video library, along with broadcasts of the six Super Bowl victories and various other games.

The remake of The Chief preserves the integrity of the play—Pittsburgh native Tom Atkins, no stranger to Hollywood, performed sublimely as Rooney—while also enhancing it.

“The movie’s better than the play simply because we were able to capture what we felt were the best performances of Tom,” said Chaffee, the executive producer of the movie.

Chaffee and his production team did that, after securing movie rights in 2009, by filming The Chief at Shadyside Academy with a crew of 30–35 people and an audience. The setting and the live audience kept the feel of a play. The freedom to shoot scenes as many times as they wanted ensured they would get Atkins at his best throughout The Chief.

They also added interviews at the end of the movie with Dan and Art Rooney Jr. and former Steelers players among others to complement the one-man play.

WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh aired the movie in August 2015. Chaffee is hoping for a national airing of The Chief, something the NFL can tie into a celebration such as the start of a new season or the Super Bowl.

“There’s so many people that need to see this film that haven’t,” Chaffee said.

No argument here.