Where was Mindhunter shot? Revisiting key filming locations of Netflix’s hit thriller series

Netflix's breakthrough crime thriller series Mindhunter is based on the FBI Special Agent John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker's eponymous 1995 true crime book Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit.

The show, created by Joe Penhall, first premiered on Netflix on October 13, 2017. A second season was released in 2019. While the show achieved positive reviews from audiences and showed great potential, Netflix announced that the fate of the series is on an 'indefinite hold'.

Mindhunter is led by Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Anna Torv, who pose as agents aiming to establish the Behavioral Science Unit in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and lay the groundwork for criminal profiling in the 1970s.

While the agents traveled across the country to interview some of the most notorious serial killers recorded in history, much of the show was shot in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Netflix's Mindhunter was shot in Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

According to de facto showrunner and executive producer David Fincher, most of the thriller series is shot in Pittsburgh:

“We went looking for a place that could give us a lot of different looks: flatlands, farms, downtowns, urban areas under bridges and we all converged on Pittsburgh.”

The lot on 31st Studio Street was used to film a majority of scenes, like Agent Ford's apartment and the FBI headquarters. Since both of these locations were heavily featured in the show, Pittsburgh can be said to be the most featured Pennsylvania location in Mindhunter. Additionally, Shaffer Elementary School, Benedum Center for the Performing Arts and Carnegie Mellon University are two other Pittsburgh locations featured in the series, the latter of which was disguised as the late-1970s George Washington University.

Washington

In addition to Pittsburgh, Washington is another Pennsylvania state heavily featured in Netflix's Mindhunter. In the Pilot, when Agent Ford travels to Charlottesville, the scenes were shot on the campus of Jefferson College in Washington. In another scene from the Pilot, when Holden and Debbie leave together, the building featured is the George Washington Hotel at S. Main St and Cherry St.

Additionally, Lazear Hall in the John A. Swanson Science Center was disguised to appear as a college in Boston in one of the scenes.

Allegheny County

Agent Bill Tench's house was located on Mount Lebanon in Allegheny County. The Mindhunter crew aptly recognized that Hamilton Avenue in Homewood hasn't changed much of its architecture in the past 40 years, and thus became a convenient filming location for the thriller series.

Additionally, some scenes were also shot at the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin.

Additional filming locations for Mindhunter

In Mindhunter Season 2, when Agent Tench flies back home, you can see the San Francisco terminal on top of the Monroeville Mall in Pennsylvania. Some of the additional filming locations are as follows:

State Correctional Institution in Greensburg (disguised as the Salem Oregon State Penitentiary)
West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville (disguised as the Joliet Correctional Center in Illinois)
Oaks Theater in Oakmont
Lysle Boulevard of McKeesport (used as the Sacramento Police Department in California)
Kittanning's Market Street
Armstrong County Courthouse
West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville (used as Joliet Correctional Center in Illinois)
Butler County Courthouse
Merchant Street in Ambridge
Mt Lebanon Christian Church
Strand Theater in Zelienople
Longue Vue Club in Verona (used as the Stoneridge Resort in Virginia)

What is Mindhunter about?

Netflix's 2017 psychological crime thriller series is unlike any other crime show on the small screen. Set in 1977, Virginia, the show follows the early days of criminal profiling when FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench worked alongside psychologist Wendy Carr to establish the FBI Behavioral Science Unit. The dedicated trio traveled across the country to interview serial killers and use that information to solve ongoing cases.

Season 1 of Mindhunter featured many infamous and real-life serial killers like Richard Speck, Edmund Kemper, Dennis Rader (the BTK Killer), Jerry Brudos and Montie Rissel. Season 2, which takes place between 1980 and 1981, featured the likes of David Berkowitz (Son of Sam killer), William Pierce Jr., Charles Manson, and Elmer Wayne Henley Jr.

Both seasons of the crime series are streaming on Netflix.

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Edited by Aashna

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