By TOM SOTER
During the early part of the 20th century, New York’s Long Island was a hot location for silent short movies-the 20-minute "one-reelers" that were the first hits of the film world. The Perils of Pauline used the Long Island Rail Road tracks outside the town of Bayshore, while Rudolph Valentino rode through the Sahara Desert-actually Montauk-for Return of the Sheik.
As the 21st century begins, makers of a different sort of short film-the television commercial-are finding that Long Island, and other areas outside of New York City, are ideal for their varying needs.
When Charlie Curran, an executive producer at Crossroads Films, X-1 Films, and X-Ray Productions, bicoastal and Chicago, needed a large suburban home with a swimming pool for a Tommy Hilfiger spot, he found what he needed in Huntington, a town on Long Island. The ad, "Mandy," was directed by Risa Mickenberg of X-Ray Productions, via Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners, New York. "We looked in Westchester, Long Island, and New Jersey," Curran recalls of the search for the pool. "The house in Huntington satisfied everyone."
As New York City experiences an influx in filming, the surrounding counties-Westchester to the north, and Suffolk and Nassau on Long Island-are experiencing increases in the number of productions they host. In Nassau, for example, out of 327 production days documented in ’99, 31 percent involved commercial work which, says Debra Markowitz, director of the Nassau County Film Office, amounts to about 100 spots.
Other film commissioners have no figures yet, but report that activity is steady. Christopher Cooke, director of the Suffolk County Motion Picture/TV Bureau, calculates that "we had anywhere from two hundred to five hundred commercials this year, ranging from small to huge. That’s average or above average."
"The volume is so great that we can’t keep track," says Iris Stevens, director of the Westchester County Film Office, who notes that in addition to spotwork, the county attracts a number of feature projects. Among the advertisers who have had spots lensed in Westchester are Burger King, Wendy’s, Tommy Hilfiger, Ford, Southwest Airlines, UPS, TNT, the NBA, and the New York Lottery.
"Historically, there’s a tremendous amount of activity in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Hudson Valley, and upstate," says Pat Swinney Kaufman, deputy commissioner and director of the New York State Office for Motion Picture and Television Development. "A lot of big commercials go up to the Finger Lakes because you have beautiful areas and incredible driving shots."
"We did more work in the suburbs of New York in 1999 than we did in 1998," says Curran. "There was just more production going on. It was a pretty busy year."
Main Street
Producers and county commissioners report that Long Island and Westchester are in many ways an "undiscovered country" that’s ideal for the "Anywhere, U.S.A." sites frequently needed for commercials. When producers require small towns or beach fronts, country roads or stately homes, they turn to Long Island, which has everything from Gold Coast mansions on the north shore to suburban cul-de-sacs, office buildings, huge warehouses, beaches and parks.
"We have a lot of car commercials that utilize the Robert Moses Causeway, which runs east from Jones Beach," says Cooke. "It’s a completely clutter-free stretch, with dunes on one side and a bay and marshland on the other. [There are] no houses, no telephone poles-just a clear horizon. It’s very generic."
Having a variety of looks can save time and money. Curran says that for a New York Lottery spot, "New Fall Line-Up," directed by Spencer Leigh of X-1 Films for Grey Advertising, New York, he was able to find different-looking locations that were in close proximity to each other. "Doing that makes it very economical," he explains. "We wanted a beach, a marina, and a ball field-a lot of typical yet unique-looking outdoor locales."
There are also convenience and economic benefits to shooting so closely to New York City. Productions using New York City crews for non-New York City locations is feasible because of the production union’s "25-mile radius" rule, which states that if a location site is within a 25-mile radius of Manhattan’s Columbus Circle, the producer does not have to pay its crew the full rate for travel time to the destination. "Half of Westchester falls within that zone," Stevens reports.
The production for "Anthem," a PECO Energy spot out of Tierney & Partners, Philadelphia, directed by Paula Greif of bicoastal Epoch Films, took advantage of that "radius" break. "We shot it in Long Island because we were looking for a particular type of house," explains John DuBois, a producer at Epoch. "We needed to have good exteriors and different kinds of looks inside. Long Island is good because there is undiscovered territory if you go far enough out, and we can use New York City crews."
The commercial features a number of vignettes involving children taking part in PECO’s different enrichment programs. "The kids would act out their imaginative play after they had been at the enrichment centers," explains DuBois. "We had five vignettes at home and in the yard."
The only drawback to going beyond the city is a lack of sound stages, but generally such stages are not why productions are drawn to the area. "We do have facilities, but ninety five percent of what’s done here is location work," says Cooke, adding that a new production facility outside East Hampton is scheduled for completion in March.
Scouting Report
The film commissioners point out that they have done extensive work promoting their respective areas to New York City and out-of-state producers, putting together film and video guides, attending trade shows, and advertising. "We are very interested in expanding contacts in commercial production," Kaufman says.
The commissions help in other ways. "We act as a contact with all areas," says Markowitz. "Some may want to film at Nassau Beach, for instance. That’s a great beach, but it’s costly. Jones Beach, however, is free. They’re both in Nassau, so we know where to send them to save money. We are also able to do extensive research. They want a beach, so we’ll give them a list of 20 different beaches that they can contact." For instance, when MTV was shooting a promo, the producers wanted a 7-Eleven convenience store, but, Markowitz recalls, "7-Eleven was not cooperating. [So instead] we found something in the town of Bellmore that looked like a 7-Eleven, a place called The Right Stop."
The suburban film commissioners try to make the permitting process easy, but that often depends on the towns and communities where filming is planned. "Usually we deal with local officials, not the film commission," notes Curran. "Some are more helpful than others. I can understand why some little towns might not want a lot of trucks and people tramping around. Permitting is streamlined in some towns, but in others you have to talk to the city council, and they don’t convene for six months. That’s when you say ‘See ya.’ We tend to go back to the friendlier ones."
Although commercial work is going outside the Big Apple, a spokeswoman for the city’s film office says no one is worried. "We work in tandem with the governor’s office," says Julianne Cho, director of special events and publicity at the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting. "There are a lot of looks you can get in the five boroughs, even farmlands. When we’ve exhausted the five boroughs, we make referrals to the governor’s office, and they make referrals back to us."
Cho reports that commercial production shooting days have increased in New York City-up 11 percent between ’97 and ’98-and "that only describes location work for commercials. It does not include tabletop and studio work in the city."
In the end, the two locales offer vastly different choices, satisfying very different needs. "There is no way we can compete with New York City. It’s very urban," Cooke says. "Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges. We are very happy to attract ad agencies, production companies from Manhattan or wherever. But we also attract [productions] from California and Europe."
"New York State is a very film-friendly place," adds Kaufman. "We have New York City, the jewel in the crown, and we have an incredible rest of the state. You can come for a New York City look, and you have every other look that is needed at your fingertips: rural, suburban, and mountain lakes. We have everything that you can conceive of."
Endeavor Group Sells Professional Bull Riders, On Location and IMG To Parent of WWE and UFC
The parent company of WWE and UFC is buying Professional Bull Riders, On Location, and IMG from Endeavor Group in an all-stock deal valued at $3.25 billion.
The deal is part of Endeavor's efforts to shed some of its assets as it looks to be taken private in a proposed transaction with private equity firm Silver Lake, which was announced in April. Ariel Emanuel, who serves as CEO of Endeavor, is also executive chair and CEO of TKO.
Professional Bull Riders is a bull riding league that has more than 200 annual live events, approximately 1.25 million fans, and reaches more than 285 million households in more than 65 territories. On Location is live event company for more than 1,200 sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, Ryder Cup and NCAA Final Four. IMG is a distributor and producer of sports content, packages and sells media rights and brand partnerships, and provides consulting, digital services and event management to clients such as the National Football League and National Hockey League.
Parent company TKO Group said Thursday that the acquisition from Endeavor Group will complement its existing businesses as well as broaden its reach in the premium sports market.
"PBR, On Location, and IMG are industry-leading assets that meaningfully enhance TKO's portfolio and strengthen our position in premium sports globally," TKO Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro said in a statement. "Within TKO, they will help power the growth of our revenue streams and position us to capture even more upside from some of the most attractive parts of our sports ecosystem: media rights, live events, ticket sales, premium experiences, brand partnerships, and site fees."
As part of the deal, Endeavor will receive about 26.14 million common units of TKO... Read More