In recent years, there has been a number of proposals for sound- stages in New York City and its environs. Some of the projects never really got off the ground. For example, independent film studio The Shooting Gallery, New York, which also maintains a commercial division, Shooting Gallery Productions, had ambitious plans for a complex of 15 soundstages at a cost of $75 million on a 41-acre site in Harrison, N.J. However, that plan was abandoned when the company decided to open a smaller complex in New York. Another stage project, The Hudson River Studios, which would have consisted of five soundstages atop a downtown Manhattan office building, was scrapped when two soap operas set to use some of the space backed out.
Nonetheless, there have also been some significant steps forward for stage complexes in New York. Last summer, Silvercup Studios, Long Island City, N.Y., opened an additional facility, Silvercup East (SHOOT, 5/14/99). The five-stage operation, located about a mile away from the original complex, is doing well, according to CEO Alan Suna. "Its worked out fine. Theres been a lot of commercials over there," he says. Among the commercial production companies utilizing the new facilities are: The Directors Bureau, Hollywood, a satellite of bicoastal HKM Productions; bicoastal/international @radical. media; and bicoastal Headquarters. And Kaufman Astoria Studios, Astoria, N.Y., plans to add a seventh studio to its complex.
Just one borough away, The Brooklyn Navy Yard project continues. If completed as planned, that project would include 11 soundstages. The Navy Yard has been the subject of much public speculation. The original plan was spearheaded by Cary Hart and Louis Madigan, president and CEO, respectively, of New York Studios, which holds the rights to develop the Navy Yard. Last year, Miramax Films, New York, and Tribeca Productions, the New York-based production company owned by actor Robert DeNiro, along with Vornado Realty, Saddlebrook, N.J., expressed an interest in developing their own stage complex on the site, and that plan seemed to be moving forward (SHOOT, 5/14/99). Last October, New York Studios, along with Steiner Equities, Roseland, N.J., was chosen by New York City because the deal supposedly presented a better financial picture than the one being put together by the Miramax/Tribeca contingent (SHOOT, 10/22/99, p.1).
Since then, construction has begun on the Navy Yard project. "Presently we’re demolishing two large, existing buildings on the property," says Hart. There hasn’t been much news lately about the Navy Yard project, which had seen its share of controversy: "There was so much political stuff going on in the press for so long that we thought it wise to lay back and get it built," Hart says. Schematic designs are underway for the new facility, which is being constructed from scratch. "That’s been one of the problems in New York," explains Hart. "Most of what you see is some retro-fit in existing shell. These are built to spec." Completion is slated for mid- to late 2001.
Meanwhile, New York media have revealed that DeNiro and Miramax are still considering an entry into the studio business. They are reportedly looking at the Harrison site once considered by The Shooting Gallery, as well as spaces in Yonkers, N.Y., and unspecified locations in Connecticut.
EAST END
In addition to the stages being built and considered in the five boroughs, a new soundstage has opened on Long Island, near the Hamptons. "We have a bunch of people living out here that go into the city all the time, and they’re dying not to have to do that," says Frazer Dougherty, president of Pinewood West, the new stage located in Wainscott, near East Hampton, N.Y. Dougherty is referring to eastern Long Island residents who are involved in commercial and film production, and could become potential clients of the new stage. The name Pinewood refers to the famed British studio located in Iver Heath, England.
One East End resident, actor Alec Baldwin, spoke at the stage’s ribbon-cutting ceremony in May, and according to Dougherty, Baldwin "said he never wants to shoot anything in Canada again. He wants to stay home. He has a bunch of productions and he wants to shoot them here."
Chris Cooke, director of the Suffolk County Motion Picture/TV Bureau, is enthusiastic about the new facility. "I think it’s a terrific first step toward truly serving feature film and commercial projects that heretofore had not had a true soundstage, to use for interiors or cover sets," he says. "It is truly the first real soundstage to be built in Suffolk County, probably since the twenties."
Cooke believes a number of people involved in production, who are either full-time or part-time residents, will utilize the new stage. "I think the majority of the users will be commercial directors who have some connection with the Hamptonsawhether they’re part-time residents or whether their clients are part-time residents," he explains. "An awful lot of the commercial and print activity that takes place in Suffolk County is connected with people at either the executive level or creative level who have a thing for the Hamptons.
"The other [users] would be the star director/producers," continues Cooke. "Certainly there’s a lot of big name talent living almost year-round in the Hamptons. They’d much rather film in East Hampton than Canada or Los Angeles."
Dougherty points out another reason to shoot in eastern Long Island: "Anytime there’s a production where this physical community is a part of the story, then that’s a natural."
When asked if the film commission will be promoting the new facility, Cooke says, "It’s going to be high on our agenda for the next couple of years. We did similar promotions with a television production studio in Islandia, N.Y., called Pro Image Studios."
Dougherty heads up LTV, a non-profit, public access television provider for eastern Long Island. Pinewood West operates both the new soundstage and an older building that houses three television studios, a facility that LTV continues to use. Dougherty explains that "Pinewood West really is a name change. It started out as being the LTV Media Center, which had always been a part of LTV. We technically and legally call it Pinewood West. And we have set up a firewall between public access television and the media center/Pinewood West so that there are two boards of directors. All LTV public access is doing is renting a space in the [older] building."
Cooke points out that there really aren’t any other soundstages in Suffolk County. "Most of the spaces are used on an ad hoc basis," he says. "They’re usually industrial spaces, warehouses, gymnasiums or something with a high ceiling and a lot of square footage, but not built specifically for film or TV."
Despite the lack of soundstages in Suffolk County, plenty of shoots take place thereaalthough Cooke says that since the film commission doesn’t issue shooting permits (except for shoots that occur on county property), it’s difficult to gauge local film production activity. "The number of shoots is so large that we cannot calculate it. It’s completely seasonal," he says. "From April through November, there is at least a commercial a day being filmed somewhere on the East End. A There’s a tremendous amount of activity."
Cooke feels that Pinewood West will bring even more shoots into the area. "It will definitely increase production simply because it is a facility that did not exist until these folks went out on a limb and decided that they would take a gamble on building the structure and continuing the search for users," he explains. "I think the users are definitely there, although it may take some time to develop a strong client base. Usually with these things, you have three or four big hitters that use the space, and things fall like dominoes after that."
Pinewood West’s 18,000-square-foot, single-stage facility took about a year to build. The stage will officially open once its certificate of occupancy comes through. Dougherty expects it to be used for various types of shoots, including commercials.
Dougherty, who’s been involved with public access television since the early ’80s, first got the idea to build a soundstage a few years ago. At the time, he was talking with individuals who hoped to produce a feature film. "We casually said, ‘We’ll provide you with a soundstage if you do the movie here.’" What he meant, though, was that he would build a soundstage. The film was never made, but the exchange "set the thought in motion," he says.
When asked who the stage project’s backers are, Dougherty says, "The Bank of America and a couple of co-signers," one of which is himself.
Any community fears about Pinewood West were allayed by Baldwin’s presentation at the stage’s opening ceremony, according to Dougherty. What were those concerns? "That we’d get to be like Hollywood. One of the reasons we called it Pinewood West was so that the press wouldn’t call it Hollywood East. I think that guys like Spielberg, Baldwin, [Roy] Scheider, et- cetera, don’t want to live in a place called Hollywood East." !
