With seven additional television series filming in New York City so far this year—on top of many that have been here for a number of seasons—the city is on track to have another record year of growth in the film-production industry.
During the last season, which ended in May, a record 52 prime-time episodic television series filmed in New York City, a 13% increase from the previous year. During the same time period, the city was home to 336 feature-film projects, an almost 40% increase from 2015.
“The industry has seen tremendous growth in recent years,” Julie Menin, the city’s film commissioner, said in her testimony to the City Council’s Committee on Technology Feb. 6. The hearing was about the economic impact of the film and television industry on the city and was chaired by Councilman James Vacca, D-Bronx.
article continues below advertisement
Menin said the production boom stemmed from two factors: the state’s annual $420 million tax credit, which has made it financially feasible for productions to film in New York since its inception in 2004, and the overall growth of the television sector.
“A dozen years ago, four networks were filming scripted content in New York City,” Menin said in her testimony. “Today about 20 networks are shooting television series.”
The biggest coup is ABC’s hit show Quantico, which moved its shooting location to the city from Montreal for its second season. Filming of its 22 episodes began in July at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City and generated an estimated $68 million in production costs and created at least 300 jobs.
The other shows are CBS’ Bull and TBS’ The Detour, which both filmed at Broadway Stages; Homeland, the Showtime CIA drama, which shot its sixth season at Cine Magic East in Brooklyn; The Breaks, a new VH1 show that filmed at Eastern Effects in Brooklyn; CBS’ The Good Fight, a spinoff of The Good Wife that just wrapped shooting at Broadway Stages; and Time After Time, a new ABC science fiction show currently taking up half the space at Silvercup’s new studio in the Port Morris section of the Bronx.
The production boom has had a tremendous economic impact on the city, Menin said. She cited a 2015 report by Boston Consulting Group that found the film and TV industry has recently been contributing close to $9 billion annually to the local economy, 21% more than it did in 2011.
Menin said her agency’s goal was to encourage more productions to do their location work in the boroughs outside of Manhattan so the businesses in those neighborhoods could benefit from the increased foot traffic coming from the film crews. Filming in the Bronx grew 28% from 2014 to 2015, Menin said, and will likely grow further with the opening of Silvercup Studios North in the Bronx last August.
Despite the increase in film production, Menin said the number of complaints from residents about filming in their neighborhoods was “quite low.” Out of 19,378,299 calls to 311 this past year, only 1,053—or .005%—were about film production. Menin attributed the small number of complaints to steps her agency has taken to better notify communities in advance about filming and to require productions to post signs providing residents with contact information if they have any questions.
Barry Grodenchik, city councilman for the 23rd district in Eastern Queens, said he has not received a “single complaint” from his constituents about filming in a while.
With seven additional television series filming in New York City so far this year—on top of many that have been here for a number of seasons—the city is on track to have another record year of growth in the film-production industry.
During the last season, which ended in May, a record 52 prime-time episodic television series filmed in New York City, a 13% increase from the previous year. During the same time period, the city was home to 336 feature-film projects, an almost 40% increase from 2015.
“The industry has seen tremendous growth in recent years,” Julie Menin, the city’s film commissioner, said in her testimony to the City Council’s Committee on Technology Feb. 6. The hearing was about the economic impact of the film and television industry on the city and was chaired by Councilman James Vacca, D-Bronx.
Menin said the production boom stemmed from two factors: the state’s annual $420 million tax credit, which has made it financially feasible for productions to film in New York since its inception in 2004, and the overall growth of the television sector.
“A dozen years ago, four networks were filming scripted content in New York City,” Menin said in her testimony. “Today about 20 networks are shooting television series.”
The biggest coup is ABC’s hit show Quantico, which moved its shooting location to the city from Montreal for its second season. Filming of its 22 episodes began in July at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City and generated an estimated $68 million in production costs and created at least 300 jobs.
The other shows are CBS’ Bull and TBS’ The Detour, which both filmed at Broadway Stages; Homeland, the Showtime CIA drama, which shot its sixth season at Cine Magic East in Brooklyn; The Breaks, a new VH1 show that filmed at Eastern Effects in Brooklyn; CBS’ The Good Fight, a spinoff of The Good Wife that just wrapped shooting at Broadway Stages; and Time After Time, a new ABC science fiction show currently taking up half the space at Silvercup’s new studio in the Port Morris section of the Bronx.
The production boom has had a tremendous economic impact on the city, Menin said. She cited a 2015 report by Boston Consulting Group that found the film and TV industry has recently been contributing close to $9 billion annually to the local economy, 21% more than it did in 2011.
Menin said her agency’s goal was to encourage more productions to do their location work in the boroughs outside of Manhattan so the businesses in those neighborhoods could benefit from the increased foot traffic coming from the film crews. Filming in the Bronx grew 28% from 2014 to 2015, Menin said, and will likely grow further with the opening of Silvercup Studios North in the Bronx last August.
Despite the increase in film production, Menin said the number of complaints from residents about filming in their neighborhoods was “quite low.” Out of 19,378,299 calls to 311 this past year, only 1,053—or .005%—were about film production. Menin attributed the small number of complaints to steps her agency has taken to better notify communities in advance about filming and to require productions to post signs providing residents with contact information if they have any questions.
Barry Grodenchik, city councilman for the 23rd district in Eastern Queens, said he has not received a “single complaint” from his constituents about filming in a while.
Sign up for our FREE weekly email newsletter featuring news coverage of NYC’s film, television and Broadway industries.
More Newsletters ›
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
