Happy Thanksgiving to all from the Hudson Valley Film Commission.
Photo: Company 1 Productions
After a record breaking third quarter, we’re all very thankful for the many productions and hundreds of jobs (and millions spent) that resulted over the past several months from the whirlwind of regional filmmaking including Elyse Duran’s CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET (BCDF Picture), Keith Bearden’s ANTARCTICA and STUDY ABROAD, a Chinese production from EnMaze Pictures that brought more than 50 actors and crew members to the region from Beijing, China.
Other productions included Keith Boynton’s THE SCOTTISH PLAY (Choice Films/Umbra Studios), SHOPLIFTERS OF THE WORLD from director Stephen Kijak and Rebecca Eskreis’ WHAT BREAKS THE ICE. On the TV front, Amazon Studios’ filmed part of the pilot for the upcoming series PANIC in the region.
On the post production side, picture editing has been in full swing on many projects including John Swab’s RUN WITH THE HUNTED, Michael Cristofer’s THE NIGHT CLERK and Robert Stone’s three part documentary mini-series, CHASING THE MOON.
On the distribution front, it’s been an exciting time for films that were produced in the Hudson Valley. LAST VERMONT CHRISTMAS premiered on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries on November 19. Writer, director Patrick Wang’s two parter, A BREAD FACTORY (For the Sake of Gold & Walk With Me a While), premiered at TSL in Hudson, the Village East Cinema, NYC and the Laemmle Monica Film Center in Los Angeles. The films have received wonderful reviews and were recently honored with two Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations, including the John Cassavetes Award presented to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000, and Tyne Daly nominated for Best Supporting Female. Grindstone Entertainment Group’s recently acquired Yale Productions’ CRYPTO, which was produced this spring in the Hudson Valley. Directed by John Stalberg, Jr., CRYPTO stars Beau Knapp (Seven Seconds, The Nice Guys), Alexis Bledel (The Handmaid’s Tale, Gilmore Girls), Kurt Russell (The Hateful Eight), Luke Hemsworth (Westworld), Jeremie Harris (Legion) and Vincent Kartheiser (Mad Men).
On the Hollywood blockbuster front, WELCOME TO MARWEN is the second feature directed by the legendary director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Castaway, Forest Gump) that features an Ulster County Resident.
THE WALK, which screened at the 2015 Woodstock Film Festival, is based on the Academy Award winning documentary MAN ON WIRE about high wire artist Philippe Petit. Before production, in 2014, actor Joseph Gordon Leavitt visited the region and practiced tightrope walking under the tutelage of Philippe Petit at Tech City in the Town of Ulster.
WELCOME TO MARWEN is based on the award winning documentary MARWENCOL, directed by Jeff Malmberg. The doc was produced in Ulster County in 2009 and screened at the 2010 Woodstock Film Festival, where it received the Best Documentary award. It was the first screening that Mark Hogancamp was able to attend.
Zemeckis is also executive producer of the NBC TV show MANIFEST, which filmed scenes for its pilot episode at Stewart Airport and more recently produced (11/20) parts of another episode in Suffern, NY.
Stay tuned for additional details and more Hudson Valley FILM NEWS.