January 2023 has been a busy time for many regional films, TV shows and filmmakers. Here are a few highlights from the past week including Premieres, Academy Award nominations, and more

On Saturday, January 21, THEATER CAMP premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

First-time feature directorial duo Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman authentically celebrate the brilliant and slightly unhinged educators and magical spaces that allow kids to be themselves and find their confidence, nailing the details after experiencing decades of camp life. The film features a winning comedic ensemble cast and boundless creativity.

The film features Amy Sedaris, Jimmy Tatro, Ben Platt and Molly Gordon. Filming took place in June of 2022 in Warwick and at the Newburgh Unity Armory. HBG Casting handled background, and many regional crew members participated.

Variety wrote: “Longtime friends Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman have assembled an intermittently amusing, mostly ad-libbed, wannabe 'Waiting for Guffman' set in the world of junior acting programs.” Click here to read review in Variety

On Sunday, January 22, THE TUBA THIEVES premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Alison O’Daniel and Laurent Rejto on location at Maverick Concerts

THE TUBA THIEVES, directed by Alison O’Daniel, fictionalizes real events and lived experiences through a cinematic language that mirrors the experience of being hard of hearing: overlapping narratives, obscured visual framing, and captions that present a third narrative equal to image and sound. The film unfolds between 2011 and 2013 during a rash of tuba thefts from Los Angeles schools. Nyke Prince and Geovanny Marroquin play fictionalized versions of their lives. Nyke, who is Deaf, is given a drum kit and an empty practice room and navigates her relationship to music with her hearing boyfriend and hearing father. In other parts of Los Angeles, Geovanny and other high school students impacted by the tuba thefts perform at football games and hang out after school.

Their stories are interrupted by reenactments of historic concerts where audiences experienced music through ‘silence’—John Cage’s 1952 premiere of 4’33” where a pianist sat at a piano for 4 minutes and 33 seconds without playing a note. Second, the 1979 final punk show at the Deaf Club in San Francisco, a social club for the Deaf that hosted west coast punk shows. And lastly, Prince’s surprise 1984 free concert at the Deaf University Gallaudet on his Purple Rain tour.

The 1952 premiere of 4’33” was filmed where the premiere actually took place: Maverick Concerts: the oldest continuous summer chamber music festival in America.

For more details, visit https://creative-capital.org/projects/the-tuba-thieves
Click here to read review in Indiewire

On Sunday, January 22, WITH PETER BRADLEY premiered at Slamdance

WITH PETER BRADLEY is an intimate documentary collaboration between filmmaker Alex Rappoport and abstract artist Peter Bradley, who both live in Saugerties, New York. When the two met in January 2020, Peter was 79 and had neither sold many paintings nor had a major show in over four decades – yet he still painted every day in and around a shipping-container studio, heated by a wood stove, no matter what the weather...

"I’ve lived in the Hudson Valley town of Saugerties, New York for 22 years," recalls Rappoport. "A few years less than Peter Bradley, whose house I drove past all the time without ever knowing he was there. Until two years ago. I was introduced to Peter by Robert Langdon, who runs Emerge Gallery in Saugerties, a small storefront space dedicated to local artists. In June 2019 Robert showed new works by Peter, who hadn’t had a solo exhibit of his paintings in a long time. My wife, Katie Cokinos, went to the opening at Emerge, and Robert introduced her to Peter as a filmmaker. Peter said, “You should make a film about me.” Katie suggested her husband instead, and told me later but I forgot all about it. Six months later my daughter, Lula, was helping Robert at the gallery over her winter break from college. She came home one day and said, 'You should make a movie about Peter Bradley.' So I did - because he lives 5 minutes down the road, his story is amazing and, remarkably, no one else had ever showed up to record it previously."

For more details, visit www.withpeterbradley.com

On Tuesday, January 24, the Academy Award Nominations were announced.

Darren Aronofsky's THE WHALE was nominated for 3 Academy awards including:
Best Lead Actor – Brendan Fraser
Best Supporting Actress – Hong Chau
Best Makeup and Hairstyling – Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

Filming for A24’s THE WHALE took place primarily on the soundstage at Umbra of Newburgh and on location in New Paltz. The cast features Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins, Samantha Morton and Hong Chau, who has also worked in the region on DRIVEWAYS. Many local crew members were hired including 'legendary' key grip Mitch Lillian. Other locals working G&E included Jimmy DeMarco (rigging gaffer), Jack Lillian (B camera dolly grip), Greg Meola (grip), Kimberly Sauer (add'l digital imaging technician), Anthony Stracquadanio (grip), Todd Sullivan (lead shop electrician). Other crew members included Rachaell Dama (costume supervisor), Michele Elise (tailor), Michelle Bayreuther (set medic), Tony Glazer (stage manager), Summer Crockett Moore (stage manager). Hilary Greer (HBG Casting) was in charge of background actors.

On Tuesday, January 24, we also announced that THE ADULTS will world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

THE ADULTS is directed by Dustin Guy Defa with Michael Cera, Hannah Gross, and Sophia Lillis. Filming took place in November and December of 2021 in Beacon, Fishkill, Maybrook, Millbrook, Newburgh, New Windsor, and Saugerties.

Cera has previously worked in the Hudson Valley on the Hulu TV series LIFE & BETH by Amy Schumer, and HITS by David Cross.

The production was handled by Savage Rose Films. Producing partners Allison Rose Carter and Jon Read have worked in the region on many feature film projects including SHIRLEY, DIANE, and A VIGILANTE.

Savage Rose Films claims that it is "grounded in humanity, not always reality" may best be exemplified by the release of A24’s EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, which has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards!!!

On Wednesday, January 25, LINOLEUM premiered in theaters.

Jim Gaffigan and Rhea Seehorn in LINOLEUM

LINOLEUM, which was filmed in the Hudson Valley, opened in theaters on January 25, 2023. Written and directed by Colin West, the film stars Jim Gaffigan, Rhea Seehorn, Katelyn Naco, Gabriel Rush, Amy Hargreaves, with Michael Ian Black and Tony Shallhoub.

Filming took place in Kingston, Saugerties and the Town of Ulster between October 19 to November 14, 2020. "In addition to hiring locals, visiting cast and crew stayed at the Best Western Plus in Kingston. LINOLEUM was one of the first productions to film after the Covid 19 lockdown.

When a satellite falls from orbit and crashes into the suburban home of a dysfunctional family in Ohio, the father (Jim Gaffigan) seizes the opportunity to fulfill his dream of becoming an astronaut by re-building it into his own rocket ship. While his wife (Rhea Seehorn) and daughter (Katelyn Nacon) believe he's experiencing a midlife crisis, surreal events Begin to unfold around him, forcing him to reconsider how interconnected their lives truly are.

For more info, visit https://www.linoleummovie.com

On Thursday, January 26, the first four episodes of POKER FACE were released on PeacockTV

Episode’s currently streaming include:

Dead Man's Hand
When her friend is murdered, Charlie Cale, a woman with a knack for identifying lies, investigates. (Exterior locations in this episode are not local.)

The Night Shift
Charlie, adjusting to life on the run, struggles to clear the good name of an innocent trucker. (This episode was not filmed locally.)

The Stall
Charlie uses her perception skills to sniff out the truth behind a shocking death at a BBQ joint. (This episode, which takes place in Texas, was filmed entirely in the Hudson Valley.)

Rest in Metal
Charlie suspects foul play when a musician from a once-popular metal band meets a shocking end. (This episode, which takes place in the Midwest, was filmed entirely in the Hudson Valley. Featured locations include the Towne Crier Café in Beacon , The Chance in Poughkeepsie and the Rodeway Inn in New Paltz.)

Filming for the TV series took place from April through October 2022. The 10-episode mystery-of-the-week series, follows Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve. Read our full blog including select locations at www.tinyurl.com/pokerfaceblog

Read Why the Hudson Valley was the perfect place for 'Poker Place' at www.tinyurl.com/timeunionpf
Our favorite quote from the article follows...

The Hudson Valley appealed to POKER FACE’s producers because they needed an eclectic region that could be made to look like a variety of places in America.

“It was its diversity,” says [showrunner] Lilla [Zuckerman]. “It doubled for the Texas Hill Country. It doubled for everywhere through the Midwest. The Yacht Club doubled for Atlantic City. We were really able to find a little bit of the heartland of America in the Hudson Valley all over the place.”

Rejto has been trying to spread the fact that film productions “can do anything in the Hudson Valley” for decades. “We’ve certainly bragged about how you can simulate any part of the country here. You can find any location you need. The crew making ‘Poker Face’ certainly found everything they needed.”

The Hudson Valley Film Commission was also happy to announce this week that the region has been included in MovieMaker’s BEST PLACES TO LIVE AND WORK AS A MOVIEMAKER. Based on the number of Film & TV projects that were produced in the region, we would have liked being closer to the top, but we’re very grateful and happy that MovieMaker agreed to include multiple cities. Please note that we did provide specific locations for each project, but the magazine narrative (see below) only includes nearby cities. We’re very grateful to all the wonderful locations scouts and managers who have brought many of the projects listed below, to the region. Hoping you’ll all be back.

#10. THE HUDSON VALLEY, NEW YORK TOWNS OF POUGHKEEPSIE, KINGSTON AND NEWBURGH
We rank cities, not regions —but there’s no denying the rise of the Hudson Valley, a collection of small cities and towns making a huge impact on the industry. Poughkeepskie has welcomed productions including NBCUniversal’s THE ENDGAME, Apple’s INVASION and SEVERANCE, Showtime’s THE FIRST LADY and HBO Max’s THE SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS. SEVERANCE has also shot in nearby Kingston, and so have Netflix’s MANIFEST, HBO’s FULL CIRCLE and THE UNDOING, as well as many more productions. Newburgh, meanwhile, has welcomed Rian Johnson’s Peacock show POKER FACE, HBO’s THE WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS, and Darren Aronofsky’s THE WHALE. The region’s stately, reserved beauty and century-long embrace of arts and culture have made it highly desirable, especially for thoughtful prestige productions. Many New York City residents found the area to be a refuge as they fled tight quarters during lockdowns, which may explain why so much creativity has spilled out of the valley. And it benefits from New York’s 25% tax credit on below the line costs, and an additional 10% on below-the-line labor. Massive Clouds, in Kingston, is among the superb local boutique post houses.

The Hudson Valley Film Commission is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization that has engaged, supported and promoted hundreds of regional Film & TV productions since 2000. As part of its mission, the Film Commission refers locations, local crew, cast, vendors, qualified production facilities, post production houses and more. As a result, thousands of jobs have been created and more than $400-million in regional economic development.

Please consider supporting our continued efforts with a tax-deductible contribution at https://tinyurl.com/hvfcsupport

RECENT local productions:
Stream regional Films and TV Shows at www.hudsonvalleyfilmcommission.org/streamfest
Neil Gaiman Masterclass • To Have and To Kill • New Amsterdam • Post Truth • Blackout • Manifest (Netflix) • Full Circle (HBO) • Figments of Freedom • A Paracosm • Untitled Prison Movie • Hondo • Poker Face (Peacock) • Lost on a Mountain in Maine • Family • Theater Camp • Blue Light • A Holiday Spectacular (Hallmark) • Three Women (Showtime) • The Adults • New Me • Pinball • The First Lady (Showtime) • One December Night (Hallmark) • Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (HBO Max) • The Endgame (NBC Universal) • Crumb Catcher • Stay Awake • Redemption in Cherry Springs (Hallmark) • Life & Beth (Hulu) • The Sex Lives of College Girls (HBO Max) • The White House Plumbers (HBO) • Remote • The Gilded Age (HBO) • Severance (Apple TV+) • The Whale (A24) • Old Man • Master (Amazon Studios) • Adopting Audrey • The Hating Game (BCDF Pictures) • Invasion (Apple TV+) • The Green Veil • Linoleum • The Sixth Reel • The Secret Diaries of an Exchange Student • Werewolves Within (Ubisoft/IFC Films) • Things Heard and Seen (Netflix) • Billions (Showtime) • Monsterland (Hulu) • The Plot Against America (HBO) • Silent Retreat (Miramax) • Black Bear • Follow Her • Lapsis • Foxhole • The Undoing (HBO) • I Know This Much Is True (HBO)