The Gilded Age, a co-production between HBO and Universal Television, turned the clock back to 1882 in Troy, NY with stunning production design and costumes. The series was created by Julian Fellowes, best known for writing and executive producing Downton Abbey.
Featured actors include Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City), Carrie Coon (The Leftovers), Morgan Spector (Boardwalk Empire), Denée Benton, Louisa Jacobson, Taissa Farmiga, Blake Ritson, Simon Jones, Harry Richardson, Thomas Cocquerel, Jack Gilpin and Jeanne Tripplehorn (Big Love).
The Hudson Valley Film Commission helped get the word out for background extras through Grant Wilfley Casting. Additional employment included G&E and HMU crew members from the Mid-Hudson Valley region.
Mayim Bialik's As Sick as They Made Us, starring Dustin Hoffman and Candice Bergen worked with Hudson Valley Casting’s Heidi Eklund. Two young actors from Dutchess County were cast. Anastasia Veronica Lee played young Abigail, and Oliver Patnode played young Nathan Oliver appeared in a speaking role in the award-winning series I Know This Much Is True, which filmed in the Hudson Valley. Rhinebeck-based Amy Hutchings helped to fill out background roles and stand-ins. Filming took place in New Jersey. The production company, Yale Productions, has kept many ties to the region after filming more than ten films in the Hudson Valley.
Yale Productions was also responsible for the Untitled Katie Holmes Project, which was lensed in Connecticut. The film stars Katie Holmes (who also directed), and Hudson Valley Oscar Winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter). Also featured is Zosia Mamet, who has appeared in several Mid-Hudson Valley films including Rhymes with Banana and The Last Keepers. Mamet also produced Fabled in the region). Rhinebeck-based Amy Hutchings Casting was hired to fill background roles and stand-ins.
In April and May, Owen Wilson starred in Brit McAdams’s Paint, in Saratoga Springs. Heidi Eklund of Hudson Valley Casting handled local casting, which included many Mid Hudson Valley actors and dayplayers. Elisabeth Henry (Bread Factory) had a significant role, as did Denny Dillon, Vin Graig, Elizabeth Loyacano, Noa Graham, and Rob Figueroa.
Other local production work included series work from Remedy Television + Branded in Rhinebeck and Milton, a commercial for Land’s End, at Kaaterskill Falls, and a commercial for Nature Valley, at Minnewaska State Park. Lisa Thomas of Thin Edge Films shot her Graduate Thesis Film, Change of Scenery, in Catskill, NY during the month of May with the help of Hudson Valley Casting. HV local Samantha Walsh stars in the film as Julia. Many locals to Catskill were a part of this project which asked for participants from LGBTQ communities in the region.