'Made in NY' program getting seal of approval

Oct. 04, 2005

By Paul Gough
NEW YORK -- New York's battle to stay relevant in the TV and film production business seemed well on its way to being lost when a USA Network movie about former mayor Rudy Giuliani was filmed in Canada instead of the Big Apple.

The producers never even considered production here, according to Katherine Oliver, commissioner of the city's Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting. "The thinking was that New York was too expensive," she said Friday at a session at the SoHo House during this past weekend's first-ever New York Television Festival.

Oliver took office in August 2002 in the first year of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration. She and others, in and out of government, have led the charge to bring more film and television production to the city. Way back when, it seemed Dick Wolf's "Law & Order" was the only big series to be produced in New York. Today, there are many, including FX's "Rescue Me," HBO's "The Sopranos" and NBC midseason "The Book of Daniel," which started shooting a few weeks ago at Silvercup Studios in the Astoria section of Queens. Movies like the remake of Mel Brooks' "The Producers" were filmed at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn.

But it wasn't an easy road. The rap against New York City back then wasn't just financial, although that was a big reason. New York was perceived as having too many hassles, not the least of which being how difficult out-of-towners think it is to get around here.

The film office has taken a number of steps to market the city as the site for big-ticket as well as independent productions: free permits, faster processing time, free police services, and a program called "Made in New York," what Oliver calls a "Good Housekeeping"-like seal of approval, which recognizes productions that have at least 75% of the work done in New York. The late, lamented "Sex and the City" was the first to sport the logo.

One of the biggest draws is a tax-incentive program that has been implemented over the past nine months by both the city and state. Qualifying films and episodic TV that meet the 75% threshold are eligible for a 10% refundable tax credit from the state and 5% from the city.

"It's changed the nature of the business considerably," Oliver says.

In the past nine months, Oliver says the program has been responsible for $500 million in new film and TV projects as well as 6,000 new jobs.

But because there's a cap to the tax incentives and only a four-year term, Silvercup Studios president Stuart Suna says it's important to keep lobbying state and local legislators for not only renewal but also expansion of the program.

"It has great potential," Suna says.

Jane Raab, who produced "Sex and the City," credits the Bloomberg administration for boosting not only the entertainment industry but all of the arts -- including "The Gates" art exhibit in Central Park.

Advocates say the program has worked so well that it's not only pulled more business back to New York but has also become the setting for other cities.

Witness "The Departed," a new Martin Scorsese picture. New York is filling in for Boston, of all places.