On Location: Mayor Bloomberg touts production industry in N.Y.

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

In a bid to further expand film and television production in New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg along with the city’s film commissioner Katherine Oliver are touting the opening of five new soundstages at Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The additional stages will add 45,000-square-feet to the studio, which has been home to such movies as New Line Cinema’s “Sex and the City” and Universal Pictures’ “The Adjustment Bureau,” as well as television series including HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and FX’s “Damages.”

Bloomberg this week also announced the launch of new initiatives to support production growth in New York, including providing $500,000 in grants for digital training programs and a new entertainment component to the city’s partnership with NYU’s Stern School of Business.

‘A little over a decade ago, New York City struggled to attract the lucrative production industry to film here,’ Bloomberg said. ‘Now the city is such a popular and prosperous home to hundreds of films and television shows, [and] we have to work hard to keep up with the demand for stages and production facilities.”

New York City has enjoyed an increase in production activity in recent years thanks to an expanded film incentive program that provides a 30% tax credit on production expenditures. New York allocates about $400 million a year in funding for the program, four times the level in California.

Last year, 188 films and 140 television series filmed on location in New York City while at least 13 television pilots are expected to shoot there this spring.

“These new soundstages at Steiner Studios will create jobs, and expanding our workforce development programs with new grants will help the next generation of production professionals start their careers on the right track,” Bloomberg said.

RELATED:

‘Walking Dead’ producer Gale Anne Hurd urges expanded tax credit

On Location: New York City’s TV production surges to record level

L.A.’s share of TV pilot pie gets smaller, FilmL.A. report says

-- Dima Alzayat