by Minju Pak

But when Fox wanted to shoot scenes on the bridge last fall for its feature film "Stay," starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, the New York Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting had one answer: No problem.

"This was a $50 million-budgeted film, and they shot the entire film in New York City," New York film commissioner Katherine Oliver says. "We diverted Manhattan-bound traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge for 10 nights; this is not something easy to do, but the message was that if you're going to spend that kind of money, do the entire project here and employ New Yorkers, we will give you the Brooklyn Bridge."

Although the concept of selling the Brooklyn Bridge is an old con, those in charge at the MOFTB are sincere. Oliver has worked overtime during her two-year tenure as commissioner to sell, sell, sell the city -- and she will do whatever it takes to ensure that projects stay in town once they're here.

That enthusiasm is reflected in the numbers: According to the MOFTB, the city reaped a $5 billion windfall and 19,309 shooting days in 2003 from production in the city. (Those figures reflect all aspects of production in New York, including preproduction, postproduction, location work and most major studio work.) Feature films accounted for 3,216 of those days, a 27% increase on the 2002 tally, and TV work accounted for 7,294 days, a 45% increase. (Commercials and other forms of production accounted for the remaining days.) Those are solid numbers, though the overall 2003 shooting-day total remains 15.5% shy of the city's top year, 1998.

New York clearly remains a popular destination for production -- particularly for TV work, an area in which NBC's "Law & Order" franchise remains king. "L&O" blankets the city, filming at Chelsea Piers ("Law & Order" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent"), in northern New Jersey ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") and on the streets of Manhattan (all three series). The original "L&O" has contributed more than $650 million to the city during 672 weeks of regular production spanning nearly 15 years, and the franchise's overall annual contribution should enjoy another uptick in January when a third spinoff, "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," is expected to launch as a midseason replacement (though it had not been determined at press time whether "Trial's" interiors will be shot in New Jersey or New York).

"L&O" veterans believe that the past year has been a better time than ever before to work in New York.

"There's been a huge difference," "Criminal Intent" location manager Tom Ross says. "They've thrown a few functions for location and production managers, where people got to talk to each other and were presented with film clips of places that want us to film there. You don't often hear that because sometimes it's very hard shooting in New York, and it's nice to know that there are people out there who want to do business with us. Through Katherine Oliver, they're letting us know."

Says Oliver: "We look at our repeat customers, such as a 'Law & Order,' that come in every single day for permits -- it should be a lot easier for those who are already on record with our office. Our approach has been (to emphasize) customer service, to make it as easy as possible to get permits and have access to locations."

But "L&O" is not a mirror for the state of production throughout the city. Although "L&O" crews are famously street-friendly, not all projects have made themselves welcome: The Greenwich Village Block Associations, a union of 33 such organizations, has compiled on its Web site (www.gvba.org) a "film shoot report card" that lists perceived problems caused by every production in that neighborhood. Such grass-roots criticism can become a stumbling block for future film, TV and commercial projects, and while the MOFTB has worked to declare overused neighborhoods "hot" or off-limits, producers often head elsewhere on their own nonetheless.

New Jersey heat

During recent years, such production overspill from New York been a boon for New Jersey. Long an afterthought when it came to filming, the Garden State quietly yet triumphantly has moved up the location ladder to rank fifth among the 50 U.S. states in annual production revenue, earning more than $78 million in 2003 from direct expenditures by more than 825 film, television and commercial projects.

A primary jewel in New Jersey's crown is a 430-acre former military ocean terminal in Bayonne, a short drive from Manhattan. Overlooking the Hudson River, the deserted base -- which, at press time, was in final negotiations to build a permanent studio facility led by Hudson River Studios -- has caught the eye of New Jersey's emergent film community, which is more than happy to accept what New York cannot manage.

The Bayonne terminal already houses two large warehouses that have been used for films including Focus Features' "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and 2002's "Far From Heaven," as well as the latter years of writer-producer Tom Fontana's HBO prison series "Oz." Fontana's Fox TV crime drama "The Jury" now is poised to take up a more-permanent residence in some of the site's 200,000 available square feet.

"New Jersey has definitely become more hip," says Steve Gorelick, associate director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission."(Bayonne is) an ideal place to have such a facility: Just over the Holland Tunnel (from Manhattan), it's accessible by car and train."

But land alone cannot lure production: Recognizing the industry's potential economic impact, local government has taken an interest as well. In September, Gov. James McGreevey signed into law the New Jersey Film Production Assistance Program, which offers tax credits and loan guarantees for 30% of a movie's budget -- up to $1.5 million if at least 70% of the project is filmed in New Jersey and 50% of its budget is spent in the state. The program has proved a welcome mat not only for major-studio producers, but also for independent filmmakers -- and slowly, New Jersey is carving a progressive niche.

"Obviously, we benefit from advantageous geography, being located between New York and Philadelphia," Gorelick says. "But we (also) have quite a pool of talent here, and our topography varies greatly, which is an advantage."

New York state of mind

The upward production trend is the same throughout New York state. "The numbers (were) up for 2003, I'm happy to say," says Pat Kaufman, deputy commissioner and director of the Governor's Office for Motion Picture and Television Development, which also arranges filming commitments at state parks and with the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

Twelve independent film commissions throughout the state, including one in New York City, operate independently of Kaufman's office but coordinate with her. Between 2002 and 2003, statewide film-production days (also including those in New York City) increased by 24%, and TV-production days rose by 45%.

Part of that increase owes to the presence of such feature projects as Mixed Breed Films' Kevin Bacon-helmed drama "Loverboy," Focus Features' "The Door in the Floor," Paramount's recent remake release "The Stepford Wives" and that studio's upcoming remake release "The Manchurian Candidate," all of which have filmed in New York state during the past year. Planned shoots for the remainder of 2004 include Sony's "The Last First Kiss" and Buena Vista's "A Lot Like Love."

One key factor in the state's and city's production surges, insiders say, is the teaming of Kaufman and Oliver, who meet regularly in Los Angeles with studio heads. One project that has benefited from joint city and state help is Universal Pictures/Working Title/Misher Films' "The Interpreter," which was convinced to stay in New York for 16 weeks (80 shooting days) rather than three weeks. The closers? Permission to become the first production to shoot inside the United Nations complex and a $100,000 Empire State Development grant that reimburses part of the project's crew payroll costs.

"It encouraged all the unions and everybody to pull together ... to do what we needed to keep this film here," Kaufman says.

For "Interpreter" producer Kevin Misher, head of Misher Films, the U.N. opportunity has made all the difference.

"The physical space of the U.N. would be impossible to re-create," he says. "You would never really get the scale and scope that you get from actually shooting there -- you couldn't duplicate it."

Not that some productions aren't trying to do just that: CBS' planned fall-debut spinoff "CSI: NY" will follow in the footsteps of ABC's "NYPD Blue," which shoots on Los Angeles sets and travels to New York only for necessary street shots, and CBS' fall-debut drama "Clubhouse" will shoot only exteriors in the city.

On the other hand, Denis Leary's new firehouse-based FX drama "Rescue Me" has made a point of remaining in town.

"There's no better backdrop than the city itself," says executive producer Jim Serpico, adding that he believes filming ease in the city has remained constant during the past few years. "The mayor's office has been particularly helpful in getting us access to places to scout, and they've had conversations with the fire department for us."

Among many in the production community, though, "the impression is that New York is still a very expensive place to shoot -- (and) it's still a tough place to shoot," Fine Line executive vp marketing Marian Koltai-Levine says.

Nonetheless, production continues to pour in. Features slated to shoot in the city include United Artists' "Romance & Cigarettes," MGM's "The Pink Panther" prequel and Fox's "Hide and Seek."

Slowly -- year by year, square foot by square foot, dollar by dollar -- Kaufman, Oliver and their affiliated offices are working to address any lingering doubts about New York as a viable, if not preferable, film location.

"You know what our tag line is: 'If it's in the script, it's in New York,'" Kaufman says.