RNC impact on N.Y. prod'n weighed
RNC impact weighed
Aug 10, 2004
NEW YORK -- With the Republican National Convention readying to take over Midtown Manhattan Aug. 30-Sept. 2, film and television production staffers in the Big Apple are hoping that the NYPD's so-called "frozen zone" of security around Madison Square Garden doesn't put a chill on any projects shooting here at month's end. The few industryites slated to shoot in and around the Big Apple are biting their nails, even as the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting contends that the convention's economic impact will far outweigh the chances of any on-set snafus.
Whether or not Broadway will suffer during the RNC's New York stint has perhaps become a bigger bone of contention. Some stage producers groused last week that the convention factored into their shows' shuttering. But others point to the RNC's planned purchase of over 13,000 theater tickets as a boon to the Great White Way.
Either way, the convention is poised to tie up a bustling swath of the city's West Side, where traffic will be shut down and pedestrians will need to flash appropriate IDs or be escorted by police to their destinations. According to the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, "the frozen zone encompasses 29th Street to 34th Street between 5th and 10th Avenues."
"This will definitely make an impact," said John Scholz, an indie film producer, in preproduction on a new low-budget project, whose offices sit in the RNC's path. "Traffic will be horrendous and will create a prohibitive loss of time."
But Scholz -- who recently line produced Sony Pictures Classics' upcoming New York-set, Merchant-Ivory production "Heights" -- added that while Midtown will become a labyrinth of headaches, the mayor's office and his various vendors have been proactive in issuing warnings about which areas will be tied up and how to troubleshoot.
The mayor's office maintains that it does not expect the onslaught of MSG-bound politicos to interfere with the city's production cycle, and that a campaign launched months in advance has successfully informed the industry.
"(We) issue permits for shooting across over 300 square miles of New York City property," MOFTB commissioner Katherine Oliver said in a statement last week. "A small grid of Manhattan in the immediate vicinity of the venue will be closed during the Republican National Convention. However, my office is available at any time to advise filmmakers on locations in alternate areas of Manhattan and the outer boroughs. New York City is open for business."
Indeed Gretchen McGowan, production head at the Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban-owned indie banner HDNet Films, said that the company had received an OK from the city to shoot on Sept. 3 in Grand Central Station for Joseph Castelo's "Over the Mountains." But the production decided instead to shift its Manhattan days to earlier this month to avoid "the fear factor that's going on with transporting vehicles" in Manhattan during the RNC, according to McGowan.
The HDNet film will shoot for three days out of 23 in New York City.
Although New York mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in May a program to send RNC delegates to eight different Broadway shows on August 29 -- in a bid to pump money into Midtown -- two shows that will close this month, "Caroline, or Change" and "Frozen," have placed part of the blame on the RNC. The producers claimed that Broadway, which always slows down in late August, could grind to a virtual halt with tourists avoiding the city during the RNC, and the delegates themselves too busy to go show-hopping.
Rocco Landesman, a "Caroline" producer, told the New York Times last week: "The week of the convention would be absolutely disastrous for us to keep open. The Republicans are going to be occupied with the convention, and anyone who's not a Republican is going to be out of town."
Jan Vincent, a spokesperson for the League of American Theatres and Producers countered by saying Monday: "My opinion is that the jury is still out. There are some things that will be very helpful, like the (Aug. 29 event)."
She added that, while Broadway's advanced ticket sales are down, potential customers should head for week of- and day-of tickets when they see contingency plans in place for traveling safely into the city. The League's data reflects that -- with 28 shows currently open, and 11 having closed so far this season -- numbers are "in the normal range," and running with the last five years.
With the exception of network news programming, however, there will not be a heavy film and TV production presence when the RNC pulls into town: No major studio projects are slated to shoot in the city since Sydney Pollack and the cast and crew of Universal Pictures' "The Interpreter" have completed 20 weeks of filming in New York. And just a handful of indie features are going before the cameras.
On the small-screen front, New York-based TV shows are keeping a low profile during convention week, either by choice or by happenstance.
"Law & Order," which has made Manhattan a locale for 14 years, is the only one of the NBC signature shows to be in production this month.
"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Law & Order: SVU" won't start shooting until September, a spokeswoman confirmed, adding, "Anticipating potential logistical concerns about location filming, 'Law & Order' producers are going to minimize shooting for the week of the convention."
The newest show in the "CSI" family, "CSI: New York," is shooting in both New York and Los Angeles. But a CBS spokeswoman said that the "CSI: New York" crew wouldn't be in the city when the convention is going on.
"NYPD Blue," which will finish its lengthy run on ABC later this year, also isn't going to be affected by the convention: The crew won't be shooting anything in New York for this season.
An original update of Robert Altman and Garry Trudeau's political satire "Tanner '88," to air on the Sundance Channel, headed up to Boston to shoot while the Democrats cavorted there. But the production will not head to the RNC, according to Sandcastle 5 Prods.' Joshua Astrachan, since the fictional presidential candidate of the project's title is a Democrat.
"We expect a few surprises and a few bumps in the road," said John Johnston, Kodak's regional sales and marketing manager for the eastern United States, whose offices are located in the frozen zone. "But we have been making sure we connect with our customers shooting in New York."
Like many companies, Kodak has been posting information on its own site, linking to other public domain sites and putting fliers in with shipments to warn customers in advance of any precautions that should be taken, like stockpiling film in advance where possible. The area's television shows usually keep supplies of film stock on hand.
Beyond the obvious snags, companies have been trying to prepare for any unforeseen surprises wherever possible: Kodak is investigating whether security forces manning the frozen zone might be using any X-ray or other equipment that could damage film carried by its customers.
But Johnston's primary concern, he said, was how employees might enter and leave the frozen zone in their daily commutes. Kodak's parking lot will be taken over by Secret Service agents during the convention.
The mayor's office did not release the number of shooting permits issued during the RNC, saying that the information was not available because it "expedites" permits, and does not have much advance notice on shoot dates.
However, the lack of films and television shows affected by the RNC may speak to what industry insiders suspect is a lack of production overall here. While Oliver's office has released numbers on shooting days and permits through last year, there have not been numbers released on direct expenditures in NYC production since 2001, according to the office's Web site.
The MOFTB statement further read: "New York City's status as the entertainment and cultural capital of the world is part of what makes our city so attractive to filmmakers. Events such as the Republican National Convention highlight our city's iconic status, and the depth of our locations, the same qualities which draw thousands of filmmakers to New York City each year."
Paul J. Gough contributed to this report.
Whether or not Broadway will suffer during the RNC's New York stint has perhaps become a bigger bone of contention. Some stage producers groused last week that the convention factored into their shows' shuttering. But others point to the RNC's planned purchase of over 13,000 theater tickets as a boon to the Great White Way.
Either way, the convention is poised to tie up a bustling swath of the city's West Side, where traffic will be shut down and pedestrians will need to flash appropriate IDs or be escorted by police to their destinations. According to the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, "the frozen zone encompasses 29th Street to 34th Street between 5th and 10th Avenues."
"This will definitely make an impact," said John Scholz, an indie film producer, in preproduction on a new low-budget project, whose offices sit in the RNC's path. "Traffic will be horrendous and will create a prohibitive loss of time."
But Scholz -- who recently line produced Sony Pictures Classics' upcoming New York-set, Merchant-Ivory production "Heights" -- added that while Midtown will become a labyrinth of headaches, the mayor's office and his various vendors have been proactive in issuing warnings about which areas will be tied up and how to troubleshoot.
The mayor's office maintains that it does not expect the onslaught of MSG-bound politicos to interfere with the city's production cycle, and that a campaign launched months in advance has successfully informed the industry.
"(We) issue permits for shooting across over 300 square miles of New York City property," MOFTB commissioner Katherine Oliver said in a statement last week. "A small grid of Manhattan in the immediate vicinity of the venue will be closed during the Republican National Convention. However, my office is available at any time to advise filmmakers on locations in alternate areas of Manhattan and the outer boroughs. New York City is open for business."
Indeed Gretchen McGowan, production head at the Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban-owned indie banner HDNet Films, said that the company had received an OK from the city to shoot on Sept. 3 in Grand Central Station for Joseph Castelo's "Over the Mountains." But the production decided instead to shift its Manhattan days to earlier this month to avoid "the fear factor that's going on with transporting vehicles" in Manhattan during the RNC, according to McGowan.
The HDNet film will shoot for three days out of 23 in New York City.
Although New York mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in May a program to send RNC delegates to eight different Broadway shows on August 29 -- in a bid to pump money into Midtown -- two shows that will close this month, "Caroline, or Change" and "Frozen," have placed part of the blame on the RNC. The producers claimed that Broadway, which always slows down in late August, could grind to a virtual halt with tourists avoiding the city during the RNC, and the delegates themselves too busy to go show-hopping.
Rocco Landesman, a "Caroline" producer, told the New York Times last week: "The week of the convention would be absolutely disastrous for us to keep open. The Republicans are going to be occupied with the convention, and anyone who's not a Republican is going to be out of town."
Jan Vincent, a spokesperson for the League of American Theatres and Producers countered by saying Monday: "My opinion is that the jury is still out. There are some things that will be very helpful, like the (Aug. 29 event)."
She added that, while Broadway's advanced ticket sales are down, potential customers should head for week of- and day-of tickets when they see contingency plans in place for traveling safely into the city. The League's data reflects that -- with 28 shows currently open, and 11 having closed so far this season -- numbers are "in the normal range," and running with the last five years.
With the exception of network news programming, however, there will not be a heavy film and TV production presence when the RNC pulls into town: No major studio projects are slated to shoot in the city since Sydney Pollack and the cast and crew of Universal Pictures' "The Interpreter" have completed 20 weeks of filming in New York. And just a handful of indie features are going before the cameras.
On the small-screen front, New York-based TV shows are keeping a low profile during convention week, either by choice or by happenstance.
"Law & Order," which has made Manhattan a locale for 14 years, is the only one of the NBC signature shows to be in production this month.
"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Law & Order: SVU" won't start shooting until September, a spokeswoman confirmed, adding, "Anticipating potential logistical concerns about location filming, 'Law & Order' producers are going to minimize shooting for the week of the convention."
The newest show in the "CSI" family, "CSI: New York," is shooting in both New York and Los Angeles. But a CBS spokeswoman said that the "CSI: New York" crew wouldn't be in the city when the convention is going on.
"NYPD Blue," which will finish its lengthy run on ABC later this year, also isn't going to be affected by the convention: The crew won't be shooting anything in New York for this season.
An original update of Robert Altman and Garry Trudeau's political satire "Tanner '88," to air on the Sundance Channel, headed up to Boston to shoot while the Democrats cavorted there. But the production will not head to the RNC, according to Sandcastle 5 Prods.' Joshua Astrachan, since the fictional presidential candidate of the project's title is a Democrat.
"We expect a few surprises and a few bumps in the road," said John Johnston, Kodak's regional sales and marketing manager for the eastern United States, whose offices are located in the frozen zone. "But we have been making sure we connect with our customers shooting in New York."
Like many companies, Kodak has been posting information on its own site, linking to other public domain sites and putting fliers in with shipments to warn customers in advance of any precautions that should be taken, like stockpiling film in advance where possible. The area's television shows usually keep supplies of film stock on hand.
Beyond the obvious snags, companies have been trying to prepare for any unforeseen surprises wherever possible: Kodak is investigating whether security forces manning the frozen zone might be using any X-ray or other equipment that could damage film carried by its customers.
But Johnston's primary concern, he said, was how employees might enter and leave the frozen zone in their daily commutes. Kodak's parking lot will be taken over by Secret Service agents during the convention.
The mayor's office did not release the number of shooting permits issued during the RNC, saying that the information was not available because it "expedites" permits, and does not have much advance notice on shoot dates.
However, the lack of films and television shows affected by the RNC may speak to what industry insiders suspect is a lack of production overall here. While Oliver's office has released numbers on shooting days and permits through last year, there have not been numbers released on direct expenditures in NYC production since 2001, according to the office's Web site.
The MOFTB statement further read: "New York City's status as the entertainment and cultural capital of the world is part of what makes our city so attractive to filmmakers. Events such as the Republican National Convention highlight our city's iconic status, and the depth of our locations, the same qualities which draw thousands of filmmakers to New York City each year."
Paul J. Gough contributed to this report.
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