After the COVID-19 pandemic essentially stalled film production, Greene County is back in the spotlight.
According to a post by the Hudson Valley Film Commission, the second quarter of 2021 — April to June — was the busiest the commission had seen in 21 years with 15 projects in the region.
The commission said estimates for the third quarter indicate that production resulted in more than 70 days of work, more than 1,000 part-time jobs and 12,000 room nights — an estimated $25 million in direct spending.
“We’ve never had this many productions in the region working simultaneously,” Film Commission Director Laurent Rejto said in a statement.
Heather Bagshaw, director of tourism for Greene County, said the pandemic played a role in the increase in productions this year.
“The pandemic put a stop on all production,” Bagshaw said. “Now, there’s a lapse in sort of new movies, series, videos — whichever type of genre the film is, and so now is kind of crunch time to get as many of these things filmed and out into the theaters and or streaming platforms,” Bagshaw said.
Prior to the pandemic, the county offered tax credits for filming in the area, Bagshaw said, and in years past, projects were often independent. Now, industry giants like Netflix and HBOMax have taken an interest in filming in the county.
Bagshaw said the tourism department helps facilitate films to get the approval they need to shoot in different areas.
The economic impact of the industry in Greene County is far-reaching, Bagshaw said. The typical process consists of pre-production, which includes set construction, film process with actors and producers and post-production for breakdown.
“We have people here anywhere from six to eight weeks, living, eating and doing work here in the county, so that adds to the economics,” Bagshaw said. “They’re staying here, they’re eating here, they’re basically living here as part of the community for almost two months.”
In July, HBO was scouting areas in Catskill for its reboot of the popular teen mystery series “Pretty Little Liars.”
Village President Peter Grasse Jr. said the company has been scouting Main Street, the Thompson Street Cemetery and residential Cedar Street for potential filming locations.
The series, which is set in the same time and place as the original series that aired for seven seasons on Freeform beginning in 2010, is based on the series of novels written by Sara Shepard.
The series was scheduled to begin production later this summer at Upriver Studios in the Hudson Valley, according to a July 2 Warner Media statement.
Bagshaw said Greene offers a variety of scenic areas for filming and drawing scouts to the county. Debra Samuels, a resident of Cedar Street in Catskill, said HBO has been talking with residents of the street about potential houses to film.
In 1983, Leeds doubled for the Kansas countryside in John Sayles’ “Hard Choices” and the unique architecture of Jefferson Heights attracted production crews to shoot scenes for the psychological thriller “Shirley.”
Cedar Street has homes that were built in the 1920s, and Samuels said her home was built in 1927, which could contribute to HBO’s interest in the street.
“We’ve got a lot of Victorian homes, and so some films that would resonate with. We’ve got some beautiful mountain drops. Very similar to the Adirondacks, the Catskill Park has it as well,” Bagshaw said. “The other thing is we’ve got wide open spaces. We’ve been asked for films of homes that are like 1960s or earlier 1920s, 1800s.”
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