BINGHAMTON — The Visit Binghamton film office is trying to promote the area as a good home for filmmakers and it has an aptly named, recent success story to pitch. The office provided assistance for the film “Stationed at Home,” an independent production that filmed in the Binghamton area during February. “That was a huge […]
BINGHAMTON — The Visit Binghamton film office is trying to promote the area as a good home for filmmakers and it has an aptly named, recent success story to pitch.
The office provided assistance for the film “Stationed at Home,” an independent production that filmed in the Binghamton area during February.
“That was a huge project for us,” says Louis Newman, manager of the film office at Visit Binghamton. “Our first feature production here in my time. It also was set in Binghamton, so that was really important, too.” He spoke with CNYBJ on May 3.
Newman is part of the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce and largely responsible for the film office’s day-to-day operations, he tells CNYBJ. He started his role in February 2022 and the office had been operational for a few years prior to his arrival.
Regarding “Stationed at Home,” Newman says, “We are no longer assisting with that project as much. I know that they’re editing right now … hoping that it gets a wide distribution next year or so.”
A production company called Full Fledged Production from Buffalo handled work on the film. Daniel Masciari was the writer and director of “Stationed at Home.”
Every film is an “adventure,” Masciari said in a news release from the Visit Binghamton film office.
“In preparing ‘Stationed at Home,’ my first feature film set in Binghamton, the Binghamton Film Office has been right by our side all along the way. Their enthusiasm and care have been second to none and has helped make our film production a memory I will always admire,” Masciari said.
The assistance that the office provided included help securing hotels, location scouting, connecting the production company staff with people in the city office and governmental positions for permitting, and connecting them with police, Newman tells CNYBJ. The film office helps film producers with anything that needs to get done in pre-production and during production.
“We like to bill it as one-stop shop for all production needs,” he adds.
As for the remainder of 2023, Newman says he’s reading scripts and is also in talks with some film-production companies and hoping that they decide to film their movies in Binghamton or somewhere in Broome County.
Prior to his arrival, the Visit Binghamton film office assisted the production team behind the horror film called “The Harbinger” that was recently distributed through XYZ Films, according to Newman. The crew filmed scenes in places that included the Goodwill Theater, Firehouse Stage, and Visions Veterans Memorial Arena, per imdb.com, an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online.
As for the local economic impact of film production on the Greater Binghamton area, Newman “conservatively” estimates that generally anywhere from 50 percent to 70 percent of the production budget will stay in the community.
“Local productions are a great driver of economic development mainly through job creation and location fees and especially beyond economic development, just establishing local pride and excitement,” he adds.
Visit Binghamton and Visit Syracuse announced in early 2023 they are working together to market the Southern Tier and Central New York as an “ideal location” where production companies can film their movies. Using New York State’s film-incentive program, they help in connecting productions to local crew, talent, equipment, services, vendors, municipalities, local government, and hotels.