Visit Binghamton opens film office

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Visit Binghamton, the official tourism promotion agency for Broome County, has announced the opening of a film office, which it hopes will boost economic development in the region.

The Visit Binghamton film office will work to attract projects to the community and will assist productions while on-location in Broome County. The assistance will include location identification, crew recruitment, industry vendors, hotel reservations, rental cars, and catering services.

The office will also act as a liaison between governmental departments and municipalities to help with streamlining the permitting process.

“We know that there have been projects filmed in the county in the past and we will be looking to attract a new wave of creatives to discover us,” Judi Hess, director of Visit Binghamton, said in a statement.

The Visit Binghamton film office will work with the New York State Governor’s Office of Motion Picture & Television Development (MPTV). New York’s film-incentive program offers film, television, and commercial production and post-production tax credits for qualified expenditures in New York state.

Kelly Fancher has joined the Visit Binghamton staff as the film development & social media manager Fancher has experience in the film industry that will help Visit Binghamton develop this program.

“We have hundreds of locations ranging from well preserved historic architecture and looming industrial complexes to quaint rural towns and picturesque farms; from the rolling hills of the Apalachin Mountains to the stately parlor homes of the west side, Binghamton is rich with diversity and history,” Fancher said.

The Visit Binghamton film office looks to inspire the “next generation of film industry professionals,” noting that Binghamton is the hometown of the late Rod Serling, screenwriter, producer, and creator of the CBS anthology televisions series, “The Twilight Zone.”