New York Daily Photo Analytics

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Silvercup Studios

Film/televsion has become the fastest growing industry in NYC. The city aggressively courts the business; contrary to what one might expect, the city does not charge for filming permits, parking and police - it's all free. The jobs and business bring substantial revenue. In 1983, brothers Stuart and Alan Suna converted the former Silvercup Bakery building (circa 1920) into Silvercup Studios, a film and television production facility. The first studio opened in the former "flour silo room." They preserved the neon sign seen in the photo, adding the word Studios. Silvercup is now the largest independent full-service film and television studio facility in the northeastern United States. Many major films and television have been produced there (The Sopranos, Sex in the City, The Gangs of New York etc.) In 2006, Silvercup announced Silvercup West, a $1 billion expansion - a complex with eight soundstages, production and studio support space, offices, stores, 1,000 apartments in high-rise towers, a catering hall, a cultural institution and waterfront esplanade and plazas. The project, which will also incorporate environmentally sustainable “green building” features, has been described as a "vertical Hollywood." The architect is Lord Richard Rogers, who designed the Pompidou Center in Paris and the Millennium Dome in London. It is to be built at the edge of the East River in Queens and will be the largest production house on the East Coast. Of course there is competition - Kaufman-Astoria Studios and the new Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard...

5 comments:

indieperfumes said...

wow, those are big plans. That will definitely bring a lot more money in, so it seems it must have been worth it giving all the services for free like they've been doing...let's see if it actually does happen, there's been lots of plans like Atlantic Yards and others that stall for many reasons...

Anonymous said...

Is that where they filmed the first Highlander movie? ;)

John Nez said...

How fitting, since the film industry was born in New York and New Jersey... before moving to Hollywood.

jon ready photo said...

So who is Joe Szabo? He use to be involved in all the big productions . He has been retired last year. But for some reason everyone knows him in the movie industry... :)

Killara girl said...

I was wondering about this sign which lead me here on a search. i pass it nearly every week & have been trying to get a good shot of it while driving by. i didn't know it was now a studio, had no idea all this was giong on there. at this moment it doesn't seem like the expansion has happened.