As things around the world are slowly becoming normal again, the Hudson Valley Film Commission has been seeing even more progress with the amount of movies and TV shows that plan on filming within the area. Prior to COVID-19, films in the Hudson Valley were continuing to rise. From 2016 to 2018 alone, the commission went from making $9 million to making $29 million, and the rise was set to continue. However, due to the pandemic, this significant progress was temporarily put on pause.
Despite the lack of filming during the pandemic and the plethora of adjustments that needed to be made in regards to communicating with the public, the Hudson Valley Film Commission was still able to maintain the progress that they were making. Many film industries actually took this time off as an opportunity to scout locations within the Hudson Valley on their own and contact the Film Commission in order to schedule production once the pandemic slowed down.
April through June of 2021 became the busiest time for Film and TV production within the Hudson Valley in over 21 years. With more than 15 projects being filmed at once, five of them being filmed within a 25 mile radius of one another, and even more being scheduled for the rest of the year, it is safe to say that the Hudson Valley is back in business when it comes to overall production. In regards to dealing with the business directly after COVID, founder of the Hudson Valley Film Commission, Laurent Rejto, says, “We just deal with each production as it comes. One thing at a time. Impossible to figure out what the future will bring. We hope for continued success for the region but Film & TV production is extremely competitive and many other districts and states, and countries are competing to get these productions and the related economic incentives. Our location is just 1.5 hours from NYC which makes us an easy place to go and our region has more trained professionals than most other regions.”
Although production throughout these past few months has been smooth for many, it has also caused a lot of problems for others. Rejto recalls, “Small indie films like STAY AWAKE find it hard to be able to cover costs related to COVID-19 including mandatory testing. It’s very expensive for smaller productions.” While the amount of COVID cases may be dwindling, organizations must continue to abide by their states assigned COVID policies. In this case, all filming corporations were said to follow the same set of guidelines in regard to returning to filming, one of the main reasons for this being that the health and well being of all cast members and crew are of their highest priority.
As for the future of the Hudson Valley Film Commission, they will soon be welcoming a new soundstage in East Fishkill which will become home to many new sets and opportunities for production. With mention of a potential 30 new productions underway for the rest of 2021 and into 2022, the soundstage will be getting more than enough use as soon as it opens. In the meantime, Laurent Rejto encourages people to leave feedback on their Facebook so that the commission can continue to make mutually beneficial relationships within the community.
