doglywolf t1_ivs0gjq wrote on November 10, 2022 at 4:22 AM

Reply to comment by rbastid in Cinelease Studios - Caven Point by JCwhatimsayin

Never heard anything more incorrect in my life . It's not a hard sell at all

They keep building more studios here and expanding because they are fully booked for almost 2 years with the space they have including major picture deals cinelease also has multiple studios in the area and nyc along with being the place a lot of those bigger studios rent their equipment from because they also have an equipment rental division .

Yes they did a show about jersey city but shot in Atlanta instead and only did B roll here but that's more the outlier then the mainline

rbastid t1_ivscdxx wrote on November 10, 2022 at 6:29 AM

Everyone is building/expanding more studio space, so Cinelease needs to contend with the big players like Steiner, Silvercup, Kaufman, Cinemagic, and Broadway Stages, all which have long built relationships with those who choose where productions go.

Just like the Meadowlands, Cinelease will benefit from the slow pace of building in NYC, but as soon as spots opened in those other studios shows fled (like Equalizer and Law and Order Organized crime). It's a problem with people in NYC thinking even downtown Jersey City is like tracking into the heart of darkness. NY's tax credit also benefits those productions more, and the way those credits work you're not going to really see a production jump between states for more than a few days of shooting.

Cinelease, as said above, will get the Tier 1 & 2 movies that really have no need for NYC, and have a 2 month shooting schedule (They'll claim these as "Major picture deals" when they aren't, which isn't a big sin, as NYC doesn't really get gigantic movies anymore anyway.) Maybe even a smaller streaming show, but they'll have a hard time getting an 8 month network show, or a streaming series/prestige series with a long schedule. They also could end up with more commercials and other small projects.

As for being booked for 2 years, it's because that's what happens now even without productions, Silvercup North is booked solid for 10 years, not because they know what will film there, but because Apple made a lease deal just to hold the space (Netflix was in talks to do the same with some studios, but with their troubles I'm not sure if they pulled the trigger)

Both their studios are also brand new, and their equipment rental division is pretty much non-existent in the area. The productions shooting from the studio will use their Heavy EQ and Grip products, but pretty much every major studio offers the exact same products for their productions, and Kaufman, Silvercup and Steiner are big leasers to those who don't even use their studios.

It's good their here, and hopefully the industry as a whole grows, but the way JC/NJ does everything half assed, this could easily turn in to a huge investment by the city and this studio, just to have everything pulled out from under them. Remember what happened when Christie killed the tax credit, Law and Order SVU literally made a plot that blew up their studio just to stick a finger in the eye of NJ and to say "We'll never shoot here again"

doglywolf t1_ivtw609 wrote on November 10, 2022 at 4:05 PM

Very well though out response while its mostly correct they do have the John wick deal - id say that was a extremely major picture. But for the most part you hit the nail on the head most of their schedule is 2-3 month commitments , overflow / local filming for L&O and lot of sound stage work for other productions.

It still does not mean its a hard sell. Alot of the people that work there including actors have started to prefer the locations over here - easier to get in and out of sometimes easier to get to all together.

also "Both their studios are also brand new, and their equipment rental division is pretty much non-existent in the area" Not true at all They have several massive facilities around here including one in Newark , with booms , cranes , lifts ,track carts and other specialized industry versions of all the above and they can barely keep them in stock long enough to do maintenance and send them back out . Again they did the entire productions equipment for the last and now the next john Wick .

rbastid t1_ivu2zfj wrote on November 10, 2022 at 4:50 PM

Another thing i hope doesn't happen, as did in NYC at one point, is the novelty wearing off for locals (when it comes to location shooting)

A production at first has everyone excited, but if you've got your streets lined with trucks every day, and your commute is backed up, then people start to complain.

Jersey City is so new to these productions they should be able to move all around and not congregate in one area to shoot for long periods of time, otherwise we know the JClisters or that type will be protesting how a Production Assistant asked them if they can just wait 30 seconds for them to get a shot, and now all filming should be ended.