Major Expansion--and Jobs--in Silvercup Studios' Future

NEW YORK CITY-A few projects are expected to begin filming at the 275,000-sf Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard this summer before an official grand opening in the fall. In the long term, the effort is expected to bring upwards of 1,000 jobs. Also on the planning board is Silvercup Studios West, a two-million-sf, mixed-development featuring production studios, housing, green areas and retail.

Both aim to cater to the increasing amount of film production taking place in Manhattan and the outer boroughs. There were 19,309 location shooting days last year as compared with 14,858 the previous year, according to the New York City Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting.

Jay Fine, president and CEO of Steiner Studios, tells GlobeSt.com that Steiner Studios features five soundstages ranging from 16,500 to 27,000 sf with grid heights of 45 feet. “Everything needed for a production is under one roof,” he says, adding that there will also be production support areas, dressing rooms and offices as well as a commissary, screening rooms and other on-site production services. Due to the large sizes of the production stages, Fine says he expects studios to look to the area for large-scale production movies.

Another key selling point is the city as a backdrop itself. According to Steiner officials, the navy yard offers historic Civil War and World War II era buildings and views of Manhattan. And the city is helping in the effort to hire locally-—it has just advertised for a hiring manager to lead the effort.

Alan Suna, who along with Stuart Match Suna, owns Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, hired Mark Gold as director of real estate to manage the family’s real estate development projects including Silvercup Studios West. Silvercup is currently the largest independent, full-service film and television production facility in the northeast with 18 studios and more than 400,000 sf of studio space. Suna tells GlobeSt.com he views Steiner as a “welcome addition to the landscape. We’ve always had friendly competition with Kaufman-Astoria studios.”

Suna envisions Silvercup Studios West, which is expected to be under way in late 2006 or early 2007, as a 24/7 community. It marks the third major expansion of Silvercup, he adds.