The Big Apple on Screen: Shooting Benefits and Location ‘Doubles’

The Big Apple caters for a wide range of looks for all sorts of briefs. Look beyond the iconic architecture (particularly popular with the Asian market), and you’ll find quirkier locations that are a big hit with French productions. Michael Owen, Executive Producer at Mediacombo Productions, has had requests to shoot laundromats and kids riding horses through the city streets. 

According to Michael, areas like DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) and the fast-developing West Side cater for a more edgy and gritty look: 

“There are some great piers on the West Side where you can stage some really special shots with a bit of character and still have the Manhattan skyline glowing in the background.”

Areas that, up until now, haven’t seen much filming activity are now opening up these channels because they’ve recognised the economic potential. According to Carolyn Hill, Production Service Network’s USA Liaison, Queens, as well as the part of Brooklyn that borders it, are gaining momentum. With a brand new studio having just opened this spring, she also predicts an uptick in South Bronx. 

Another aesthetic that’s picking up steam is the clean-cut Yoga-class-on-5th-avenue look. A knock-on effect of the global health trend, clients are, now more than ever, looking to capture the idea of serenity in the midst of chaos. 

Home to Broadway and prestigious schools such as Juilliard, NYU, and LaGuardia High School, NY is a casting haven that’s chock-full of acting talent.

As a result of decades of development, Gotham now houses world-class facilities and reliable infrastructure. With the right prep and negotiations (begun with plenty of time in advance), you have a lot of freedom in terms of where you can shoot. 

“I think NY does a lot of work to make filming a good experience;” comments Michael. “You just have to know the rules. Whether it’s a bridge or a highway, they’ll shut it down for you. We serviced a Lamborghini commercial where the car did a 360-degree spin in the middle of 8th avenue!” 

With so much filming going on, residents can understandably get antsy at the prospect of not being able to park on their own street. Enter ‘The Hot List’: alongside other initiatives rolled out by The New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, it’s a mapped guide indicating which areas are off-limits to filming. Regularly rotated to give neighbourhoods calling in a lot of complaints some space, it’s designed to make sure that communities don’t feel overwhelmed by film crews.

New York’s aggressive tax incentives for filming make it a huge commercial filming destination, especially for episodic TV and feature films.

And filming in the city that never sleeps doesn’t necessarily have to break the bank: “With today’s technology, it’s possible to do a reasonably good-looking shoot with very little money in New York,” says Michael. “Where it can be expensive, clients usually find that it’s worth it because they end up shooting twice as much as they’d intended to.”

Despite New York’s popularity, it’s not always the chosen filming location, even for stories that are set there. More cost-effective alternatives have cropped up in recent years, offering an attractive proposition given ever-tightening budgets.   

The (previously free) $300 permit fee introduced in 2010 may come as a blow to smaller-budget productions, even if it isn’t significant enough to affect large commercial productions. 

Technological advancements have also made it easier for international clients to shoot in the comfort of their own country and rely on green screen to mimic the iconic city. And with better talent deals to be had overseas, American agencies are incentivised to go to Canada to beat the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) residuals.

Citing popular alternatives to New York, Carolyn comments: “Canada is very attractive right now because of the exchange rate. Toronto and Vancouver are the most ‘New York’-looking cities. There are also a few back lots in Hollywood set up like New York City streets.”

One location across the pond that has been attracting productions is Liverpool. The maritime city has become the location of choice for New York-based storylines, hosting blockbusters such as Captain America: The First Avenger, Florence Foster Jenkins and, most recently, the latest instalment in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World Series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Liverpool’s resemblance to Manhattan and the dock areas can be attributed to its strong port connections and historical prestige as the most important city outside of London in the 1800s. Many of the architects involved in building and designing London, Liverpool, and New York hopped between the three, resulting in stylistic similarities. 

Lynn Saunders, Manager of Liverpool Film Office (which was instrumental in securing the city as a location for Fantastic Beasts) adds: “The docks and residential areas retain many of the original fixtures and fittings, such as cobbled streets, cast iron lamp posts, and railings, making it an ideal double for Victorian London and, in more recent years, for 1920s New York.” 

Logistically, Liverpool’s lack of tram infrastructure and congestion charge makes it easily accessible and straightforward in terms of closing roads to dress areas for New York. As a result, Liverpool has a huge amount of repeat business.

St George's Hall was one of Liverpool's locations used in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

While it is possible for other locations to ape New York, Carolyn remains convinced that there are some things that just can’t be replicated: “You can’t fake the light in New York City, the grit, the architecture, or the natural beauty of the Hudson River. As a purist, I can always pick it out. When you try to recreate the Statue of Liberty, the New York Harbor, The Brooklyn Bridge, or the Empire State Building, the audience knows.” 

While shorter spots could get away with using stock establishing shots and green screens, Michael believes that anything longer, where New York features more prominently, would look less than convincing: “Frankly, with a couple of stock shots and a well-dressed street, you could get away with Kiev faking New York. But what you would never get there is the background characters that add the weight of authenticity if there’s any interaction with the foreground. If you’re really trying to make it feel like it’s set in New York, you’re going to need to do that casting here, where the depth of the talent pool is so rich. It’s that sort of gritty context that helps cement the quality.”

New York is a buzzing hub of celeb activity. With so many stars orbiting the city, this can be the biggest driver for larger-budget projects to shoot there. Big names have the bargaining power to convince productions to work around their tight schedule in the city.

“Jobs will happen around the talent,” explains Michael. “A shoot we did with Kevin Spacey for a Polish bank happened in New York because he was shooting House of Cards, so wasn’t going to fly to Poland. A Thai Toyota shoot also came here because they wanted to film Hugh Jackman, who was on Broadway at the time.”

For these productions, it wasn’t necessarily the magic of the city that won them over – rather, they took advantage of its locations because they were after the stars that are anchored there. 

“I think you’re always missing something if the script calls for shooting here and you don’t,” admits Carolyn. “At the very least, you miss out on the energy and the food (particularly the pizza!). You can’t rival the energy of the city and the array of the people you find here.”

“The off-screen aspects of shooting in NY are definitely a big draw,” Michael adds. “People are definitely looking for the ‘New York experience’. It has always been a favourite destination, and although budgets are a lot harder to work with today, people still like to have a wonderful time seeing jazz live at the Lincoln Centre for example. Whether it’s culture, entertainment, or shopping, there’s nothing you can’t do here.”