Rejto: “We’ve seen things evolve
quite a bit,
…”
KINGSTON – Production activity for the silver screen is revving up, according to Hudson Valley Film Commission officials. Organizational director Laurent Rejto spoke to the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce Tuesday morning.
Sporting a t-shirt, faded jeans, and a long grey beard, the former actor rattled off unofficial numbers large enough to envy any West Coast Hollywood mogul. His group attempts to collect data from all films that shoot in the area.
“That’s based on 14 films out of 32, it’s very hard to get people to fill out our data form,” Rejto said. The stats show a recent 300 percent regional business increase, since a new film industry tax incentive was established for Ulster County last year.
County Executive Michael Hein launched – and won – a hard-fought battle in the New York State Legislature to have Ulster County included for a 10 percent post-production upstate film tax rebate, “That 10 percent immediately had an impact. I predicted that there would be a 50 percent upsurge in direct local spending, but there was a 300 percent uptick,” Rejto noted.
The results pile up quickly – above and beyond lights, camera, and action, Rejto said. Over 22,300 hotel rooms were rented regionally, with 9,000 in Ulster County alone. A total of 407 production days were tallied, and 250 scouting days.
These films included over 200 location scenes, and 350 local crew member hires. “That’s literally the thing we care about the most. We want everybody who works locally in the field to be hired,” Rejto said. “People are here in town, renting rooms, spending money on food, and buying things.”
Rejto said there are some 150 different types of film jobs; everything from being an accountant, to animal trainer, to being a carpenter, or a driver. “So we’re always working with local companies and people, to get them to work on films,” he said.
Rejto said his organization works in conjunction with the Office of Economic Development, whose director, Suzanne Holt, held a series of workshops last year, training municipal leaders and police chiefs to be film industry friendly.
“We’ve seen things evolve quite a bit, and things are going to continue growing. I’m very excited about this summer, because we will have the largest amount of films we’ve ever had, in July and August,” said Rejto. “There’s not a hotel room left to book in the area. I literally tried to convince another film yesterday to book rooms in Dutchess County — or like Hein’s house.”
While the film commissioner said he could not mention any names, “we have the highest budgeted film ever, in the history of film making, shooting in the area, and in July and August, we will have the highest budgeted film ever, shooting in Ulster as well,” hinted Rejto. Casting crews are also seeking amputees for a comedy-oriented zombie film, he said.
