Syracuse, N.Y. — Cameras are rolling in Central New York again after months of being shuttered because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Onondaga Lake Parkway was closed for two days last week for a movie shoot under the company On Three Pictures Inc. A week earlier, the Liverpool-based production company American High completed reshoots for its upcoming film “The Ultimate Playlist of Noise.”
Marc Porterfield, a production consultant who works with American High, told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard in a phone interview that they soon will begin filming their next movie “soon.” Details, including the cast and plot, have not been officially released.
The movie, American High’s eighth shot in the Syracuse area, was originally scheduled to start March 16, but was delayed — like most everything else — by Covid-19. It will be the first major local production since Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave the state permission to begin filming TV shows and movies last month.
But the production, like other businesses, will have many changes to protect the cast and crew from the virus that’s infected 5 million Americans and killed more than 160,000 people in the U.S.
New York state guidelines allowing TV and film productions to resume include:
- Cast and crew must be limited to 50% capacity in indoor locations.
- Face masks must be worn at all times within production facilities or locations, with exceptions for actors during performances or when it interferes with hair, makeup and wardrobe work.
- Auditions and location scouting are encouraged to take place virtually; no open casting calls.
- Social distancing must be considered for locations to ensure they have enough space and are secure from the public.
- Productions are encouraged to “reduce close or proximate contact between performers, such as amending scripts or using digital effects where possible” or limiting scenes “with prolonged close or proximate contact between individuals (e.g., fighting, dancing) or scenes requiring large crowds.”
Porterfield, whose credits include Jennifer Garner’s “Peppermint,” Adult Swim’s “Black Jesus” and an Emmy nomination for AMC’s “Fear the Walking Dead,” says the production also has a long list of its own guidelines and a Covid compliance officer on set to ensure health and safety protocols.
Other changes include testing people for coronavirus before they join a production, rotating people on lunch breaks to limit capacity, keeping sets closed to the public, and dividing cast and crew into different zones to limit how many people they interact with.
Liverpool-based American High resumed film production July 24-25 with reshoots for "The Ultimate Playlist of Noise" at the Greater Syracuse Soundstage in DeWitt. The stickers on crew members' shirts represent different "zones" to limit how many people they interact with.Provided by Marc Porterfield
American High’s eighth movie also planned to shoot at a “party house” in the Syracuse area, but Porterfield says scenes with extras will be reduced or contained a little more. Extras may still be involved, but filming schedules may shift to ensure everyone has tested negative for Covid-19.
“In the Covid era... we have to protect (actors) with the utmost care,” Porterfield explained. “If a crew member gets sick, there’s a way to still shoot. If I lose an actor, I don’t have that person on screen. I can’t shoot that with someone else.”
Fans may also see fewer intimate scenes, including sex and fighting, in some upcoming movies and TV shows filmed in New York and other states. “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunner Krista Vernoff told The Hollywood Reporter that the ABC medical drama, primarily shot in California, expects to begin filming season 17 in the next few weeks, but with much less kissing.
A mini Hollywood
The Salt City has become a mini Hollywood over the past five years, thanks to state film tax credits and places like Syracuse Studios (the former A.V. Zogg Middle School in Liverpool) and the Greater Syracuse Soundstage (formerly the nano film hub in DeWitt). Seven movies were shot in Onondaga County last year, bringing close to $30 million in production budgets and leaving more than $20 million of that total within the community, officials say.
At least 20 movies have shot here since 2016, including “Gabriel’s Inferno,” “Odd Man Rush,” Ron Perlman’s “Pottersville,” Jeff Goldblum’s “The Mountain,” Rebecca Hall’s “The Night House” (which sold for $12 million at the Sundance Film Festival in January) and seven films from American High. Those brought to the community big names like Goldblum, Richard Dreyfuss, Mary Stuart Masterson, Michael Shannon, Pete Davidson, Jon Cryer, Lili Taylor and Penn Badgley.
Pete Davidson, left, and Griffin Gluck appear in a scene from "Big Time Adolescence," shot in Mattydale and other parts of the Syracuse area in 2018. The American High movie was released on Hulu in 2020.
American High, founded by Jeremy Garelick in 2017, released four films (“Holly Slept Over,” “Banana Split,” “Big Time Adolescence,” and “Looks That Kill”) earlier this year. “The Binge,” directed by Garelick and starring Vince Vaughn, will next be released Aug. 28 on Hulu.
The community’s handling of the coronavirus has made Syracuse even more ideal for film productions, as cases have been kept under control. Fewer than 1% of people tested in Onondaga County were positive for the virus last week, according to the state Department of Health.
“Syracuse is a perfect area for this” situation, Porterfield said.
In fact, when “The Ultimate Playlist of Noise” underwent reshoots on July 24 and 25 at the Greater Syracuse Soundstage, it was the only film or TV show in production anywhere for Disney.
Eric Vinal, vice president of film, TV and entertainment for Visit Syracuse, credited the production team and partners, along with officials like Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and Gov. Cuomo, in making the two-day shoot come together under the new safety protocols.
“We’re extremely thankful and continue to work together to keep production safe for everyone in CNY,” Vinal said.
Porterfield points out that other cities with more infrastructure, like Los Angeles and New York City, have to worry about larger populations that can’t be spread out as easily and spikes in coronavirus. The biggest challenge locally is getting people to travel to Syracuse, but it’s “manageable” and close enough to bigger cities like NYC, Buffalo and Toronto.
”I’m amazed that more shows aren’t shooting here and with Covid being the way it is, it’s a win for me,” Porterfield said.
Marc Porterfield, a production consultant working with American High in Syracuse, was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on "Fear the Walking Dead." (Photo by Geno Hart)Provided by Marc Porterfield
“Noise,” also known as “TUPON,” stars Keean Johnson (“Alita: Battle Angel,” “Nashville”) as an audio-obsessed high school student who records his favorite sounds before going completely deaf. Shooting initially wrapped in December with scenes at Green Lakes State Park, the former Lakeview Bowling Center on Old Liverpool Road, The Gem Diner, the Westcott Theater, and in downtown Syracuse, where a fake subway entrance was created to resemble New York City.
Great potential for more
Syracuse, the snowiest city in America, will never resemble a tropical paradise like Hawaii or an exotic island like in “Jurassic World.” But Porterfield said there’s “great potential” in Central New York for any movie or TV show that is not location-dependent.
“We have great looks here, different looks,” he said, plus “a lot of interior space.”
Liverpool-based American High resumed film production July 24-25 with reshoots for "The Ultimate Playlist of Noise" at the Greater Syracuse Soundstage in DeWitt.Provided by Marc Porterfield
Porterfield said Syracuse can be used for multiple projects like how “Netflix looks like at Yonkers for multiple productions.” Yonkers, N.Y., has been used by Netflix for popular titles like “Orange Is the New Black,” “The Politician” and Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.”
“I am amazed at the support that we have here,” Porterfield added.
Syracuse will also offer more production space because The Oncenter and the Redhouse Arts Center were named Qualified Production Facilities last month. Films and TV shows that use a QPF are eligible for the New York state film tax credit, which was recently reduced from 40% to 35% for productions in Upstate New York and from 30% to 25% for NYC; that extra 10% in film tax credits sweetens the incentive for productions to consider Syracuse.
The Oncenter and Redhouse have also both taken steps to ensure healthy safety with air purification systems. The Oncenter uses the ASM Global VenueShield program to provide enhanced air circulation and filtration to reduce risks to staff and guests, and the Redhouse has partnered with HealthWay Family of Brands in Pulaski on Intellipure systems to remove the virus that causes Covid-19.
Vinny Lobdell, president of the family-owned HealthWay business, said its Disinfecting Filtration System has been proven to remove a proxy virus for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, from the air with 99.987% elimination in 10 minutes and 100% in 45 minutes. The air purifiers have not yet been certified by U.S. regulators for killing the coronavirus, but the equipment’s filters remove 99.99% of the H1N1 virus, which is smaller than the new virus.
Lobdell told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that its filters have also been used by American High and Subcat Studios, in addition to offering large portable commercial air filtration systems that can integrate directly into other systems.
Having more locations as qualified production facilities also allows for more social distancing, to accommodate large or multiple productions in the area.
Porterfield thinks there’s also potential for the New York State Fairgrounds, which are available more than 45 weeks a year, to become a qualified production facility. Buildings like the new Exposition Center are already in place and would require minor modifications to get to soundstage quality, he said.
Porterfield, 53, said he lived in Los Angeles for 20 years but recently made Fayetteville his home.
“I bought a house in February,” Porterfield said. “That’s how much I believe in it.”
MORE:
‘Banana Split,’ new movie shot in Syracuse, gaining fans on Netflix
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‘Gabriel’s Inferno, Part II’: How to watch steamy new movie shot in Syracuse
‘Odd Man Rush,’ hockey movie filmed in CNY, set for release (see exclusive trailer)
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