Mangano: Film Industry Success Leads To $140 Million In Economic Benefit

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano was joined today on the Times Square set of the Amazing Spiderman at Gold Coast Studios by Burt Young, best known for his Academy-Award nominated role as Sylvester Stallone’s brother-in-law and best friend Paulie in the Rocky film series; Dee Snider, the frontman for the heavy metal band Twisted Sister, singer-songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality, and actor; Cody Snider and Shane Snider, Actors and Directors; Fred Carpenter Writer, Producer and Director; and Ingrid Dodd and Craig Weintraub, Co-Founders of the Long Beach International Film Festival; Glen, Joe and Lindsay Lostrito from Gold Coast Studios, Parvis Farahzad of Grumman Studios, Mike N’Dolo of Camoin Associates; Angela Anton of the Nassau County Film Commission; Debra Markowitz Director of the Nassau County Film Office; Aviva Miller from the Gold Coast International Film Festival; and Randy and Charles Fisher of Hip Hop Against Gun and Gang Violence.

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano has made it a priority to attract the movie and television industry to Nassau County, and today, a new independent economic analysis performed by Camoin Associates indicates the industry’s success. In 2012, the movie and television industry generated $140 million in economic benefit for Nassau County and more than $800,000 in sales and hotel taxes. The industry employed 1,945 people — including 890 annual jobs, and spent 393 days shooting movies and television shows in Nassau County.

County Executive Mangano stated, “Nassau County is becoming the Hollywood East of the motion picture and television industry as productions, both large and small, have been attracted to our unique facilities. My administration has supported the film industry in expanding its local operations as it benefits our residents by generating $140 million in annual economic benefit for the region and helps employ more than 1,900 people.”

The economic study, commissioned by the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), focused its review on three filmmaking facilities: Gold Coast Studios in Bethpage, Grumman Studios in Bethpage and the Sands Point Preserve in Port Washington.

The study indicates:

  • More than 1,900 people were employed in the film industry over various times in 2012, including employees of the buildings, production staffs, cast and crew, and contractors. The number of days spent shooting films and TV episodes totaled 393. More than 1,000 year-round, direct and indirect full-time jobs exist due to the film industry.
  • The film industry generated $140 million in economic benefit to the County.
  • The county collected sales and hotel taxes of more than $800,000 as a result of filming movies and television shows in the County.

Moreover, the studios are qualified New York State production facilities and therefore film producers are entitled to a 30% tax credit through the Empire State Film Production Tax Credit program.

In addition, the studios are located within the “Film Zone” – a boundary set by several New York City film industry unions to define the area in which their members will work locally without incurring travel and overtime costs. The boundary is a 25-mile radius of Columbus Circle.

The studios in the study were:

  • Grumman Studios in Bethpage, which recently received an extension of an existing economic compact with the IDA to upgrade its sound stages. It offers 500,000 square feet with seven sound stages and 30 acres of paved outdoor space. East Setauket developer Parviz Farahzad’s Lunar Module Park, LLC, which owns Grumman Studios, began the conversion of a 660,000-square-foot former Northrop Grumman assembly plant in 2007 into the largest film production studio in New York. The building was used to construct the lunar modules that briefly roamed the moon’s surface 40 years ago.
  • Gold Coast Studios in Steel Equities’ Bethpage Business Park, has six sound stages totaling 105,000 square feet as well as outdoor space, warehousing, acres of outdoor storage area and a host of services including security and catering.
  • The Sands Point Preserve, operated by the Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums, encompasses 216 acres, including a large mansion and nature trails that are used in television and movie productions.

In 2012, Nassau County hosted over 650 production days. Among the more than dozen movies and television shows that were filmed in Nassau County last year were: “Spiderman,” “Winter’s Tale,” “Found Footage,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Royal Pains,” “The Good Wife,” “Affluenza,” ”The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Four Weddings,” “Infamous,” “Deception,” “The Americans,” and “Zero Hour.”