BACKSTAGE STUDIO PRODUCTIONS (BSP)
LOCAL STUDIO IN KINGSTON, NY RECEIVES STATE CERTIFICATION

(Hudson Valley, NY) – Backstage Studio Productions (BSP) is proud to announce that it has officially been granted certification as a qualified soundstage by the NYS Governors Office of Motion Picture and Television Development. This important development will allow potential film productions to use the 17,000 square foot facility at BSP to meet the requirements set forth by the recent NYS Film Credit, which have been a boon for the state economy bringing in $1.90 for every $1 spent (*based on recent Ernst & Young’s analysis).

To become a qualified soundstage, a site must be at least 7,000 square feet among other categories. New York State offers tax credits to companies that shoot on qualified soundstages. BSP is the second qualified soundstage in the Hudson Valley area.

“It’s is a monumental development,” stated Hudson Valley Film Commissioner Laurent Rejto. “This will allow film productions to shoot locally and qualify for the film credit without having to relocate outside of the Hudson Valley. The lack of a qualified site has always been the missing link in getting films to commit to the region.”

“It’s somehow fitting that films will now be produced in what started out as a movie house.” Rossin added. “It’s an exciting development. We’re already negotiating with several productions and looking forward to showing the place off during the upcoming Hudson Valley Film Commission mixer on June 12.”

Current projects filming in the Hudson Valley area include: Whisper Me a Lullaby, Bitter Feast, and Meskada. TV documentaries include Bucky (A&E), Gone to Texas (PBS/ITVS) and also many shorts and fashion shoots. Upcoming features include Highland Fling, Restoring Grace and Rocksteady.

About BSP:
BSP is an Arts and Entertainment Complex located in the center of Uptown Kingston, New York, at 323 Wall Street. Built as a Vaudeville Theater in the late 1800s, it spans the entire block from Wall Street to Crown Street, and has a rich and colorful history of its own.

About the Hudson Valley Film Commission:
The Hudson Valley Film Commission is a conduit for preproduction, production, and postproduction for filmmaking in the Hudson Valley/Catskill region. Support is provided throughout the year to studio features, independent features, print, new media, short films, student projects, and TV ads. HVFC offers technical, location, and talent guidance, referrals, networking opportunities, email blasts, and promotion through press opportunities including the monthly e-newsletter, which is sent to 15,000 recipients. In order to make information fully accessible, a free online production directory for local film professionals is provided and maintained online.

Select Upcoming projects include:
Glass Eye Pix's BITTER FEAST, directed by Joe Maggio (Paper Covers Rock)
Folded Leaf Productions' WHISPER ME A LULLABY
ALIENATED, with a script by Charles Disney and Lee Barron that won 1st place finish at Mafia Short Script Competition. The story, which follows a hit man (Vincent Pastore) and his fear of extraterrestrials, is set for production in June.
MESKADA an independent feature film written and directed by Josh Sternfeld.
GONE TO TEXAS, a PBS/ITVS project for which the Hudson Valley will double as Alabama.
24 HOURS AT THE GOLDEN APPLE by director Adam Roe in Chatham, NY.
RUDER GANT catalogue shoot
SURFACE MAGAZINE fashion pictorial
MARIE CLAIRE ITALIA fashion pictorial
and much more...

Recent projects include:
Ray/MLK (American Experience), The Bell, Taking Woodstock (directed by Ang Lee), Splinterheads, Fighting Fish, Handsome Harry, The Cake Eaters (directed by Mary Stuart Masterson) The Night Listener (starring Robin Williams), The White Countess (extras ADR, directed by James Ivory), War of the Worlds (directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise), Before It Had a Name (starring Willem Dafoe), Dead Flowers (postproduction only, directed by Jim Jarmusch and starring Bill Murray, Sharon Stone, Jessica Lange.), The Thing About My Folks (starring Paul Reiser and Peter Falk), Down to the Bone (winner of two prizes at 2004 Sundance Film Festival), Personal Velocity (Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2002), and much more.