Conover Productions' anchor desk at the 2004 Village Halloween parade

February 1, 2005 - The Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting (MOFTB) has permitted the filming of a marathon of events over the past several months!

In October, the MOFTB issued permits for Conover Production Services, in conjunction with Moe Green Associates, to film the Village Halloween parade, the largest nighttime parade in the country, featuring 50,000 marchers. The coverage ran on In Demand HD, marking the first time the parade has been broadcast in high definition.

“Nobody could do this parade as big as New York City,” Technical Manager and Location Producer Bob Conover said. “New York is such a wonderful palette to shoot in. You can’t do this on a back lot. And the support we get from the Mayor’s Office and police officers is incomparable compared to other cities and places. This Office has made the impossible happen for us over and over again.”

The bewitching night broadcasts were followed by coverage of 35,000 sprinters racing across all five boroughs during the 2004 ING New York City Marathon on November 7. The Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting issued permits to the New York Road Runners for coverage of the event.

“This is a tremendous undertaking by our production crews, because the broadcast takes place on 26.2 miles of New York City streets, over bridges, around skyscrapers and through parks,” Richard Finn, a spokesperson for the New York Road Runners, said. “There is nothing the Road Runners could do without assistance and full cooperation from numerous New York City agencies. This is an effort between the Road Runners and the City of New York, and that’s what makes both the marathon and the coverage a complete success.”

The Marathon ran as a five hour live broadcast on WNBC and WNJU in New York City, attracting 550,000 viewers and placing first in its time slot. It also ran on national NBC television as a one hour show, placing second in its time slot and drawing 250,000 viewers in New York City alone.

New York City also took the spotlight on November 18 during the annual lighting of the UNICEF Snowflake on Fifth Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg spoke at the ceremony, which included performances by the cast of Mamma Mia, India Arie, Wyclef Jean, Obie Bermudez, Mindy Smith, the Young People's Chorus of New York City and the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting issued permits to WCBS to broadcast the event.

And the events marathon continued with the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on November 25 and New Years Eve celebrations in Times Square on December 31. The Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting permitted NBC and CBS to broadcast live coverage of the parade, which Macy’s refers to as the “longest running show on Broadway," and issued permits for all images broadcast from Times Square on New Years Eve.