Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Friday, July 10, 1998

Release #326 -98

Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958
Curt Ritter (212) 788-2971


MAYOR GIULIANI ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR HUDSON RIVER STUDIOS

$120 Million High-Tech Television And Film Production Studios Will Be Largest In Manhattan

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today unveiled plans for Hudson River Studios (HRS), a new privately developed television and film complex, to be built atop St. John's Center building at 340 West Street in SoHo. With five studios ranging in size from 12,500 to 18,300 square-feet and costing $120 million, HRS will be the largest television and film production/post-production complex in Manhattan – and the only facility in Manhattan equipped with digital and high definition television technology.

HRS will contain production studios, post-production edit suites, a set construction shop, dressing rooms, warehousing, storage space and production offices; and will be outfitted with an on-site cafe; an exercise training center; a children's play area; and creative suites for producers, directors, writers and actors. Procter & Gamble Productions' long-running daytime dramas, "As the World Turns" and "Guiding Light," will serve as anchor tenants of the new facility. HRS is also currently engaged in serious discussions with production companies, TV networks and advertising agencies in New York and Los Angeles about leasing the remaining studios.

"Hudson River Studios will play a major role in helping to expand New York City's growing television and film industry," said Mayor Giuliani. "Much of our economic success over the past few years has been the result of private sector job growth, to which film and television industries have contributed significantly. For the fourth consecutive year, direct expenditures from the production of films, television series and specials, commercials and music videos in New York City continued to grow at record levels. In 1997 direct expenditures totaled $2.37 billion, compared to $2.23 billion recorded in 1996.

"This unprecedented growth of film and television production in New York City strengthens our position as the Entertainment Capital of the World," the Mayor continued. "I want to thank the United Labor Life Insurance Company and its member unions for investing their resources and creating new jobs in the City," the Mayor concluded.

The United Labor Life Insurance Company (ULLICO) will provide the mortgage financing for the project, which represents the City's first major studio construction in decades. The facility will create an estimated 500 to 600 permanent union jobs. Construction is expected to begin this Fall and is projected to be completed by early 2000.

Randy Levine, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Planning and Administration, said, "This new state-of-the-art facility will rival any studio on the West Coast. The success of this industry over the past years has improved the quality of life for all New Yorkers by creating thousands of jobs, and generating billions of dollars in revenues."

Hudson River Studios President Richard Benowitz said, "The acute need for new studios, coupled with the complete package of production and post-production related facilities and services — including the most advanced, state-of-the-art technology in digital and high definition TV — positions Hudson River Studios to immediately satisfy the needs of production companies, program suppliers, and advertising agencies. Their desire to do more production in New York has been impeded by the inability of the supply to meet the demand. HRS will meet this demand. Production companies and television program suppliers just need to bring the creative people. Hudson River Studios will provide the technology, facilities, engineers, technicians and other professionals."

TeleVest, which oversees the production of programs for P&G Productions, signed an agreement with HRS to use 40 percent of the total studio space to produce its New York-based dramas, "As the World Turns" and "Guiding Light." Phil Dixson, Managing Director and Senior Vice President of TeleVest, said, "We're looking forward to putting two of our daytime programs together in the same facility. Hudson River Studios' state-of-the-art technology will create many efficiencies in terms of operations and budget, thus making for better programs. I know that all of us — talent, producers and support staff — are excited about the new facility and about working with the HRS team."

New York City's television and film industry was buoyed last year by the production of more than 105 national television shows, over 200 movies and 4,000 commercials – resulting in a fourth consecutive record-breaking year. Direct expenditures from the production of films, television series and specials, commercials, and music videos in New York City continued to grow at record levels totaling $2.37 billion in 1997 compared to $2.23 billion recorded in 1996.

Patricia Reed Scott, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, said, "The City's extraordinary production boom has increased the demand for studio spaces. We really need state-of-the-art stages to raise the level of production further."

Ronald Picket of Hudson River Productions LLC, the project developer, said, "Hudson River Studios is a perfect fit not only for New York City, but for the SoHo district where it will be built. This is already a community steeped in the performing arts. SoHo has the potential of becoming the television and film production center of New York and the East Coast. The project will reinforce the manufacturing base of the area and bring economic benefits by way of jobs, revenue, additional service providers and improved infrastructure."

Bice Wilson of Meridian Design Associates, the architectural firm of the project whose credits include the Ed Sullivan Theater and Martha Stewart Studio's, said, "St. John's Center is a unique building. We are joining the past with the present: our design for HRS expresses the archeological layering of the information age city on top of an industrial age structure. The television and movie industries in New York are often accustomed to working in adoptive-reuse existing structures, such as converted barns, bakeries and other former manufacturing sites. By starting from scratch, Hudson River Studios presents a cost-effective facility designed to accommodate the needs of the industry, while providing the most advanced, state-of-the-art technology. This building will immediately become the destination of choice for production and post-production companies."

The Mayor was joined at today's press conference in City Hall by: Richard Benowitz, Hudson River Studios President; Michael Steed, Senior Vice-President of Investments for ULLICO; Phil Dixson, TeleVest Managing Director and Senior Vice President; Ronald Picket of Hudson River Productions LLC; Bice Wilson of Meridian Design Associates; Ed Malloy, ULLICO Vice-President and President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York; Robbie Blackman of Tishman Construction; Eugene Grant, owner of the St. John's Center building; Randy Levine, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Planning and Administration; Pat Scott, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting; "Guiding Light" stars Amy Ecklund and Frank Dicopoulos and "As the World Turns" stars Lauren Martin-Harkins and Nick Kokotakis.

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