Buffalo has come a long way from the making of “Hide In Plain Sight” in the region from May 2 through July 21 in 1978. A dramatic legal thriller, “Hide In Plain Sight” was released in 1980 and is directed by James Caan, who also stars. Locations in metro Buffalo included Erie County Hall (100 Franklin Street), the Dunlop Tire Company factory (10 Sheridan Drive), a former clothing store at 190 Ontario Street, and the former Chase Bag Company building at 175 Rana Street.
Like a science-fiction movie traveling through time, jump to Thursday, May 16 and the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Great Point Studios, a new $50-million state-of-the-art motion picture and television production center, which is located at 1155 Niagara Street at the corner of W. Ferry on Buffalo’s far west side. The two-story studio complex consists of a 20,000-square foot soundstage, 70,000-square feet of support and office space, which includes make-up, costume, and dressing rooms, food preparation facilities, set storage, audio and editing capabilities, and two smaller soundstages, which are 5,000-square feet each.
Great Point revealed that its Buffalo complex will be the company’s flagship location of its studios, which are positioned in Great Britain (Cardiff, Wales), Yonkers in New York state, and Atlanta, Georgia, with 2025 being the target date for Newark, New Jersey.
Robert Halmi, the founder of the Hallmark Channel and the CEO of Great Point Studios, described Buffalo as a “dream location” for making movies and television shows because of New York state’s tax incentive “where 40% of the budget goes back to the filmmaker.” Halmi continued, saying, “It all comes down to economics when the studios are figuring out where they’re gonna shoot something.” Halmi’s Hallmark Channel has made numerous romantic comedies and Christmas movies in the Buffalo suburb of East Aurora.
The state’s tax incentive has helped deliver a profound shift in the economics of the film industry, and Buffalo is increasingly playing a larger part. Mayor Byron Brown said, “Great Point Studios will play a major role in helping Buffalo become one of the most sought-after film destinations in the country.”
Actor Stephen McKinley Henderson, the University of Buffalo theater professor emeritus and a multiple Tony Award-nominated Broadway star, lives primarily in Buffalo. Henderson thinks that the new studio can truly show the film industry all that Buffalo has to offer. “To not have to use my passport, I’d be glad to sleep at home and work here,” he said. “Oh, it would be a joy.”
Henderson’s motion picture credits include “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” “Lincoln,” “Fences,” “Manchester By The Sea,” “Lady Bird,” “Beau Is Afraid,” “Causeway,” “Tower Heist,” “Native Son,” the 2022 “Dune,” and the current “Civil War.”
Some of metro Buffalo-Niagara’s assets and selling points for media production, which also includes television commercials and music videos, are its treasure trove of great architecture, waterside locations including Niagara Falls, nearby forests and farmland, a large pool of actors, actresses and musicians, and highly-skilled technical workers and artists.
Scores of movies have been shot in metro Buffalo-Niagara, including “Marshall,” “A Quiet Place Part II,” “The Natural,” “Best Friends,” “Nightmare Alley,” “Buffalo Bushido,” “Cold Brook,” “The True Adventures Of Wolfboy,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Vamping,” “Stepping Out,” “Tuck Everlasting,” “Superman II,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows,” “Buffalo ‘66,” “Crown Vic,” “The American Side,” “Savages,” and the recent “Cabrini,” which, as I wrote in my review in the Niagara Gazette, is the best-looking film made in Buffalo.
The first major production to use the Great Point Studios will be “The Panic,” which is written by, and will be directed by, Daniel Adams. The feature is based on a true story and takes place in 1907 on Wall Street as bankers J. P. Morgan and Charles Barney become involved in a financial crisis, which is caused by Barney’s attempt to control the copper market. The movie is slated to star Cary Elwes and Malcolm McDowell, with Donald Sutherland, Justin Chatwin, and Cristiana Dell’Anna reportedly also attached to the project. Filming of “The Panic” begins in June.