Monday, 29 August 2011

Going Far Beyond With Much Bigger Sound Stages New York

By George Harris


Sound stages New York where a lot more and even larger commercials are filling up a lot more and greater soundstages. Happy days are here once more from top executives at New York's soundstages. With demand for their facilities meeting and sometimes exceeding supply, these managers are daring to hope that '80s-style prosperity is coming back to their neck of the media woods. Some facilities, particularly Silvercup Studios, in Long Island City, N.Y. have expanded pending an ongoing upswing in business. Others have come into existence atop the ever rising tide of production activity.

A fad for large-scale TV advertisements that required tens of thousands of feet of on-camera production space has become part of the reason for this upsurge. Feature films have led the fad, but series pilots, advertisements, music videos and home shopping programs have followed suit. And then there's the most spectacular of soundstage tenants: the depraved TV talk show or "shout show." A growing number of the programs gravitated to New York, in part to draw studio audiences from the city's ever-increasing pool of ranting psychotics. All the above have contributed to the present wave of studio construction. But several executives say there's a risk to the current state of affairs. If in truth it is the go-go '80s once more, they note, the market must also keep in mind the chance of another economic collapse in its wake.

Tucked away on top an old warehouse on top of of one of Broadway Stages' numerous production facilities, is a 6,000 sq. ft. urban farm. Brooklyn-based Broadway Stages is one of New York City's largest full-service film as well as television, music video production and industrial studio facilities. Aside from hiring lots of people, and producing countless local work opportunities they are the location of the first solar powered sound stage as well as the first organic rooftop farm in The Big Apple.

Now in its third growing season Eagle Street Rooftop Farm is a collaboration between Broadway Stages as well as the green roof design and installation company Goode Green. The farm likewise operates a small community supported agriculture (CSA) program, as well as an onsite green market, and serves area restaurants even going so far as to deliver the produce by bike. Furthermore, together with Growing Chefs, the rooftop farm hosts a range of informative as well as volunteer programs intended to bring city-dwellers closer to their source of food. They invite the local community to compost on-site and for a lot of the school groups visiting, it is their first time going to a farm or putting their hands and fingers in the earth.

Sound stages New York is a good illustration of going far beyond in greening efforts and creating distinctive joint ventures. It makes sense as food and art so frequently seem to come together in the building of neighborhoods. Just like Arcola Theatre in London with its green roof, vegetarian organic caf and community potlucks the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm has turned into a community hub as well as meeting place for its neighborhood.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment