NYC Filmmaking Rebounds as More Studios Open Across Boroughs

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Film and television studios in New York City are on the rebound after surviving the pandemic and the historic SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America labor strikes, clearing the way for the development of more high-quality stage space, according to a July report from CBRE.

The tri-state area has seen a 12 percent increase in stage inventory so far in 2024, mainly due to several major studio deals in Queens, including Borden Studios in Long Island City and Wildflower Studios in Astoria. Wildflower opened last year as the region’s fifth-largest studio campus and joined “a roster of legacy campuses helmed by Kaufman Astoria and Silvercup,” the report said.

And there’s more on the way with 34 film and TV studio projects under development in New York and New Jersey — the highest number since the third quarter of 2022, the report said. CBRE (CBRE) also pointed to the success of Netflix (NFLX) and 1888 Studios’ new stages in New Jersey, as well as Great Point’s deal in Yonkers, N.Y., and Sunset Pier 94 Studios’ 2025 opening in Manhattan.

“Despite the headwinds of the past 18 months — both economic and industry — we have seen an increase in film studio construction lending and interest from investors in the market,” Anthony Jasenski, vice president at CBRE’s valuation and advisory services team, said in a statement to Commercial Observer.

Following the start of the SAG strike in July 2023, film spending plummeted, projects shut down, studios sat empty, and film crews fled soundstages. On average, film and TV projects’ spending across the U.S. fell to $8.3 million in the third quarter of 2023 — down from $26.2 million in the first quarter before the strikes began, the report found.

Things started to look up soon after the strikes ended in November and projects resumed. Average spending for film and TV projects in the U.S. hit $46.3 million in the first quarter of 2024, while office leasing for those industries increased significantly during the first half of this year, with companies claiming more than 120,000 square feet in New York City — twice as much than they did in 2023, the report said.

Overall, though, film and TV leasing remains below pre-pandemic levels, when production companies would annually lease well over 500,000 square feet in the New York area, CBRE said.

Still, New York City remains the epicenter of film production in the tri-state area, with the five boroughs boasting 77 percent of the area’s square footage. In total, the region reported 3.3 million square feet of space in the second quarter of 2024, compared to 2.7 million square feet in the first quarter of 2022, the report found.

“Historically, the New York/New Jersey market has had the smallest soundstages and the lowest clear heights in the nation,” Jasenski said in the statement. “We do not forecast that the new supply will dilute or oversupply the market, but rather these new facilities will raise the bar for soundstage quality. Productions are increasingly putting more emphasis on quality.”

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.