Kaufman Astoria Studios creates 35K SF lot for outdoor filming

Kaufman Astoria Studio
Kaufman Astoria Studio

Kaufman Astoria Studios is consolidating its complex in Queens’ Astoria neighborhood by creating a 34,800-square-foot back lot at a spot where several movie scenes were filmed in the Roaring Twenties, the New York Times reported.

The 60 by 580 foot lot will be formed by cordoning off a one-block stretch of 36th Street, and will run from 35th Avenue to 34th Avenue. Studio executives and city officials see the lot as a way to sidestep problems that normally go with outdoor locations, such as congestion and foot traffic. It would allow filmmakers to shoot car chases and handle  large-scale equipment in a controlled environment, they said.

“The working back lot will create a totally unique production opportunity in New York City that will allow Kaufman to continue to attract world-class films and television series,” Julie Wood, a spokeswoman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, told the Times.

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In 2015, Kaufman Astoria will start paying $140,000 in rent, an amount that will be upped every five years.

Brooklyn has also seen escalating demand for film and television production space, as The Real Deal previously reported. Eastern Effects, a lighting equipment and film rental company, recently inked a 72,000-square-foot lease next to the Gowanus Industrial Arts Complex. [NYT]Hiten Samtani