Jamaica getting film studio in former ice factory

A former ice factory in Jamaica, Queens has been revamped into a film production and artists’ studio.

The NY Ice House Studio, on Jamaica Avenue and 183rd Street, was used to make ice for decades. When Leonid Turchinsky bought the building in the 1980s, he used it to make furniture.

He recently decided to turn the 26,000-square-foot space with 50-foot high ceilings into a movie production studio, DNAinfo reported.

Turchinsky’s goal is to keep his prices affordable to help small movie companies that don’t have many resources.

Earlier this year, abstract painter Dorothea Rockburne worked there on her painting, “Folded Sky, Homage to Colin Powell,” which will be installed at the U.S. Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica, this year to honor Powell. Recently, scenes for “Fidelio,” a movie about Stanley Kubrick, were shot in the space, as were episodes of the CBS drama “The Good Wife.”

The NY Ice House Studio is a New York State Qualified Production Facility and includes three stages, two soundproof rooms and a 24-foot high cyclorama. [DNAinfo] – James Comtois