By Kathleen Moore
Gazette Reporter

At first, television and film producers came to Schenectady for its historic homes, the must-have set for the perfect reproduction of history.
But now, even modern shows are filming here. As yet another movie production rolled into the city last week, its producer said the reason was simple: Schenectady is cheap.
In fact, the city offers the equivalent of a half-off sale to producers used to the prices in New York City.
Take a theater shot. For “Indelible,” the latest movie to shoot here, producers need a theater that looks like the Apollo. They first spent $1,000 on a five-hour shoot at Aaron David Hall at City College.
They will spend less than $400 for the same amount of time at the GE Theatre in Schenectady.
They also spent three days shooting at a hospital in New York City. The cost: $6,000.
Ellis Hospital agreed to let the crew run a three-day shoot in Schenectady for merely a “modest donation.”
“And I don’t think $6,000 is ‘modest,’” said producer Melanie R.W. Oram. “The people here have been extremely friendly and it gives us a break on location expenses. It’s making a huge difference to us.”
She shot 70 percent of the movie before hearing about Schenectady. Now, she sounds almost regretful as she describes the three days of shooting that must be done in New York City.
Some shots have to be done there because they involve an iconic café that has already been used in the movie.
“I can’t do those in Schenectady,” she said.
Even the nights between shots are expensive in New York City.
“I have to pay $70 a night for parking, because the truck (with lights, cameras, and other gear) has to be in a secure facility,” she said.
In Schenectady, she may be able to lease equipment for far less. Labor rates for the 30 or more technical crew members she must hire are also far lower than in New York City.
Still, she could find similar savings in many small cities in the area. Proctors CEO Philip Morris said filmmakers are choosing Schenectady because it has something few other cities have: a guide.
“There are a lot of cheap places to do things, but you need help,” he said. “Cost is only one factor.”
Historian Don Rittner, who runs the Schenectady Film Commission, personally scouts locations for every film and televitsion producer who expresses interest in Schenectady.
“A big part of it is knowing the history of the city and knowing where things are,” he said.
It helps that he can often arrange site access quickly.
“New York City is a nightmare,” he said. “Because Schenectady’s so small, if you have to shoot at Central Park, you can make one phone call to the park’s director. You don’t have to call 20 departments.”


By R H von Hasseln
Special to the Recorder

One of the responsibilities is a municipal historian is to advise on historic preservation matters. Towards that end, I offer the following information:
The basic governing law on this area is the National Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966: it established the National Historic Register of Historic Places as well as the framework for of state registers and programs. Its major aims were two fold:

First, to prevent “big government” type projects from steamrollering historic sites in the name of urban renewal, airport expansion, highway arterials, stadiums or other projects du jour. It does so by requiring that any project involving federal money, permits, or licenses (or state equivalents under the corresponding state historic preservation legislation) that would significantly alter or destroy a national or state registry site, or any such site that is eligible under the legally described criteria, must involve a review with an eye to lessening or avoiding such damage. Second, it created a system by which substantial tax credits can be granted to private concerns and individuals to partially offset the cost of rehabilitating historic sites and turning them into  profitable, tax generating properties. (20 percent federal, 10 percent state; more if the local government has its own program). This was done in the realization that free enterprise, properly stimulated, could do more good than any combination of altruism and government spending could. Other points about the law and its impact on the Chalmers debate that deserve clarification are:

Historic registry does not prevent demolition

There has been much misapprehension as to the imagine coercive nature of historic registers; some people seem to confuse them with local landmark laws (such as an New York City and fifty or so other jurisdictions around the state). Some of these laws can be very restrictive: for example, in downtown Village of Setauket, you must match the neo-colonial motif or you can’t build. None of this has anything to do with state and federal historic registers. Under NHPA, a building owner’s rights remain absolute: Privately own a registered historic colonial and want to add a Florida sunroom? Go ahead, but don’t expect any tax credits. Change your mind and want to raze it and start again? That’s your business if it’s your money alone that’s used. Your choices may be constrained by easement, covenant, environmental, zoning, local landmark or other laws, but not by historic registry status unless federal or state money, permits or licenses are involved, in which case the matter must be reviewed by the State Historic Preservation Office (HSPO).

The review does not preclude the destruction of other non-preservation of historic buildings, it only requires that every reasonable attempt be made to find some other solution before state or federal money can be spent to alter or demolish the building.

I have personally been involved in many of these actions. Some where another successful repurposing of the building was found.  Others where it was obvious from the beginning the building, no matter how historic, was beyond redemption and had to come down: a marker was placed on the site. Still others slid down a ladder of possible options to destruction: in one case, only one wall was saved to become a backstop for an expanded school playground; in another, the building was thoroughly photographed and documented under the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) before being imploded.

Please follow the adventures of Rob and Rogier the intrepid European filmmakers as they film their way through the US Amsterdams.  www.amsterdamstoriesusa.com.  See Susan and the castle.

I recently had three lovely guests bicycling from Buffalo to Albany over the course of a week and stayed at the castle on their pentultimate leg.  Read their blog at www.tripletrek.blogspot.com