Bloomberg Opens Five New Soundstages At Steiner Studios
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Media & Entertainment Commissioner Katherine Oliver joined Steiner Studios Chairman Douglas C. Steiner to open five new soundstages at Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The new stages, totaling 45,000 square feet, will provide new and expanded opportunities for New Yorkers who work in the film, television and commercial production industry. The Mayor also launched initiatives designed to support and grow the industry, including new grants for training programs that prepare New Yorkers for careers in production and digital fields; a new entertainment component to the City’s mini-MBA partnership with NYU’s Stern School of Business; and a request for proposals for a “Made in NY” Media Center, which would provide media companies with affordable work space and other services. Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Oliver were joined at Steiner Studios by Boardwalk Empire actress Gretchen Mol and the show’s writers; Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn; Seth Pinsky, President of the Economic Development Corporation; Robert W. Walsh, Commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services; Alan Fishman, Chairman of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation; and Council Member Domenic M. Recchia, Jr.
“A little over a decade ago, New York City struggled to attract the lucrative production industry to film here,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Now the City is such a popular and prosperous home to hundreds of films and television shows, we have to work hard to keep up with the demand for stages and production facilities. These new soundstages at Steiner Studios will create jobs, and expanding our workforce development programs with new grants will help the next generation of production professionals start their careers on the right track.”
Borough President Marty Markowitz said, “In addition to the extraordinary vision of David and Doug Steiner, the success of Steiner Studios—including the addition of these five new stages and a working studio graduate program for Brooklyn College film students—as well as record-setting film and television production citywide is due in no small part to the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Katherine Oliver. Forget La-La Land—Steiner Studios and Brooklyn are ‘Hollywood East.’”
The five new stages at Steiner support heavy electrical loads, are soundproof and column-free and possess massive silent heating, ventilating and air conditioning units. The building also features various support spaces, offices, dressing rooms, hair and make-up rooms and wardrobe rooms. Coupled with the existing five stages, Steiner Studios now totals 355,000 square feet, including editing suites, mill shops and prop storage. Steiner Studios sits on 20 acres of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and includes on-site parking, a full commissary, a screening room and lighting & grip services. Steiner Studios first opened for business in November 2004. It has been home to films such as Sex and the City, Inside Man, Enchanted and The Adjustment Bureau as well as television series like In Treatment and Bored to Death. HBO’s Boardwalk Empire currently films at Steiner; DirecTV’s Damages recently wrapped its latest season there.#
