{"id":361016,"date":"2026-09-30T18:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T18:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/361016\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T18:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T18:30:08","slug":"new-york-film-and-tv-tax-incentive-drives-production-boom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/361016\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Film and TV Tax Incentive Drives Production Boom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWhen Rafael Espinal<\/a> took office in February as New York City\u2019s entertainment chief, he looked around and saw a city that was thriving but had yet to recover from a yearslong slump in film and TV production. \u201cThe number of permits we were seeing was 50% compared to pre-pandemic,\u201d says Espinal, sitting in a lower Manhattan coffee shop that used to be a bank. \u201cI joked to my team that I remember seeing tumbleweeds roll through our office.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe slowdown reflected a larger trend: In the past handful of years, Hollywood not only deserted Hollywood but America at large, with major productions decamping to London, Canada or Budapest in search of cheaper crews and sweeter tax breaks.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo the media and entertainment commissioner got to work, taking scissors to the city\u2019s red tape at the same time that recent improvements to the state\u2019s tax incentive were attracting a swarm of new productions. Thanks to a 30% refundable tax credit backed by an annual pot of $800 million, as well as enhanced post-production and above-the-line incentives, \u201cNew York is one of the more affordable places to shoot in the world,\u201d Espinal says.<\/p>\n

\n\tNow, the city\u2019s soundstages are reaching capacity and productions are flooding the streets of the Big Apple, from \u201cThe Gilded Age\u201d to \u201cAmerican Horror Story\u201d to the upcoming \u201cExorcist\u201d movie. The budget enhancements convinced \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2<\/a>\u201d to remain in New York, which supported more than 1,400 local cast and crew members and engaged 550 local vendors. According to Empire State Development, New York\u2019s economic development agency, the 46-day shoot generated $67.9 million in total economic activity and $45.8 million in local wages.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs America has lost ground in the global production race, New York\u2019s share of the pie is increasing. After six years of unsteadiness, the state\u2019s film and television business is booming: Production spending rose 57% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2026, to nearly $1.06 billion, with 19% more projects shooting. \u201cThe tax incentives are oxygen. You can\u2019t live without them,\u201d says Adam Gordon, a real estate developer who \u2014 with Robert De Niro and his son Raphael De Niro \u2014 co-founded Wildflower Studios<\/a>, a sleek compound in Astoria with modular soundstages and sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tWildflower Studios in Astoria, Queens, founded by Robert and Raphael De Niro and Adam Gordon<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Wildf<\/p>\n

\n\tWildflower opened in 2024, when the industry was crippled by shrinking studio budgets and reeling from the aftermath of twin labor strikes. Thanks to Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s budget amendments, signed in 2025, the studio has never been busier. New York City has processed 4,311 filming permits so far in 2026, a 27% increase from last year, with more than 600 projects filmed on public property this summer.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cScreen time alone pays for the credit,\u201d says Doug Steiner, who in 2004 opened Brooklyn\u2019s Steiner Studios, home to \u201cThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel\u201d and \u201cBoardwalk Empire.\u201d \u201cThat visibility for New York is so important,\u201d he adds. \u201cIt\u2019s product placement: New York City is the product.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe thinking is that by subsidizing productions that show off New York, not only is the state boosting local business and employment \u2014 it\u2019s also advertising itself. It\u2019s become a clich\u00e9 that New York is \u201cthe fifth character\u201d of \u201cSex and the City,\u201d but there\u2019s a reason why hundreds of people still flock to Carrie Bradshaw\u2019s West Village stoop every week.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s also the fact that, even with movie magic, no other city can truly pass for New York \u2014 not even Toronto, which is standing in for Queens in FX\u2019s \u201cAdults\u201d and Manhattan in Sarah Polley\u2019s upcoming \u201cThe Bell Jar\u201d adaptation.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou can\u2019t replicate the city anywhere else. It\u2019s not the same,\u201d says Robert De Niro, whose career is built on \u201cTaxi Driver,\u201d \u201cRaging Bull\u201d and \u201cGoodfellas\u201d \u2014 New York movies that were actually shot in New York. \u201cI consider it the best city in the world, and the more that\u2019s happening here, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat said, \u201cWe\u2019re happy to \u2018cheat\u2019 other locations,\u201d says Rhoda Glickman, ESD\u2019s film and arts chief. \u201cWhen something\u2019s supposed to be in Washington, D.C., and we film it here \u2014 it\u2019s not beneath us to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHollywood has come back to New York, and as Espinal sees it, it\u2019s his job to keep it there. \u201cI\u2019m a firm believer that no matter how high the tax credit is, if you don\u2019t have an infrastructure in place that supports filming, then it creates a burden on productions that\u2019s not going to further attract them to your city,\u201d he says. He attributes New York\u2019s recent success in part to his office\u2019s \u201cwhite-glove service\u201d \u2014 that is, his people pick up the phone and help find solutions.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first production Espinal greenlit was \u201cA Quiet Place Part III,\u201d which required a shutdown of the Manhattan Bridge for an alien invasion. The massive set-piece required coordination with the NYPD, the MTA and the Port Authority. And while actors battled CGI aliens, Espinal went up against a vocal community group, amplified by the New York Post, that banded together in opposition to the production and its temporary disturbance of local businesses (which were compensated by the production).<\/p>\n

\n\tInstead of ignoring the noise and letting the backlash blow over, Espinal showed up to the set and posted a video explaining to New Yorkers why, in the long term, productions like this are a boon to the city and its inhabitants. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have folks flying into our city, spending tourist dollars to be able to see where that shot took place,\u201d Espinal says of the lower Manhattan apocalypse.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen a [project] is filmed in New York, the paycheck stays in New York,\u201d says Emily Mijatovic, ESD\u2019s downstate communications director. \u201cIt\u2019s also about the jobs for the local folks: the electricians, the carpenters, the drivers, the makeup artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe production boom isn\u2019t limited to film and TV projects; Espinal also shouts out Cardi B\u2019s \u201cAh Ha\u201d music video and Josh Safdie\u2019s Knicks-themed Nike commercial. And New York is the epicenter of short-form social media series like \u201cSubwayTakes\u201d and \u201cAre You Okay?,\u201d which send scrappy film crews around town. The shows are part of a growing cottage industry that the city is supporting by streamlining the permit process and giving out awards to creators.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEvery single city, state, country in the world is thinking about how they lure the big productions,\u201d Espinal says. \u201cBut I think the meat and potatoes is our smaller productions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe vibes are less celebratory in Los Angeles, which remains the global epicenter of the entertainment industry but has been severely injured by production flight. California has recently taken steps to stop the bleeding, but local barriers have frustrated producers and forced many below-the-line workers to pack their bags to head to Texas, New Jersey and, yes, New York. In 2025, L.A. logged its worst year of location shooting outside the pandemic period.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou could fire a rifle down a street in L.A. where there\u2019s studios and not hit anybody. That should tell you something,\u201d Gordon says. \u201cWe\u2019re not gloating, because it\u2019s sad, but L.A. is a deeply troubled city with horrible leadership at the state and local level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, \u201cI don\u2019t think all is lost yet,\u201d Raphael De Niro says. Despite David Ellison\u2019s threats, Paramount is staying in Los Angeles, and California continues to beef up its incentives as production becomes a key issue in statewide political races. Both De Niros support the bipartisan federal tax incentive moving through Congress, which is backed by Donald Trump. It\u2019s a rare issue on which the Oscar winner and president are aligned.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn a recent tour of Wildflower, Gordon shows off a giant lazy Susan-like metal platform outside the studio. He\u2019s standing on the rotating plate, which helps 53-foot trucks exit the parking lot without making 12-point turns \u2014 one of the many improvements suggested by the Teamsters.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe also use this for wrap parties,\u201d Gordon says, drifting counterclockwise like a piece of sashimi on a conveyor belt. \u201cYou put the turntables there, the bar there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Rafael Espinal took office in February as New York City\u2019s entertainment chief, he looked around and saw…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,56,45069,80914,134130],"class_list":["post-361016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-rafael-espinal","tag-the-devil-wears-prada-2","tag-wildflower-studios"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}