Film commission seeks $50K in county budget

By DAVID HULSE

MONTICELLO — County legislators, putting the final touches on Sullivan’s $161 million budget for next year, are considering a late request for $50,000 to fund the Catskill Film Commission.

The film commission is an offshoot of the Monticello-based, New Breed Foundation. Foundation director Dominick Daniels solicited legislative support, speaking at the county’s November 15 meeting.

Daniels says Sullivan County has everything filmmakers need but most still don’t know about what is available here. Their ignorance is costing Sullivan money, as filmmakers are shooting in other places that actively solicit them, Daniels added.

Even films about here, like “Dirty Dancing,” and “The Last of the Mohicans,” were filmed predominantly in North Carolina. Others, like “A Walk on the Moon,” come here for one day of background shooting and the bulk of the film gets done elsewhere, Daniels said.

Daniels says filmmakers will come to Sullivan County with the right kind of direction and assistance, “but you’ve got to help them every step of the way,” he said.

Working without any government support, the commission has given assistance to production companies to shoot “Winning Girls through Psychic Mind Control” and “Out of the Darkness” in Sullivan in the past year.

County funding would go in part to create a production guide that would provide the kinds of unusual information filmmakers often need, “…things like the fact that you could dump 20 truckloads of dirt on the streets of Callicoon and immediately produce a set for 19th century, period piece movie; that Sullivan County has lumber mills that can make decorative moldings for set designs and that there are hotels large enough to accommodate a large crew. These are all contributing factors in where films get made.”

Daniels said he has been working on the basics of the commission planning for three years, sometimes donating up to 18 hours a day on movie sets as a county liaison. A filmmaker himself, Daniels said he knows there is skepticism of the movie business locally, “after the Narrowsburg experience,” but there are important economic benefits for the county if it’s done correctly, “and the time to do it is now,” he said.

Daniel’s budget includes: $15,000 for creation of the production guide, $15,000 for commission attendance of the two annual film trade conventions in New York City and Los Angeles, $10,000 for advertising and $10,000 for administration-office expenses.

“This is a modest investment in our collective futures that will not only put Sullivan County on the map, but on movie screens around the world,” Daniels concluded.