Syracuse is playing host this week to independent film makers, producing a movie called "Adult World." While there is excitement about stars Emma Roberts and John Cusack being in town, YNN's Bill Carey says some other people are more excited about all the people the two brought with them.
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- No one would mistake Syracuse for Hollywood, although if you look, there are traces of film history here.
As early as the 1920s, silent film star Norma Shearer was shooting scenes throughout the Syracuse area for "A Clouded Name."
Go down the road a few miles and you are at the birthplace of talking movies. Theodore Case captured his first tests at a lab in Auburn.
Since then, a smattering of films, here and there.
In the 1970s, Paul Newman spent time here shooting the movie, “Slapshot.”
There was Steve Zahn wandering Carousel Center in the 1999 movie “Freak Talks About Sex.”
And, more recently, the Israeli produced thriller, “Session.”
And, of course, the movie about Syracuse football star, Ernie Davis, although most of the movie, outside of a few campus scenes, was shot in Indiana.
This week, it's another independent film, "Adult World.” filming at various spots around the city. That's good news for Dennis Brogan, who has headed Syracuse's efforts to attract the movie industry here. With New York State offering generous tax credits, he says the sales pitch has been working.
“It's much more economical. We have a city you can get around in five or 10 minutes. These are fresh locations. They have never been shot,” Brogan said.
And the people in charge of selling Syracuse to a broader audience say anytime the city appears on film, it helps.
“People go to New York City. The things they see there are aspects that they've seen on a screen somewhere. So, there's a perspective there that's used to create a sense of place. When we have the same film companies coming in to film here in Syracuse, it creates a sense of place for our community,” said David Holder of the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Film makers are boosting the economy. Spending money that helps support local jobs that, in turn, generate more economic activity.
No one is suggesting that Syracuse will have anything like a Hollywood-style movie industry. But, what they are saying is, the business can be built at a steady rate and aid the local economy.
Brogan said, “You know, they've worked with real estate folks. They're renting vehicles. They're renting locations. They're buying food. I think there's 250 hotel nights here. It's like a small convention.”
Brogan hopes scenes like this become more common.