Film Commission Forms To Bring Movie Production To County

In a press release this morning it was announced that the Cooperstown, Oneonta, Otsego County Film Partnership, Inc., known as Film COOP, has been established and will represent Cooperstown, Oneonta and all of Otsego County’s hamlets, towns and villages to the entertainment industry.

Otsego County, and its greater region, is one of the few areas of the state not currently benefiting from the boom in television and film production that has taken place in upstate New York. The establishment of the film commission office is the first step to attract individual film and television production business, leading ultimately to building a new industry in the region.

“A film commission is something that the other board members and I have been working on for a long time,” Film COOP. Board President Greg Klein said. “We live in a beautiful, scenically diverse area and using locations here will bring new excitement and color to film and television screens. Bringing the film production industry to Otsego County will eventually bring millions, maybe even hundreds of millions of dollars, to the area.”

The film commission office was started by a generous grant from Cooperstown’s C.J. Heilig Foundation. The film commission office is a 501c(6) nonprofit trade organization with funding coming from donations, fundraising events, grants and, eventually, a partnership model with film-industry businesses.

Otsego County, the village of Cooperstown and the city of Oneonta have all named Film COOP as their official film commission office.

In the press release, Klein said: “We’re excited to officially begin work, and a big part of that is outreach to the residents, businesses and leaders of Otsego County, We’ll be having a lot of conversations about what the industry can do for Otsego County and what Otsego County can do for the industry.” To find out more about this exciting new venture visit the commission's website at www.film.coop-com.

For more information, contact Klein at 818-255-8397 or email him at greg@film-coop.com.