Tim Clark talks Buffalo film boom

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

They say the neon lights are bright on … well, Buffalo.

To say there’s been moviemaking magic in the air this year is an understatement.

The Hallmark Channel has filmed all or part of three “Countdown to Christmas” titles (“A Newport Christmas,” “Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story,” “The More the Merrier”); Mario Lopez and Great American Family have set several features (including “The Christmas Spark” and “Chasing Christmas”); Warner Brothers is working on a full length; and, no, it’s not a movie, but HBO was in town over the summer to spotlight the Buffalo Bills on “Hard Knocks.”

Over the past 10 years, a number of major motion pictures have utilized Western New York for its backdrops – including 2016’s “After the Sun Fell” in Lewiston, 2017’s “Marshall” in Buffalo, and 2020’s “A Quiet Place II” across the Grand Island bridges.

But it’s only been recently that the area has seen such a high volume of continuous production.

Buffalo Niagara Film Office Film Commissioner Tim Clark explained more in an edited Q&A.

His office is responsible for filming permits; and notifying municipalities and agencies of crews working locally, while also coordinating logistics including street closings, traffic control, detours, parking and any special effects (including pyrotechnics).

Though the film companies differ, one constant is their praise for Clark and Director of Operations Rich Wall.

Clark said his team embodies what filmmakers find appealing about WNY: “We rise to the occasion; and that's all we're doing.”

Buffalo Niagara Film Office Director of Operations Rich Wall and Film Commissioner Tim Clark were in East Aurora on the final full night of shooting for the Hallmark Channel's "Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story." The "Countdown to Christmas" feature debuts at 8 p.m. Saturday. Clark was at the premiere last week. He said, "It's a pretty good movie; and they were all very happy. I spoke with all the folks from Hallmark this morning and they couldn't be happier. They got a really nice reception last night in East Aurora. ... They just like coming here. I think we're going to see a lot more of those guys."

••••••••

Q: Since May, I've worked with Hallmark on three different projects that were shot locally. I just saw Trevor Donovan and Jillian Murray when they were filming at Parkside Candy. I know my media colleagues have been just as busy. It would seem there is a production boom right now in Western New York. Is that true, or is it just that these movies have been better publicized than others?

Tim Clark: No, no; it's totally a big production boom. We went through decades of not much being shot here of significance – any big stuff – and now we're seeing it all the time.

What I would say is that most of it has to do with the New York State Film Tax Credit program, which is one of the more lucrative ones in the country right now. There's an extra bump to go upstate, which is working like a charm. I can tell you firsthand that this one is really working. It's driving a lot of business here.

And then the added thing, of course, is that, when they get here, they see all the location assets that we have, whether it's something old or something modern. We really have architecture from almost every period in American history in our communities here. It's something, I think, that they didn't expect. They go to these places, a lot of times, just chasing the money or chasing the incentives. But when they get here, they realize that there's just so much more to it in Buffalo. And when I say Buffalo, I mean Niagara Falls; I mean Lockport; I mean Chautauqua County. It's really all of Western New York. It's touched all of it, really.

Q: You mentioned the two big words: tax credits. Could tell me a little bit more about those and why they’re appealing?

Tim Clark: What it means is, basically, when a movie comes to town – like “A Quiet Place II,” for instance – which was a big movie – we have a big Warner Brothers movie in town right now shooting – and these guys initially come for the tax credit. They're going to get 40% of their budget back, of qualified expenses. Not everything's covered, but a lot of stuff is. And what you see, though, is that these movies wouldn't be here without it.

So, all of this new revenue that's streaming into Western New York through sales tax, through things like buying stuff at local stores, or renting places like locations, all of that money is new money, and most of it is from out of town.

Some of these tax credits get money recirculated back into the community but, in this particular case, it's not that at all. It's all about the new money that's coming, whether it's Hollywood, or overseas, or whatever.

The Hallmark Channel’s “Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story” was shot in Buffalo, East Aurora and Orchard Park.

••••••••

Q: You mentioned the architecture. When I speak with actors or directors who've worked in Western New York, they say they like the architecture, they enjoy the food, and they love the people. What else do you hear from these production studios about what makes this a special market and place to come and film?

Tim Clark: It's all of the things that you said.

I would say, first and foremost, it's the welcoming spirit of the people here. I think that's always something that's a bonus; that's almost unexpected.

What happens often in bigger cities, especially like in Hollywood or Los Angeles, or even in New York City, there's a lot of production fatigue. People are sick of big movie trucks in their neighborhood, and lights, closing streets, and things like that. Here, people still get excited about it. They try to get a glimpse of maybe a movie star or something. It's different. So, they get a much more welcoming experience.

We say that Buffalo is the “City of Good Neighbors,” and I would say that extends to the region. All of Western New York is really a place of good neighbors. But it's not just like some bumper sticker thing or whatever. It's a real way of life here. I think that that's very authentic – and it's that kind of authenticity you don't see in L.A. or New York or Atlanta or New Orleans or some of the traditional production centers. When they get here, they realize, “Wow, this is pretty cool.”

The other thing that we often hear about – and Holland (Roden) mentioned it (at the “Holiday Touchdown” premiere) – is the lack of traffic here. It's easy to get around. You can literally get anywhere in 20 minutes. You can't even get out of a parking garage in L.A. in 20 minutes. It's really something that's very tangible to them.

And then, like you said, the food scene here – there are so many chefs here that are like James Baird Foundation nominees or award-winners. There's just so much great food here – and it's not just chicken wings and beef on a weck. It’s that, but it's also the fine restaurants.

For instance, when John Krasinski came up here, he thought he would be heading home or to his summer home every weekend. This was during “A Quiet Place II,” back in 2019. Instead, almost every weekend he stayed here with Emily Blunt – his wife – and the kids, and they had a standing reservation at Oliver's every Saturday night. They snuck them through the kitchen and put them in the back little chef's room. He was amazed at that.

And in fact, the showrunner from “A Quiet Place II,” Randy Manion, told me, “Look, I've never been to Buffalo.” He said, “I thought when I was going up there that I'd be eating at Applebee's every night.” Nothing wrong with Applebee's, but he just didn't think there was any kind of fine dining here – and was very surprised, because he's a bit of a foodie and was not expecting much, foodwise, up here. He was really pleasantly surprised.

Q: I'm hearing from people in the community now who have historic homes or properties. For people who think they have a good location for a Hallmark movie, a Great American Family movie, what's the best way for people to submit places or property to your office, or to get on your radar?

Tim Clark: They should really go to our website, which is filmbuffaloniagara.com, and just email us and tell us what's unique about the property or about the locations. Maybe a photo or two would be great.

I heard from somebody this morning who sent me some pictures of kind of a spooky cemetery setting. And again, it's one of those unexpected things when you open your email and it's like, “Oh, OK; I didn't know about the cemetery, and it is spooky-looking.” It's now in our database for potential movie locations.

We get it all the time. People have very, very unique house interiors, or they get a certain look at a barn, for instance.

It's unbelievable the amount of things that we discover. I've been doing this job almost 20 years, and I’ve got to tell you, I find stuff almost every week that I've never known about. It's things like tunnels underground. It's things like very unique barns. We're always looking for classic cars, or cars of a certain period – horse and buggy – those kinds of things. We have a pretty good stable of people that we go to, but it's always good to know more of that.

For instance, in the movie “A Newport Christmas,” which was a Hallmark movie that was done earlier this year before the Bills movie, they were looking for horse and carriage, and from an earlier era, and we had multiple locations for them.

I remember during the movie “Marshall,” for instance, they had a really big budget for bringing cars up from New York City that were period to the 1930s. They didn't have to bring one of them; they found every car in that movie right here in Western New York, in a simple (social media posting).

But the truth is, is that we have a lot of great assets in this town – and a lot more to be discovered. I'd encourage your readers to submit to us and let us know if they think anything looks kind of unique to them, or if they're proud of a certain property, or something that we don't know about. We’d love to discover it and be able to share it with the world.