Program helps staff and diversify growing Hudson Valley film industry
Stockade Works continues to help staff and diversify the Hudson Valley’s growing film industry by holding boot camps and trainings for locals interested in film production.- Charles Merrihew
The TV and film industry in the Hudson Valley continues to expand, and to keep apace with demand for local production help, area nonprofit Stockade Works recently hosted a summer boot camp to train people interested in getting a crash course on working in the industry.
“We’re seeing a real turn here with more and more limited series and episodic work coming to the region,” said Beth Davenport, co-founder of Stockade Works, who last weekend hosted 25 people at a three-day boot camp. “We want all of these people to hire our locals and we know we need to meet the demand for crew with more and more training.”
The summer boot camp was the third ever for Stockade Works, which operates in partnership with Upriver Studios, a production facility in Saugerties. The film industry has been booming in the Hudson Valley lately with several HBO and Hulu productions, among others.
The Hudson Valley Film Commission reported that the second quarter of 2021 was the biggest yet in terms of the industry’s economic impact on the area – north of $30 million halfway through the year.
Stockade Works aims to train a local and diverse workforce to work on big productions that shoot in the region. The nonprofit was co-founded in 2016 by Davenport and actress Mary Stuart Masterson after they brainstormed how to “create a healthy film television industry in Hudson Valley with a focus on workforce development and providing access to jobs to people of all ages and backgrounds,” said Davenport.
The first thing they created was the local training program to make sure residents have access to local film jobs.
“Local productions like to hire people locally – it’s more affordable for them,” said Davenport.
The summer boot camp, which had 25 participants, was the third ever for Stockade Works. -Charles Merrihew
To date, Stockade Works has trained more 130 Hudson Valley residents, 50 percent of them women and/or people of color. Graduates of the training program have been referred to more than 300 different production jobs.
Participants in this year’s summer boot camp ranged from twentysomethings to people in their 60s looking for new opportunities. During the camp, trainees learn what to do while on set, how to read a call sheet, how to unload equipment, and more.
Throughout the weekend, participants rotated through seven different departments to get experience in everything from camera to electric and sound. At the end of the boot camp, participants are told what kind of work they are ready to do based upon their demonstrated skill sets, and the learning they still need to complete to work in other aspects of film production.
“We continue a forever relationship with our graduates,” said Davenport. “We do ongoing mentorships, career development and job referrals.” One graduate from 2019 is now working on the set of HBO Max’s “Pretty Little Liars,” currently in production at Upriver Studios.
The boot camp cost participants $850, with a discounted offer of $699, but applicants can indicate when signing up how much they can afford to pay, Davenport said. Last weekend, 80 percent of the participants received scholarship support.
“We have found that receiving a scholarship versus having a free training creates a different level of commitment for people who are taking our training,” said Davenport. “Money is not a barrier because we are a nonprofit that relies on foundation funding, individual donors and corporate sponsorships.”
Marvin Smith, left, a participant from last weekend’s boot camp, speaking to instructor Marisia Moreno, right.- Chuck Merrihew
One participant, Marvin Smith from the Town of Poughkeepsie who learned about Stockade Works three years ago, said the boot camp was like a “breath of fresh air” with its consolidated, intense pre-production and production simulation.
“I knew film productions were taking off in the Hudson Valley area, but you only heard about them once they were done or in progress,” said Smith. “You didn't know how to get your foot in the door to work with these people or how to contribute to it. Stockade Works provided the framework.”
During the three and a half day boot camp over the weekend, Smith found himself drawn to script supervision, which is what he ultimately trained in.
“It struck a chord with me,“ said Smith. “I'm going to pursue that anyway I can and [immerse] myself into the process ... I credit that to Stockade Works.”
Aside from the summer boot camp, Stockade Works offers department-specific workshops across the Hudson Valley and has also trained people from the Capital Region, where it works closely with Film Albany. Since its inception, Stockade has held a dozen other trainings, some of which were offered online at the peak of the pandemic.
“We spin up [trainings] based on the crew demand in certain areas of the Hudson Valley,” said Davenport. “We talk to incoming productions to not only refer our graduates and local crew, but we hear about who we don’t have enough of and we train for those specific areas.”
Moving forward, Davenport said Stockade Works plans to increase capacity to be able to do additional trainings, noting that there is more demand for them now.
In Orange County, Umbra Stages has grown from its initial 16,000 square foot sound stage to three sound stages consisting of a total of 200,000 square feet. Similar to Stockade Works, Umbra also manages its own program, Below the Line Bootcamp, which offers training and mentorship in film production to at-risk youth in the community.
“We want everyone to succeed,” said Davenport.