Suffolk to invest in film production

Suffolk County has approved nearly $30,000 in funding over the next year to encourage local film production.

County Executive Steve Levy said the county legislature has adopted a resolution to provide $19,982 for Suffolk County Film Commission’s “Next Exposure” competition, which will award grants of $6,000 grants to each of three filmmakers who do at least half of their filming within the county, spokesman Dan Aug said.

“Filmmakers are moneymakers for us,” Aug said. “You have people who come out and stay for weeks and sometimes months in the same location, which helps drive up the economy in those local areas, between hotels and dining and shopping.”

Film industries’ investments in the local economy have a multiplier effect greater than that of other industries, according to Yves R. Michel, county film commissioner.

“One of the great things about the film industry is the amount of income it brings into our county without using the services that the county government provides,” Michel said. “They come, they invest and they leave.”

The county will also provide $10,000 in grants to film festivals in the Hamptons: $5,000 to the Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival and $5,000 to the Hamptons Black International Film Festival.