Council OKs city staff, vehicle for indie movie [The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.]

Apr. 24—At a special meeting Wednesday, April 24, the Oneonta Common Council unanimously authorized Otsego Media to use city equipment and personnel in an independent film that is currently being filmed in the city and town.

Oneonta Police Detective Amanda Catapano will drive a city ambulance under Otsego Media's liability insurance for about three hours Sunday, April 28 at Lutz Feed, 80 Lower River St. in the town of Oneonta.

The scene in the movie is slated to be four minutes and will take three hours to capture, according to a request to the city from Otsego Media.

Korey Rowe, Otsego Media creative director, said that the film production company had been in conversation with city police, fire department and EMS but were only recently made aware of the need to communicate further with the council to approve the use of city resources.

Rowe said Wednesday that the movie currently filming is the fifth independent film Otsego Media has shot in the city and surrounding area, but due to non-disclosure agreements he wouldn't say the title of the film or its plot.

Shooting locations so far have included SUNY Oneonta and the Black Oak Tavern.

Rowe said that the council's decision is part of a larger conversation about creating a permitting system to film in the city.

Currently, the city is charging Otsego Media fees for use of city equipment and personnel using the fee schedule, which lists fee amounts for different city services, such as having an ambulance on standby.

City Administrator Greg Mattice said that the city hasn't determined how much it will charge in fees — it depends on how many vehicles and number of personnel are used, and the film shoot has the potential to exceed the three-hour intended time which would incur a higher per-hour cost.

Rowe said he estimated it would cost about $1,000 in city fees.

"It's not much," he said, "but it's bringing revenue and jobs to Otsego County."

The council is working on creating a different fee structure specifically for movies, at the committee level for now.

The Quality of Life and Infrastructure Committee discussed it April 22, and the Legislative Committee is slated to continue the discussion April 29.

In September, the council passed a resolution recognizing Film Otsego as the official film commission office for the city of Oneonta to promote the city to content providers for movies, television shows and all forms of media.

Similar commissions have been established in Albany and Schenectady, Rowe said.

This allows film crews to shoot after hours and allow the city to profit from film productions, he said.

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