David Milch Can Save Buffalo

...Broadway Barn has the space and the City wants out.

Meh, obviously a few shoots in Buffalo isn't going to "save" anything. It's transient $$ that might give temporary or seasonal employment to a few people, but that's about it.

Also, mentioning The Wire kind of made me laugh. Last thing Buffalo would need for its perception issues is something like that to take place in the city, much less something else that feeds off the national perception of Buffalo (e.g. snow).

I am missing something in this post. I understand how someone like David could have a big impact, but he is not. He, like Tom, have told the city's "leadership" what it ought to do, and it's not doing it.

Hello IDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You want a job-creating project? BUILD A SOUNDSTAGE to lay the groundwork for more crews as opposed to poaching Premier from Kenmore to Clarence. That is business development.

I think the Broadway Barns is a great idea, btw.

Who wants a soundstage when you can have One Sunset?

Milch, whom I've worked with briefly, has no interest in shooting in Buffalo. He has his home in Santa Monica, near where his kids go to school, and he's happy there. The only reason Fontana left NYC and went to Baltimore is because that's where Levinson wanted to shoot and where David Simon set the book 'Homicide' was based on. It's a matter of practicality and desire and bottom line.

Getting a TV show or movie made is nothing short of miraculous given the money involved. It's about timing, need and, most of all, luck! A friend of mine created a show for Showtime, 'Brotherhood', set in Providence. There was very little infrastructure in Providence at the time - crews came in from Boston and NYC, trucks from Haddad in Pittsburgh - but the city served as a character in the show, so they shot there. Their 'soundstage' was a converted warehouse that had the production offices (old admin offices) adjacent. But, over the duration of the show, a structure was built. And, after three seasons, they had a good solid base of crews and craftpersons. Then the show was cancelled. Has anything moved into there since? I don't know. Has anything been in Baltimore since 'The Wire'? No. Again, a matter of luck and dollars and need.

I SOLD a pilot to HBO, it took place in Buffalo. It didn't go beyond script. I SOLD a pilot to Showtime. It also took place in Buffalo. And, again, it didn't go beyond script. I've written two features - a period piece and a contemporary action movie - BOTH take place in Buffalo. Both have been optioned, but not made. That is the nature of development. And that's just me. I know of other professional writers who are doing the same thing. The point is that there are projects that are Buffalocentric out there. Will ANY of these projects ever get made? Who knows! Again, it's as much a matter of luck as it is anything. BUT, Buffalo should at least make the effort to be prepared, interested, willing... The naysayers should shut the hell up, but, at the same time, those expecting people like Milch to come to the rescue shouldn't. That ain't gonna' happen.

The best we can hope for, and this falls to the people like Tim Clark, is that there are folks out there promoting Buffalo, the tax incentives and all the city has to offer - that it would make fiscal sense to shoot here. Then, maybe, the right script or series will come along. Then, when the stars align, and luck smiles, maybe Buffalo will get its due on the big or small screen. Maybe.

The HBO series Treme has been amazing for New Orleans. Upside, America is actually interested in seeing the truth to a city, downside HBO already has a series which heavily promotes a city and its unique culture.

Good article, though still a few stale exaggerations:

"With Buffalo's current perception, talent would probably prefer a 6 month shooting schedule in Minsk than flock to sunny upstate." Do you honestly think so? What good does a comment like that do?

"Headlines would read, Life Comes Back to Buffalo with a four page spread on the newest Asian fusion tapas lounge on Elmwood Avenue." There IS life in Buffalo...lots of life. And any city that has a four page spread on a faddish restaurant is a city I don't want to be in.

i bet central terminal has plenty of room for a soundstage.

A soundstage would be a good start.

However, this article gets to the heart of the issue -- why hasn't Buffalo produced any major artists? Sure, we have had many musical artists, and visual artists. But no major artist that is closely identified with the city. I suppose we shouldn't cry too much -- most cities don't have a major artist, and Baltimore and Levinson is perhaps the exception.

One problem is that few Buffalonians, even those who understand our history, don't have a good FEEL for the history. Few people really understand Polonia (for instance), AND have the artistic capabilities to create great art based upon it. Face it -- artists have to be nurtured, they have to gain experience, try and fail a dozen times, esperience disappointment and still prevail. Levinson didn't just pop out of nowhere and have overnight success.

First, we need to understand Buffalo. What makes the city unique? Do our people have a different perspective from the rest of the world? Or different experiences? And to what extent are our experience and perspectives also universal?

It's a delicate balance -- on one level, Levinson's films were about Baltimore, but on another level, they were about universal truths, yearnings, desires and so on that made the films attractive to people outside of Baltimore. This balance isn't easy to achieve, and we already have a whole list of failed Buffalo films.

You can't do a film about Buffalo, or the homeless, or whatever. At bottom, a film can't be a cause. It must have a compelling narrative that speaks to a whole swath of people. Buffalo can be the vehicle, but it can't be the subject. Unless you just want to do a travelogue.

Other than that, I really have no answers to this question. If any one else does, let's hear it!

Buffalo doesn't have the kind of background scenery that NYC has. We have a lot of antique residential neighborhoods and a nearly abandoned 'Downtown'. NYC still has the walkable, charming or dirty, safe or scary, scenic or filthy places that many movies need.

Buffalo was, and still is, a boom-town gone bust when the natural resources of the Great Lakes region were exhausted & stopped flowing through here. No more forests to strip, no more iron deposits to exploit, no more cheap/free farmland to give to European immigrants. Now we must stand on our own - the fish, the lumber, the coal, the iron ore, the grain, and the immigrants are gone.

I think what we are really lacking is a an over the top film festival. Something to draw in the top talent around the globe so we can showcase our assets.