Syracuse’s film community is growing, offering new opportunities

Caroline Cianci started her post-graduate film career this May in an unlikely place: Syracuse. Most filmmakers would not think of the Salt City as a film hub, but Cianci, like other recent Syracuse University graduates, has found that there are more jobs here than meet the eye.

Through American High, a production company she has worked with since college, Cianci has been able to work on a several projects in the area. Now, she’s working with Vince Vaughn on an upcoming Hulu film called “The Binge.”

“It’s a really great opportunity if you want to work here,” Cianci said about Syracuse’s film community. “There’s really great upward opportunity if you’re comfortable.”

Syracuse has plenty to be comfortable about in the world of cinema. The city offers everything a filmmaker could want – a growing studio in American High, low tax rates and a film festival that introduces cinema buffs to international and local work. Most importantly, Syracuse is filled with people passionate to tell great stories and show them on the biggest screen possible.

“There’s people that want to do that stuff and want to do those stories and love storytelling,” Ben Frahm, an assistant teaching professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, said about the film community.

“When you can find those communities, it’s pretty exciting and proves that maybe you don’t have to live a mile from your team in Los Angeles,” he said.

Frahm, a Cornell University graduate, worked in Los Angeles for several years before coming back to teach at Syracuse. In LA, he worked with one of the key producers at American High: Jeremy Garelick.

Due to the great tax rebates and an eagerness to produce great stories, Garelick founded American High in 2017 to house his passion for producing relatable films about high school. Since then, the company has produced several projects, with the recent film “Big Time Adolescence” starring Pete Davidson gaining rave reviews out of Sundance International Film Festival.

A major factor in producing films here comes from the New York State Tax Credit Program. Essentially, if movies qualify, the state of New York will give companies a 30% refundable baseline credit along with an additional 10% refund on hired local labor. These two incentives amount to one of the best rates in the nation. This helps producers in Syracuse gain enough money to make their films. The law is a major reason why companies like American High and the Greater Syracuse Sound Stage have been formed.

However, the tax rebates are not the only reason Garelick would want to produce in Syracuse. The strong base of eager, passionate workers – local and student – helps put productions together. Frahm mentioned that several of his students got to work through American High, and Cianci has seen the support given from American High.

“The producers and everyone at American High want to give people experience” Cianci said.

Filmmakers can then show their works, expand their connections and experience film in a completely different way through the Syracuse International Film Festival. The festival was founded in 2003 by Christine Fawcett-Shapiro and Owen Shapiro, who is also a film professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

SIFF was formed to house Shapiro’s film, “Prisoners of Freedom” – about World War II refugees living in Oswego – and the event took off, showing films every year at the Redhouse Arts Center in early October. SIFF has opened new doors for its family.

“I was a shy university professor who loved teaching, who just wanted to teach my classes,” Shapiro said. “But when it came to community engagements and meeting people outside, I didn’t do that. The biggest thing for me has been broadening my reach and meeting new people.”

SIFF has completely changed the Syracuse film community. Not only can young filmmakers in Syracuse showcase their work, but now they have the chance to see films they may never see anywhere else, and experience independent filmmaking at its finest. Not at all coincidentally, the film festival has helped Syracuse increase its exposure.

“I feel like it’s growing. It’s a small family, we’ve all been together,” LaShaun Jones, a member of SIFF’s board. “It’s growing because we have more opportunities to grow with larger productions.”

Now, with the new opportunities popping up, Syracuse is turning into a viable hub for filmmakers. Since 2012, Alex Méndez Giner, an associate professor and co-program coordinator in the department of transmedia at VPA, has had the experience of producing quality films with his students – workers who he said give “absolute passion and pleasure.” He has seen one significant change in the film community: graduates staying in Syracuse.

Whether they’re working at American High like Cianci, or the Greater Syracuse Sound Stage, or SIFF, film students are taking advantage of the fantastic film opportunities and crews available from undergraduates. Mendez sees the growth as slow, and the community will need help from union productions, but it is getting bigger.

“More productions are coming, so more students are staying,” Mendez said. “More people are literally finding ways to work in film in Syracuse. That’s special. That’s new.”

Mendez said he believes that the film community could grow even larger in the next decade with more productions. So, you may not have to travel too far from central New York to see the magic of cinema unfold.