Back in July 2019 it was reported that actor Robert De Niro and his son Raphael had entered a contract for five acres in Astoria with plans to build NYC’s first ground-up, purpose-built production studio, Wildflower Studios. Now complete, the studio has become the first-ever vertical film studio in the world.
The Hollywood Reporter writes that, though film production in New York is an $82 billion industry, the city has “long suffered from a scattered, largely ad hoc studio infrastructure — much of it consisting of retrofitted warehouses — that struggles to compete with the sprawling, purpose-built soundstages of Los Angeles, London and other tax-friendly film hubs.”
And this $1 billion production hub is unlike anything Hollywood has seen before. Spread across 765,000 square feet are 11 state of the art sound stages. But what makes Wildflower Studios is Astoria unique is that these sound stages are stacked on top of each other (across two levels) and are accessible via elevators big enough to fit an elephant. Even more, trucks can drive right up to these elevators to unload equipment.
Faced with New York’s notorious spatial constraints, it was developer Adam Gordon’s idea to “build up” with Wildflower Studios. Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, known for Manhattan’s pyramidal housing complex Via 57 West, designed the studio, fascinated with the idea of building the world’s first “3D” movie studio.
Standing seven stories tall, Wildflower is the largest of the several studios being constructed in and surrounding the five boroughs, including Long Island City’s Borden Studios. Beyond the sound stages, it also includes production support areas, public and private offices, and amenity spaces such as a fitness center, lounges, and cafes. And De Niro being the New Yorker he is of course made it a point to ensure the cafeteria’s food lies up to NYC standards.
It only makes sense De Niro was the one behind the project–he was raised in the West Village, founded the Tribeca Film Festival, is owner of Tribeca’s Greenwich Hotel, co-founded the Nobu empire, and has starred in a number of movies himself that have come to define New York City.
And now that construction is complete on the new film studio, De Niro is confident it will draw people to New York. He stated, according to The Hollywood Reporter:
The other cities are all good, and I’ve shot in all of them. It’s just that the bottom line is most people would rather be in New York, if they could. Especially if they live there.
Wildflower Studios has made its home in the industrial five-acre Astoria lot next to the Steinway Pianos manufacturing warehouse, taking up more than half a block. Gordon had stated the back in September that the first productions would start filming in early December.
📍35-15 19th Ave, Queens