Earlier this month, Governor Hochul announced transformational changes to extend and enhance the New York State Film Tax Credit Program as part of the historic FY 2024 New York State Budget. These changes include increasing the annual allocation from $420 million to $700 million, extending the program by five years from 2029 through 2034, increasing the base credit percent from 25% to 30%, including double capped above-the-line wages as qualified costs, and more. This new credit will have a major impact Upstate, where productions can receive up to 40% credit for filming in most Upstate counties.

New York State Budget changes to the New York City Musical & Theatrical Tax Credit Program include a two-year program extension, $100 million increase in funding, and expanded eligibility for certain smaller “off Broadway” productions.

Read on for more updates from the Governor’s Office of Motion Picture & Television Development (MPTV):

Virtual Information Sessions: NYS Film Tax Credit Changes

The Governor’s Office of Motion Picture & Television Development is holding virtual information sessions to inform the industry of the newly expanded film tax credit program and answer questions. The first two sessions were held on May 10 and May 24 and were enthusiastically attended by nearly 400 industry professionals.

The next information session will take place on Wednesday, June 14. MPTV looks forward to hosting more information sessions and continuing the conversation about the exciting developments taking place in New York’s film and television industry. Over the next several months, MPTV will continue to update all materials including websites, applications, guidelines, and regulations to reflect these exciting changes.

Keeping our Communities Camera-Ready

On May 23, MPTV partnered with Film Albany to present a virtual fam tour led by Albany Film Commissioner Debby Goedeke. Attendees learned about filming in the City of Albany and Albany County and were taken on a virtual tour of many stunning area locations that have been used by productions like Succession, Billions, The Gilded Age, and White House Plumbers, to name a few. Attendees also heard from location manager Steve Grivno, who shared his experience working on White House Plumbers in the Capital Region.

Next, MPTV will head to Western NY to present a virtual fam tour with Buffalo Film Commissioner Tim Clark on June 29. Then we will travel back down the Hudson to present a virtual fam tour with Hudson Valley Film Commissioner Laurent Rejto on July 11.

To familiarize filmmakers with New York State’s many film-friendly and camera-ready agencies and the locations and resources they offer, MPTV will also host a virtual event with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) on July 25. The Port Authority will present New York State locations available for filming, provide information about filming protocols at their sites, and answer questions submitted by attendees.

Keep an eye out for more information about upcoming events with State agencies, regional film offices, and other partners about all New York has to offer filmmakers!

Investing in New York State Arts and Culture

Governor Hochul continues to support the many artists and creative organizations that call the Empire State home and enhance New York State arts and culture. Governor Hochul recently announced $82 million in New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) grants are now available for nonprofit arts and culture organizations and individual artists across New York State.

The Governor also announced $24 million in funding for 28 projects across the state through Round XII of the Regional Economic Development Council Initiative. Congratulations to all the winning projects, especially the Social Impact Content Film School, which plans a state-of-the-art film school at its Downtown Yonkers campus, and the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, which will utilize grant funds to implement and promote special events to attract filmmakers and tourists from around the world. Round XIII of the Regional Economic Development Council Initiative was recently launched and the New York State Consolidated Funding Application is now open.

Governor Hochul also announced a plan to upgrade the Apollo Media Center in East Buffalo to support job training, youth programming and media production. The $962,000 state investment will help the Center acquire new equipment to expand media education to City residents who own a business and provide a safe creative outlet for young people to explore music and art, while also teaching skills in video production and coding to help familiarize them with media careers.

For more information, or to get in touch with the Governor’s Office of Motion Picture & Television Development, please contact 212-803-2330 or nyfilm@esd.ny.gov.

We hear it all the time. Moses this, Moses that. Why are we always talking about Moses?

We love Moses, big fans, but the thing we’re talking about all the time is the MO-SYS virtual production system. Even though SO many people think we’re saying Moses.

Just to clear up the confusion, we made this handy dandy chart to help everyone distinguish between Mo-ses and Mo-Sys.

Moses	Mo-Sys
Top prophet	Impacts your project’s profits
Floated the Nile in a basket	Floated AR videos for the Oscars
Talked to a bush	Talked to up to 16 cameras with Startracker, and can operate in live streaming or record modes
Not a fan of Gold Cows	Can make the Cow of your Dreams: spotted, blue, purple, whatever
Parted the Red Sea	Powered by AMD Threadrippers in (2) PCs
(2) tablets, 10 commandments	(3) 4K recorders
Out of this world beard	Unreal Engine 5 (it doesn’t rhyme, but we don’t care)
Legacy – Led his people out of Egypt	Legacy – Removed physical set building costs
Looks suspiciously like Chuck Heston 🧐	They’ll have to pry this tech out of your cold, dead hands

Want to see our Mo-Sys in person?

Lets talk.

We recently had an opportunity to blow expectations right out of the water, and we wanted to share it with you via a production CASE STUDY.

THE ASK

We got a call at Cobalt HQ from the in-house marketing agency at LG on a Wednesday. You know LG – an international conglomerate that makes everything from TVs, dishwashers, cooktops, monitors, washing machines, vacuums… And so much more.

They had an urgent request: The marketing group was meeting with LG’s CEO of North American operations the following week on a Thursday… and they needed our help.

LG wanted to explore the suitability of Virtual Production (VP) for their entire line of products. They wanted to know if VP was a methodology that would retain their world class style and amazing production value while saving them money in the long term. Would this keep them from having to build, and hold over practical sets every time they wanted to shoot this year? Would Virtual Production obviate the need for cast, crew and clients to travel to disparate locations? All common questions…

The CEO was skeptical that Virtual Production would be able to produce photorealistic results in an abbreviated timeline. Saving money was one thing, but if the work looked fake, then of course, he wasn’t concerned about how much money was saved.

Naturally, we were up for the challenge. One week to make a huge impression on a massive global company at the highest levels? No big deal.

THE SOLUTION

The first thing we did was strategize an impactful approach. We know CEOs are busy, so we decided to take one of their products, create a way to showcase it, and then rewind the film to show them exactly how we did it… all in one neat little package.

The Weekend: We spent the weekend concepting, hiring talent, and assembling the team.

Monday: In the morning, we picked up a vacuum cleaner at a big box store. Then we designed the virtual set comprised of 3 different rooms.
Check out: Unreal Marketplace.

Tuesday (the Pre-Light): We laid flooring, positioned practical props within the virtual set, mounted our camera to our dana dolly, created garbage mattes, and rehearsed. Meanwhile, we pulled together wardrobe, ordered lighting equipment, and all the things you’d typically do over the course of a prep week. After recording a few rehearsals, we were all set to shoot.

Wednesday: While we did shoot through lunch, we were able to nail the spot in just 8 takes i.e half a day… The talent and crew we assembled were out of this world, and naturally, our co-directing team was pretty great, too!

THE RESULTS

Less than a week. It took our production studio less than a week to shoot a dynamic spot that was going to show off Virtual Production for the CEO of LG North America Operations.

By now you’re probably wondering how it was received?Well, it was a smash. The time-pressed CEO was so WOWED, he didn’t think twice. He green lit 12 commercials with our studio on the spot…

YES, YOU CAN deliver an astounding project, quickly and effortlessly, while saving significant production costs.

PLEASE NOTE:

The video you just saw was a direct output from Cobalt’s Mo-sys system. All LIVE composited at 4K.

Call us to discuss!

A: The doors to our soundstage! ❤️

You’ve probably got questions like “Why do you need two 700-pound doors?” and “What makes a soundstage a soundstage?”

And WHY make a soundstage?

Let’s get into it…

Noise! It’s everywhere. Even in what might seem like a quiet room (or your run-of-the-mill stage) there’s noise that the best mics will pick up! Could be the dull hum of a plane flying overhead, a big rig laying on the horn, or just some rowdy birds near a window. These sounds might seem imperceptible to you in the room, but trust us, the mics are gonna pick them up.

So what do you do? And what did WE do?

Simple: acoustic remediation.

Ok, you got me, it’s not so simple at all… It’s a relatively long and involved technical process that involves years of Industry experience to execute properly (not to mention a whole lotta elbow grease and some really cool materials to acoustically isolate a space)…

You might be wondering what any of this has to do with our 700-pound doors. Well, one of the first things we really wanted to do, was to “Cobaltize” our new space… Right away, we got busy adding a sound vestibule with MASSIVE doors. And boy did we ever do that.

We built fully soundproof, custom doors – 14 feet high. Both doors are literally 7-feet wide, and swing open on hinges. You can seriously drive a city bus through them. YES, we are a drive-on soundstage 🙂 We want you, our clients, to load in and load out with ease… and to have the sans sound you deserve!

Our magical doors actually overlap when they close, and feature an astragal (a piece of hardware used to seal the gap between two doors) to eliminate noise intrusion. The bottoms of these doors are also covered in custom sweeps to cut noise. And lastly, since we know not everyone will end up driving a bus into the soundstage, we also added a human size door for cast and crew.

What else did we do to soundstage-up our new space?

You know we don’t do anything halfway here! We took all of our experience working with audiologists to make sure every inch of our soundstage was as soundproofed as humanly possible.

We’re so serious about sound, we even constructed walls to eliminate any errant sounds from the outside world (seriously, next time you’re here, drop a pin – I dare ya.) We framed the entire vestibule with 2″ x 6″s, stuffed the interstitial spaces with acoustic insulation, and lined both sides with Mass Loaded Vinyl.

Mass loaded vinyl (MLV) is the pinnacle of sound barrier tech. MLV barriers block out noises from traffic and street construction, trains, buses and even aircraft. It’s even environmentally friendly. We could have stopped there. But we didn’t. Once the walls were lined with MLV, on both sides, we piled on sheetrock and plywood.

We can’t wait for you to shoot your project at our new space (and for you to hear how wonderful it sounds in there!) Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

When your work becomes your play.

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs.

THIS is who we are! Our work has literally become our play! Every day it seems as though a new challenge presents itself with each call, text or email, but we jump in wholeheartedly because storytelling is genuinely what we love to do. ❤️

Everyone’s talking about heading to Ulster County in the Hudson Valley for financial incentives. Take a peek at the info video above & read, read, read below. 💥💥💥

What New York doesn’t know about Ulster County Tax Incentives

The Hudson Valley is open for business…the Film business. There are many reasons the Industry is flocking northward, but the tax incentives in Ulster County are TOPS.

The New York State Film Tax Credit Program now offers some of the nation’s most stable and successful production and post-production tax credits with as much as 25% on below-the-line costs and up to 40% on post-production.

An additional 10% is available on below-the-line labor for feature film or TV shows budgeted at $500,000 and above.

The Post-Production Tax Credit program can be allocated and used to encourage companies to post their film projects in New York and help create and maintain film industry jobs. Production companies may be eligible to receive a fully refundable credit of 40-45% of qualified post-production costs incurred in New York State.

An additional 5% credit may also be available for costs incurred in Upstate NY.

Great right?
But that’s not all, because Ulster County Rocks 🎸WOODSTOCK STYLE 🎸

The Ulster County Film Finance Program debuted in 2017 to encourage more film, television, commercial production, and post-production within the County.

An initial commitment of $8 million by four local banking institutions may be used to provide cash advances on distribution contracts with top-tier distributors of films, as well as bridge financing on projects that have approved New York State tax credits, but are waiting for the money to arrive.

The program also offers favorable loans for equipment, property, capital improvements, and lease fit-outs for post-production facilities in Ulster County. Finally, there are local bank accounts and debit cards available for qualified production companies.

These are just a few of the reasons Hollywood on the Hudson is booming. Stay tuned to learn even more about the region, Virtual Production (naturally), and more. Want to talk about your project soon? Hit the buttons below.

Hello Friends!

You probably already know that Cobalt was the first to offer Virtual Production to the film community on the East Coast. Getting there first, and doing it right, has always been in our DNA.

Today, we wanted to take you on a quick tour of our Mo-Sys setup and share why we love it, why our clients love it, and why we’re sure you’re gonna love it, too.

So, what is this thing?

Virtual Production at Cobalt, driven by Mo-Sys, is ONE state of the art system that works for BOTH green-screen AND LED applications. Virtual Production means no travel costs, no location fees, no set construction costs or waste—just unrestricted camera movement, amazing production value, and complete creative freedom. The laws of physics are a thing of the past when you work with us.

Love it, but what’s a Mo-Sys?

Good question. There’s Mo-Sys the company, and Mo-Sys the tech. Let’s talk about the company first, and why we’ve worked with them for so long.

Mo-Sys is the global leaders in creating original and highly sophisticated camera technology products for film and broadcast, empowering high-quality AR, VR and Virtual Production. Mo-Sys tech has been used in films like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, Life of Pi, The Shape of Water and Aquaman and serial television credits include Stranger Things, House of Cards, Sherlock, Orange is the New Black among many more.

Get it? Nice. Now, let’s geek out on the tech.

Mo-Sys VP Pro is the software that powers our system. Mo-Sys’ Startracker Studio is a real-time compositor, synchroniser, keyer, and recorder that uses real-time camera and lens tracking data to drive all CG assets.

VP Pro has a clever set of tools that simplifies and enhances virtual production workflows, making it simpler to achieve the virtual production illusion you’re after.

StarTracker is the solid solution for unrestricted, real-time camera tracking. StarTracker offers unlimited freedom of movement and gives accurate position, rotation and lens data in real-time. You can rotate the studio camera 360 degrees, and move it to any position in the studio, regardless of whether the camera is on a dolly, a crane or even handheld.

Good question. There’s Mo-Sys the company, and Mo-Sys the tech. Let’s talk about the company first, and why we’ve worked with them for so long.

Sounds very cool, what does it look like?

Here we are, live composited, from one of our recent tech demo streams.

Yep, that’s us on set in a fully virtual environment.

What does all this mean for you and your production?

Three words. Savings, savings, savings, and flexibility. Ok, that was four.

Virtual Production means the days of flying across the globe to different sets for many locations, and using crazy resources (and a large roster of talent) are over. With Virtual Set tech, we’re able to immerse talent in previously impossible environments or environments that would have been very expensive to build. Now, we can achieve this in a highly seamless fashion, in a very cost-effective way. Plus you get ALL the flexibility.

And, no more chasing that golden hour… You can harness the golden hour all day long if you like. And “weather days” are truly a thing of the past.

Let’s talk soon about bringing your production to life with Mo-Sys 💥

Yes ✨

We’re beyond excited to step into Spring with a big announcement. We’re not ready to tell you what it is, just yet, but what we can tell you is what it’s going to mean for your productions in 2023 and beyond:

Are you excited…?? We are!!!

Naturally, all this new stuff comes with over 50 years of combined Industry-leading experience. Nothing’s changing there… You’ll get the same care and attention to your project’s each and every need – as usual.

Keep an eye on your inbox for updates, and tell your friends something big is about to happen at Cobalt.

For decades, we’ve been shooting talent and products on green, and adding photo-realistic 3D graphics in post-production to finalize the shot. This is the foundation of a visual effects shot (VFX). It was (and still is) very much a two-stage process… Virtual production in most cases makes this a one-step process, by enabling the VFX shot to be captured on set, in camera, and in real-time. Virtual production saves time, money, and is much more efficient. But it does require more preparation.

The enablers…
The “enablers” for virtual production are real-time photo-realistic graphics engines (like Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, or Unity’s 3D engine) coupled with precision camera/lens tracking. Using these technologies means that we can put talent or products into any photo-realistic environment we like, whenever we like, and even change the environment at a push of a button.

How costs are cut.
Here’s the bottom line. Content Creators, both big and small, are always looking for ways to reduce cost and maximize efficiency.

Flying across the globe to different sets for numerous locations, and using crazy resources (as well as a large roster of talent) is no longer cutting it. Producers, kiss those days away. Seriously.

With Virtual Set tech, we’re now able to immerse talent in previously impossible environments or environments that would have been very expensive to build with physical sets. Now, we can achieve this in a highly seamless fashion, in a very cost effective way.

Bye-bye physics.
No longer tied to the laws of physics, you don’t have to chase that golden hour any longer… You can harness the golden hour all day long if you like. Ahhhhh… Yes, “weather days” are truly a thing of the past.

As the Coast Guard said to the ship’s Captain…
VADA A BORDO CAZZO!

And we are ready to share.

In case you aren’t familiar… Mo-Sys is an award-winning, world-renowned maker of virtual production solutions. We’ve been watching them VERY closely, and have been headed down the virtual path with them for a while now. We have been learning with the Mo-Sys guys at NAB, Cinegear, and their laboratory in LA. Its now in our hot little hands, and ready for you.

Where is this Mo-sys we have?

The answer is: in our clutches, and anywhere you want it to be. You can come to our stage to use it, or we can come to you – on location or in any studio. Even in Brooklyn. We don’t judge.

Did you ask why?

Because it’s cost effective, and makes your life easier. And the rest of the production world has caught on, and knows its true. It’s ONE state of the art system that works for BOTH a green-screen AND LED application. Virtual production means no travel costs, no location fees, no set construction costs or waste—just unrestricted camera movement, amazing production value and complete creative freedom.

The badass hardware.

The design and form factor is tidy and impressive; the operating system is extremely well designed; and in most cases, it obviates the need for the sometimes problematic ‘Brain Bar’. Cobalt’s NEW virtual production solution enables a wide range of implementation options, from simple camera tracking metadata (used in post), to full up ‘final pixel’ 4K composites, and everything else in between. You really can’t ask for more than that. It is impressive, and is now the Industry standard.

The future of film is virtual.
Virtual is NOW.

Want to composite your high res 4K Live Action into dynamic, photorealistic Unreal environments with precision camera tracking, while shooting? It’s an end-to-end virtual production solution that can combine pre-viz, production, and post. Now clients can choose the workflow that’s perfect for their virtual project. Yes, color correction and compositing can be done onset while shooting. The world of filmmaking has exploded into the virtual realm, and is in Cobalt’s hands, once again.