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....October 12, 2:56 PM |
| Silver(cup)’s Gold: LIC Film Studio Enjoying A Boom As It Readies For Exponential Growth
By BRAD GROZNIK The sign for Silvercup Studios faces Manhattan and the thousands of people who drive over the Queensborough Bridge or ride the subways are welcomed to Queens by its red and white script.
But its entrance faces Queens. Walking into the lobby at Silvercup, located at 42-22 22nd St. in Long Island City, a lone security guard sits behind a long table with a half dozen sign in sheets with 30 Rock, Sex and the City and other recognizable shows scrolled on top. Two red elevators flank either side of the guard and ding just prior to the doors opening. With each ring heads turned in hopes that a real-live movie star would come strutting out blathering to some lowly personal assistant who scribbles frantically while the star pretends not to see anyone sitting in the lobby. This might happen at Silvercup, but most of the time, it’s just some dude who exits the elevator in a T-shirt and shorts with dirty hands or a young girl with a bandana and a hammer. That’s because Silvercup studios is not a glamorous hotel on the Upper Westside nor is it a red carpeted premiere on the Lower East Side, it’s Queens – people are here to work. Inside The Walls Beyond the lobby and the red elevators, the color scheme remains the same. The walls are painted half white and half red. Looking up, the studio is a warehouse with a maze of pipes of all jointing their way across the ceiling. The sound of buzz saws and hammers clank all around. Planks of wood are tilted against the walls and two-by-fours are bundled on the ground. Silvercup resembles a lumber yard more than it does the inside of a television. Tattooed men and women walk around with assured expressions on their faces; they know what they are doing. They are carpenters, electricians and welders, they are blue collar union workers and there are a lot of them. President Stuart Suna came into the lobby wearing a breezy white polo shirt, light colored khaki pants and loafers without socks. His smile was genuine and his handshake was firm. It was hard to believe this was the guy shaping Queens into an East Coast Hollywood. For 23 years Suna and his brother Alan have operated Silvercup Studios. A day in the life of Suna has him doing a lot of different jobs. An architect by trade, Suna is also a booking agents, a Realtor, a spokesman, a problem solver, a delegator and, above all, a businessman. On his way to his office he is stopped several times for answers to questions. “How high is the roof?” “Did you receive the memo?” Suna handles it all in stride. |
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