New Soundstage Offers Top Services to Film & Video Producers

An Umbra Soundstage production stage.

By Nancy Peckenham

A new soundstage – the largest, owners say, between New York City and Syracuse – opened this Saturday in the city of Newburgh with expectations that it will draw film and video production crews to the area and provide an economic boost.

The idea for the massive Umbra Soundstages, one measures 16,000 square feet and one 20,000 square feet, came from Ted Doering, who built a manufacturing and distribution company partially housed in a warehouse off Pierce’s Road. As his warehouse needs shifted to other locations in the country, Doering’s facility in Newburgh needed to be re-purposed and he decided to do something totally unique with it, believing that it can make a difference in Orange County. The new soundstage is not Doering’s only recent project. In April he opened the Motorcyclopedia Museum in New Windsor, where he and his father have installed classic motorcycles and collectors’ items that have attracted a steady stream of visitors.

Doering brought some of his vintage motorcycles to the soundstage for the opening. Seen here, the set workshop space.

His intention at Umbra Soundstage is to offer state-of-the art resources that will attract productions from the city or nationwide, adding to the steady stream of film crews that have come to the Hudson Valley for on-location shoots.

A suite of 10 dressing rooms, each with its own bathroom, is under construction and there is a 4,500 square-foot-room for carpenters to build sets for large and small productions. The walls and ceilings of the sound stage room are covered with noise-absorbing cellulose and lighting grids line the 20-foot ceilings.

Shaon Keery is the marketing director for Umbra Soundstage of Newburgh and she has been spreading the word about the new studios. She ticks off a list of the services that the studios will offer to visiting filmmakers, from lodging to food and dining, as well as location scouts who will assist any production seeking gritty street scenes or bucolic riverside shots. Keery mentioned that one location that they have in mind is the athletic area inside the Newburgh Armory.

State Senator Bill Larkin came by to congratulate Ted Doering (left) and the launching of Umbra Soundstage.

Keery says Newburgh’s location near Stewart Airport and at the intersection of I-84 and I-87, make it easily accessible. “Once we get the word out, we’ll have no problem booking the space,” Keery said as she prepared for the arrival of guests, including State Senator Bill Larkin, Mayor Nocholas Valentine and Mayor-Elect Judy Kennedy, along with Orange County Executive Ed Diana, who came to mix with the industry crowd.

Once the two soundstages are fully functional, Keery said that she will focus on attracting the film and video industry to Newburgh. She believes that the area is losing a lot of business because it doesn’t have a clearinghouse of resources for producers and she intends to work on one. On her list is a working with local municipalities to give them a checklist of issues that could arise when a film crew comes to town so that they can work on them together to ensure a smooth production.