For Release:      Immediate — May 10, 2016

Contact:              Jerry Gretzinger, Vice President of Strategic Communications and Public Relations

(518) 956-7359 | jgretzinger@sunycnse.com

SUNY POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND WING AND A PRAYER PICTURES ANNOUNCE PRODUCTION OF ‘POTTERSVILLE’ HAS WRAPPED AT CENTRAL NEW YORK FILM HUB

Filming generated hundreds of local jobs and broad economic impact including hotel rooms, restaurants, catering, and local vendors

Film from anchor-tenant Wing and a Prayer Pictures enabled by New York’s industry-leading Film Tax Credit and world-class sound stage

Star-studded cast includes Michael Shannon, Judy Greer, Tom Lennon, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks, and Ian McShane.

Syracuse, NY – SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) and Wing and a Prayer Pictures today announced production of “Pottersville” at SUNY Poly’s Central New York Hub for Emerging Nano Industries (CNY Film Hub), has wrapped. The motion picture project is the latest example of the state's ongoing economic development and job creation strategy driven by high tech film production and next generation industry research in the Syracuse area.

Enabled by the industry-leading Upstate New York film tax credit and Start-Up New York program, and shot entirely in the Upstate village of Hamilton and at the CNY Film Hub, “Pottersville” generated hundreds of jobs with up to one hundred local employees on set throughout production and supported an array of businesses including hotels, restaurants, caterers and local vendors. Positions filled locally include actors, production assistants, stagehands, lighting, set construction, administrative support, and student interns.

“Central New York is quickly becoming a creative hotspot for innovative filmmakers who are able to combine SUNY Poly’s Central New York Hub for Emerging Nano Industries’ high-tech capabilities with their unique, artistic craft to  create compelling films that simultaneously spur job-creation in the region,” said Dr. Alain Kaloyeros, president and CEO of SUNY Polytechnic Institute. “The CNY Hub for Emerging Nano Industries provides a central location for movie production as well as a facility, already under construction, that will be home to advanced LED lighting manufacturer Soraa, catalyzing an advanced ecosystem for exciting jobs in Central New York.  We offer our sincere congratulations to Ron Perlman and his entire team on the wrap of production of one of the first of many films to be produced here.”

"I am so grateful to Governor Cuomo and Dr. Kaloyeros for creating an environment where new industry is able to find its way to ordinary Americans. The prospect of doing the two things I love most, making movies, and sourcing new American jobs while witnessing the emergence of a new generation of craftsman is, for me, win-win,’” said Ron Perlman, Wing and a Prayer Pictures Founder. “We look forward to returning to the region to make use of the state-of-the-art facilities and fantastic resources as we play our role in continuing to build a world-class film industry in Syracuse.”

“Pottersville,” the latest project from CNY Film Hub anchor-tenant Wing and a Prayer Pictures, was written by Dan Meyer and directed by Seth Henrikson.  The film’s impressive cast includes Michael Shannon, Judy Greer, Tom Lennon, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks and Ian McShane. “Pottersville” was produced by Scott Lochmus, Ron Perlman, Josh Crook, and Jonathan Gray on behalf of Wing and a Prayer Pictures and in association with Plot Four Productions, Storyland Pictures, and Big Jack Productions.

In "Pottersville," a beloved local businessman, Maynard, is mistaken for the legendary Bigfoot during an inebriated romp through town in a makeshift gorilla costume. The sightings set off an international Bigfoot media spectacle, and a windfall of tourism dollars for a simple American town hit by hard times. When Brock Masterson, reality TV's "Monster Hunter," arrives to hunt the "Squatch," Maynard agonizes over whether to come clean, destroying the rebirth of his beloved town, or perpetuate the inadvertent hoax. UTA will handle the domestic sales with Gray Krauss Stratford Sandler Des Rocher LLP handling all legal matters on the film.

The Central New York Hub for Emerging Nano Industries leverages START-UP NY, the state’s industry-leading film tax credit, which includes additional incentives to bring productions to Upstate, and the governor’s successful nanotechnology-enabled economic development model to build a film and television industry in the Syracuse-area while providing next-generation innovations and an academic environment to train the necessary workforce and engage students.

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Wing and a Prayer. Wing and a prayer pictures is an independent film company inspired by and founded with the notion of honoring the precepts of classic cinema storytelling, the hallmarks of which are idea, character, and originality. It aspires to unearth new works by legendary artists as well as give voice to future generations.

SUNY Polytechnic Institute.SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) is New York’s globally recognized, high-tech educational ecosystem, formed from the merger of the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and SUNY Institute of Technology. SUNY Poly offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience and nanoengineering, as well as cutting-edge nanobioscience and nanoeconomics programs at its Albany location and undergraduate and graduate degrees in technology, including engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, and the engineering technologies; professional studies, including business, communication, and nursing; and arts and sciences, including natural sciences, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences at its Utica/Rome location. Thriving athletic, recreational, and cultural programs, events, and activities complement the campus experience. As the world’s most advanced, university-driven research enterprise, SUNY Poly boasts more than $43 billion in high-tech investments, over 300 corporate partners, and maintains a statewide footprint. The 1.3 million-square-foot Albany NanoTech megaplex is home to more than 4,000 scientists, researchers, engineers, students, faculty, and staff, in addition to Tech Valley High School. SUNY Poly operates the Smart Cities Technology Innovation Center (SCiTI) at Kiernan Plaza in Albany, the Solar Energy Development Center in Halfmoon, the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology (CMOST) in Troy, the Central New York Hub for Emerging Nano Industries in Syracuse, the Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center (STC) in Canandaigua, and the Photovoltaic Manufacturing and Technology Development Facility in Rochester where SUNY Poly also leads the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics. SUNY Poly founded and manages the Computer Chip Commercialization Center (Quad-C) at its Utica location and also manages the $500 million New York Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium, with nodes in Albany and Rochester, as well as the Buffalo High-Tech Manufacturing Innovation Hub at RiverBend, Buffalo Information Technologies Innovation and Commercialization Hub, and Buffalo Medical Innovation and Commercialization Hub. For information visit www.sunycnse.com and www.sunypoly.edu.