Silvercup Studios

For many decades of the 20th century, Long Island City was a center for commercial bakeries.{{cite book |last=Barritt |first=T. W. |date=2015 |title=Long Island Food: A History from Family Farms & Oysters to Craft Spirit |location=Charleston, SC |publisher=American Palate |pages=93–94 |isbn=978-1626198463}} During the 1920s building boom on Long Island, the Gordon Baking Company of Detroit made plans to open a factory at 42-25 21st Street to produce its Silvercup brand of bread.{{cite web |last=Marzlock |first=Ron |date=December 16, 2010 |title=Silvercup's rise, fall and rise |url=https://www.qchron.com/qboro/i_have_often_walked/silvercup-s-rise-fall-and-rise/article_d8713fdb-969f-54ea-9cea-9ffb9cca4ea2.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222220249/https://www.qchron.com/qboro/i_have_often_walked/silvercup-s-rise-fall-and-rise/article_d8713fdb-969f-54ea-9cea-9ffb9cca4ea2.html |archive-date=22 February 2018 |website=Queens Chronicle |location=New York}} After the award of a $1 million contract for its construction in 1929,{{cite news |author= |date=August 3, 1929 |title=Heard on the Street |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/431089688/ |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Boston Globe |volume=116 |issue=34 |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com}} the building was completed the following year.{{cite news |author= |date=August 3, 1931 |title=F. T. Ley projects less by 25 per cent |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1063193642/ |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Springfield Sunday Union and Republican |location=Springfield, MA |volume=53 |issue=18 |page=6 F |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |last=Leahy |first=Jack |date=November 7, 1982 |title=New 'dough' to rise in stages |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/486239466/ |url-access=subscription |newspaper=Daily News |location=New York |page=MB 22 |via=Newspapers.com}} At its peak, the facility reportedly provided about one third of the bread consumed in the metropolitan area of New York, and supplied New York City's schools.{{cite book |last=Epstein |first=Jason |author-link=Jason Epstein |editor-last1=Alcaly |editor-first1=Roger E. |editor-last2=Mermelstein |editor-first2=David |name-list-style=amp |date=1977 |chapter=The Last Days of New York |title=The Fiscal Crisis of American Cities: Essays on the Political Economy of Urban America With Special Reference to New York |location=New York |publisher=Vintage Books |pages=59–76 |isbn=0394721934}} It closed in 1975 as a result of an industrial dispute with the Teamsters union.{{cite news |last=Naugebauer |first=William |date=October 2, 1987 |title=Astoria Studios snare cable TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/491075291/ |url-access=subscription |department=Queens |newspaper=Daily News |location=New York |page=XQ 1 |via=Newspapers.com}} The neon advertising sign on the roof, which dates from around 1961–62, was visible across the East River in Manhattan.{{cite book |last=Rinaldi |first=Thomas E. |date=2013 |title=New York Neon |location=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |page=171 |isbn=978-0393733419}}

During its early years the facility was used mostly for the filming of music videos and commercials, although occasionally scenes for motion pictures were shot there, including Highlander and Garbo Talks. Norman Leigh, well known among New York City filmmakers for his electrical/gaffing work on the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy, oversaw the studio during its first few years.

Over the years, use of the studio's space has shifted toward the production of television series.

Silvercup was the primary shooting facility for ABC's Hope & Faith, and HBO's Sex and the City and The Sopranos. The finale of the 1986 film Highlander took place in-universe at Silvercup with an action sequence on its famous rooftop signage. Other film and television productions that have made use of the studio include:

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• Buonasera Raffaella
• 30 Rock
• Analyze That
• Big Daddy
• Big Lake
• Birth
• Black Rain
• Daredevil: Born Again
• Dark Water
• The Deuce
• The Devil Wears Prada
• Elementary
• Fosse/Verdon
• Fringe
• Gangs of New York
• Garbo Talks
• Gossip Girl
• Hide and Seek
• Highlander
• The Impostors
• Jonny Zero
• Julie & Julia
• Just My Luck
• King of New York
• Krush Groove
• The Last Dragon
• Little Children
• Little Nicky
• Mad Men
• Manifest
• Meet the Parents
• Mickey Blue Eyes
• The Michael J. Fox Show
• Mr. Robot{{cite web |url=http://untappedcities.com/2015/07/29/10-nyc-film-locations-for-usa-networks-mr-robot/ |title=10 NYC Film Locations for USA Network's "Mr. Robot" |first=Christopher |last=Inoa |publisher=Untapped Cities |date=July 29, 2015 |access-date=September 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911235234/http://untappedcities.com/2015/07/29/10-nyc-film-locations-for-usa-networks-mr-robot/ |archive-date=September 11, 2015 |url-status=dead}}
• The Mysteries of Laura
• No Reservations
• Person of Interest
• Private Parts
• Q2, Resource Television
• Quantico
• Righteous Kill
• The Savages
• Sex and the City
• Stuart Little 2
• The Snoop Sisters
• Two Weeks Notice
• The Sopranos
• Ugly Betty
• Uptown Girls
• What Happens in Vegas
• White Collar

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Category:1983 establishments in New York City

Category:American film studios

Category:Buildings and structures in Queens, New York

Category:Entertainment companies based in New York City

Category:Entertainment companies established in 1983

Category:Film production companies of the United States

Category:Long Island City

Category:Port Morris, Bronx

Category:Television studios in the United States