Tout Town as Film Location
East Hampton Town’s come-hither Web site, with information for media production companies that town officials hope will come here for movie, commercial, or still-photography shoots, is online at filmthehamptons.org.
The site was developed by members of the town’s media advisory committee, which was convened by the town board in order to develop media business here. Councilwoman Theresa Quigley has been working closely with the group.
The Web site was launched last Thursday to coincide with the Hamptons International Film Festival, and information about it was distributed at film festival events.
The site provides information about services here, from production facilities such as East Hampton Studio to hotels, caterers, and other professionals, and includes a gallery of photographs of different locations throughout the town.
A logo created by a graphic design volunteer depicts a tripod with a lighthouse on top emitting beams of light and says, “We are open for business.” The site calls East Hampton a “tax and permit-friendly destination.” There is a direct link to the town’s filming-permit application.
Media advisory committee members have contacted East Hampton High School staff members about initiating a program for students who would take additional photographs of East Hampton to be put on the Web site. In the future, Cesar Vera, a media advisory committee member, said, they would like to have an internship program enabling students to work with production companies shooting here.
The Film the Hamptons Web site can track the number of visitors and their whereabouts. During the film festival weekend, Mr. Vera said, there was an uptick of visitors to the site.
He said the town had seen “a big increase since last year” in the number of media shoots here and that he expected the numbers to continue to increase.
During a recent four-day shoot here, $266,000 was spent locally by people working on the television show “Royal Pains,” Ms. Quigley said.