The CineHub: Creating Possibilities

I moved to Beacon in the summer of 2008, from NYC.  Like many others moving to the Hudson Valley from the city, it was an opportunity to revisit priorities and re-balance life.  Unlike many others who moved to Beacon, I hadn’t heard of this town before and chose it because it was affordable and near the train – not too far of a commute back to the city I had just left.

In 2008, Beacon was not the thriving renaissance town it is today.  It was still fairly sleepy. Main Street was a revolving door of coffee shops, eateries and boutique stores that would be open for a season or two and then close, to be replaced by another similar shop.  But there was an undeniable energy in the air, a sense of awakening, in this once-upon-a-time bustling blue collar city on the Hudson. A first wave of artists and artisans had been moving up since the late 90’s, and you could see the transitional energy slowly taking form.

As a video producer, I still found myself trekking to NYC for just about everything I couldn’t find locally, but needed for a shoot.  Sometimes on a trip to the city, I would wonder if I had made the right decision leaving the land of plenty. But then returning to this spot, nestled in the Hudson Highlands, I realized I had made the right choice.  My soul was being fed here and that made up for the inconvenience.

In time, I started to meet other local filmmakers and they were also in a similar boat.  With a few of these colleagues, over coffee, wine or beer, we would dream out loud of a common place, a center of sorts, where we could source the things we needed: a studio for a shoot, production gear, office space, peers to collaborate with daily, maybe even opportunities for local work.  I would always look across the table and think to myself of the other person, “I think YOU are going to get this going. Not me.” I didn’t have the resources. My pockets were filled mostly with loose change and credit card debt. And I wasn’t sure it was my calling. I was simply struggling to pay the rent.  It was 2008-2009, the start of the great recession.

Soon after moving to town, I was introduced to Tom Moore, who introduced me to Rob Featherstone.  Two exceptional individuals and colleagues who were also doing some projects together. I introduced them to some of my contacts and we found that there were a number of filmmakers living locally who did not know they were even neighbors.  One cold, winter day, over coffee and conversation, we decided to organize a local industry mixer, so that we could all be better acquainted and connected. That very first mixer was held at a local wine bar (Chill Bar). We sent out invites to everyone we knew for a Tuesday evening in January of 2009.  To our surprise, nearly 40 people showed up. And I believe that it is here that the seeds of what is now The CineHub got planted.

That first industry mixer, and the subsequent three annual mixers, we called Hat Factory Mixers.  In honor of Beacons’ History, which used to be filled with Hat Factories and still hosted an annual Hat Parade and in our industry we all wear “many hats”.  We continue to hold this annual industry mixer on a Tuesday evening during the winter. The turnout is usually around 40-50 people. Some years, we get colleagues from as far north as Albany and as far south as White Plains.  At every mixer, someone makes a new and meaningful connection.

I love what I do in spite of one of the difficulties inherent in this profession, for myself and my colleagues: the long hours and travel and time away from home.   It puts extra stress on life. And each person deals with it as they best can. It seemed to me that one of the downfalls of living an hour and a half north of NYC, is that it added to that stress.

As I inched my way through the recession and the growing pains of my video production company, J6 MediaWorks, I found myself at a tipping point where my business operation was too big to run from the house I was renting.  I had even hired a first employee, Tara Latorre, a further confirmation that it was time to move into a real business space. But where? How? Working from home was so “affordable”. What kind of office rent could I handle?

At that time, I was talking with another colleague who was looking for an office, and this prompted me to explore spaces that were much larger than my immediate needs.  This eventually led me to the space where The CineHub is today.

One October day, 2013, our realtor showed us a large warehouse space in Beacon.  It was enormous, dark and musty. No. We could not even imagine converting this into offices.  Then he said he was going to look at another large space, in the same complex, and asked if we wanted to tag along.  I was going to say no, as we had work to do. But out of curiosity we tagged along. The space was also large, but it was smaller, lighter and for some reason it got my wheels turning.  After seeing a dozen or more offices, Tara recalls that in this space I started to “decorate” for the first time. I was imagining possibilities. It had no walls, a lot more square footage than we needed and would require a complete buildout.  But the idea of a space built specifically for local filmmakers began to take form in my imagination.

That weekend, I spent hours writing and thinking.  I made phone calls to people I thought would give me the right advice.  Even people I knew would challenge me and probably tell me it was not a good idea.  To my surprise THEY ALL encouraged me. One, a good friend in Indianapolis said, “What’s the worst that could happen?  You might have to get an extra job at Home Depot for a while”. Luckily, that option was not necessary. What tipped my decision, was a simple question I asked myself, “Would I regret it if I did not try?”   With a big yes in my heart and sense of faith that if it was meant to be we would find the way, I took the plunge.

The CineHub has now been open for six years.  We have gone through various improvements, converted open space into private offices, added a kitchenette and taken on more square footage.  Above all, we have met more of our peers moving to the area and seen wonderful projects created from here. The space has been used for video shoots, photo shoots, film screenings, workshops,  audio recordings and more. It has proven to be a very productive space. What energizes me the most, is when someone tells me, “Thank god for the CineHub.” This sustains my enthusiasm and feeds my hope that we are going in the right direction.

The mission of The CineHub is to connect film & video professionals working or living in the Hudson Valley region with the people and resources they need to succeed and make their work/life easier.  We do this by providing a space for creative focus, pro-level equipment needed to get the job done right and networking to make connections, pursue new opportunities and explore future possibilities.

This mission is not something we do alone.  It is something we do together with you, our peers and colleagues.  Together, we make up the community of professionals who love the creative work we do and genuinely enjoy supporting each other’s efforts.  As we continue to support and celebrate our creative community, I believe we will all see more possibilities created for each of us.

Edward Roy