“Billions,” the Showtime series starring Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis, will be filming segments of Showtime show in Albany in the coming days. This is only the latest movie or TV show to shoot in the Capital Region.
A casting call posted on the film industry’s job website projectcasting.com last week is looking for extras to represent “the types of senators, assistants and officials” for filming scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
“They had spotted us over the summer,” Albany County Cinematography Commissioner Deb Goedeke said. “They came over the summer and visited a few different places… and we helped make it happen. “
The sixth season of the drama about wealth and power in America’s financial centers is just the latest production to land in the capital region, joining HBO’s “The Gilded Age” in Troy and the network’s “White House Plumbers”. with Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux in the last month.
Goedeke credited the state’s film tax credit program as part of making Albany a desirable location as well as a streamlined approval process that cuts red tape.
And in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, the region’s lower population density is helping put production teams into everyone, she said.
“It’s just the ease of coming here,” Goedeke said. “Our city has doubled for New York and Washington, and our costs are much lower.”
NewsChannel 13 reported “billions” of interest in the region on Monday.
This year, HBO’s “The Gilded Age” and “The White House Plumbers” shot scenes in the Capital Region.
