Liverpool, N.Y. – American High has paid $10,500 in fines to settle allegations that its movie studio in Liverpool has repeatedly violated village building codes.
Village codes officer Bill Reagan said the movie studio admitted to 18 code violations in village court on Tuesday and paid $10,500 in fines. The admission was part of a settlement in which six other violations were dismissed.
The deal is the latest development amid ongoing tensions between the film studio, which uses a former neighborhood school as its set, and surrounding residents. Neighbors have frequently complained about late-night truck traffic, noise and other activity at the studio.
And in June, they filed complaints with the village about fumes from diesel generators the studio was using outside to power studio lights.
This week, the studio admitted to:
Four counts of unauthorized use of outdoor generators
- Two counts of operating trucks at the studio outside of approved hours
- Six counts of violating the terms of its filming permits
- Five counts of violating its approved site plan, including failing to screen a dumpster and failing to mark designated handicapped parking spots
- One count of violating its special permit by filming outside of approved hours
The village agreed to the dismissal of five other counts of violating the studio’s operating permit and one count of performing electrical work without a permit, Reagan said.
In addition, Reagan said the studio must plant arborvitae trees to screen its parking lot, replace architectural turrets that had been removed from the building’s front entrance and remove a mural on the back of its building that was put up during the filming of the movie “Summer of 69.″ If those things are not done, it will face additional fines, he said.
American High operates from the former Zogg Middle School in the middle of a residential neighborhood on Fourth Street.
Jeremy Garelick, a Hollywood director and writer, bought the vacant school for $1 million in 2017.
His American High studio has used it to film more than 20 mostly teen comedies, many for Hulu, as well as numerous short sketches for social media. The movies include “The Binge,” “Big Time Adolescence,” “Prom Dates,” “The Ultimate Playlist of Noise,” “Plan B,” “Crush,” “Miguel Wants to Fight,” “Sid is Dead,” “Empire Waist,” and the recent Hulu hit “Summer of 69.”
Reagan cited the studio with building code and permit violations following the latest complaints.
He said he is hoping the settlement of the charges this week will end the studio’s frequent code violations. The village has not received any complaints during filming for the studio’s latest movie, “Never Change,” he said.
Garelick said he, too, is hoping the settlement represents a turning point in the studio’s relations with neighbors.
“We’ve worked together the last few months to come to an agreement,” he said. “I think we’re in a good place with the village. We’re doing everything we could to right the wrongs.”
Liverpool Mayor Stacy Finney said the village is prepared to fine the studio again if the violations do not stop.
“We have now laid the groundwork to hold them accountable for their numerous violations and have shown that this is the direction we will go in moving forward,” she told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard via text.
