The Hudson Valley Film Commission, a modest group rooted in Woodstock with links to Hollywood’s biggest names, is navigating life without longtime director Laurent Rejtö, who died last year at 63 without a formal succession plan.
“He never formally passed the torch—and gave me all his passwords,” Stacey Cormier Major, who took over as executive director after Rejtö’s death, said with a laugh. “So there’s been a lot of trial by fire on my part, where I’ve had to learn the role by myself. I had his blessing, but it wasn’t like he was training me for the role. There was never a formal transition.”
The commission’s mission is straightforward: Attract film production, help filmmakers draw on local talent, and ensure that visiting crews translate their projects into measurable economic impact. Under Rejtö, who served for 25 years, that impact rose more than tenfold, to more than $90 million in 2025 from $8.2 million in 2015, Major said.
Its influence stretches from Westchester and Rockland counties north to Albany and includes Ulster and Greene county in addition to Dutchess, Putnam and several smaller municipalities.
Last year alone, crews shot scenes in Haines Falls and Catskill for “Disclosure Day,” directed and co-written by Steven Spielberg and starring Emily Blunt, while “Sunny,” starring Angelina Jolie, filmed in Ulster County and returns in 2026. Scenes were also shot in Greene County for “Into the Sky,” which stars David Cross and Sam Richardson.
Major assumed the role after years working as an assistant director in New York City. Her film credits include first assistant director and second assistant director on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” second assistant director on “Zoolander 2,” and second assistant director on “The OA.”
Major, originally from Woburn, Massachusetts, spent 15 years in Brooklyn, New York, and has lived in the Town of Kingston, which borders Woodstock, for six years. She met her husband, also an assistant director, while living in Brooklyn, “working our tails off” and traveling to the Hudson Valley just about every weekend to hike or camp.
Then came the pandemic. Just as the couple was preparing to commute regularly to the city work, they decided instead to stay in Kingston and start a family.
“I have zero regrets,” said Major, a mother of two.
While production in the Catskills has boomed, the commission’s internal finances haven’t kept pace. It earned a net $36,700 in 2024, revenue of $110,494 and $73,794 of expenses, according to the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
Unlike many film offices, it doesn’t earn money from the production teams it attracts. Ulster County, which maintains a separate film office operated by Ulster County Tourism, doesn’t provide direct funding. Support instead comes from foundations, businesses, and individual donors.
Longtime supporter, Destination Dutchess, formerly Dutchess Tourism, allocated $25,000 annually in 2025 and 2026, said President and CEO Melaine Rottkamp.
Additional financial backing has come from Putnam Tourism, Markertek, the Wood Dock Foundation, the Blavatnik Family Foundation, Stewart’s Shops, Mickle-Moran, 120dB Films and private donors.
The human stakes of that support are visible across the region.
Take Greg Meola of Olivebridge, the commission’s chairman and a member of Local 52 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Regional film work keeps him busy for about six months out of the year, supplementing his income from carpentry, his trade prior to entering the film industry at the age of 40. Meola, 55, has also served as a first lieutenant with the Olive Fire Department.
His connection to the industry began with a simple question to Rejtö: “How does one get into the industry?’” recalled Meola.
Rejto replied that an upcoming project might be a good fit, and Meola landed a production assistant position on a Melissa Leo movie being filmed in Kingston. With his truck and tools, Meola moved on to the art department.
“I was hooked from there on out,” he said. “It was all I needed, to say, ‘This is what I want to do.’”
John W. Barry is a reporter for The Overlook. Reach him at john@theoverlooknews.com.