Gotham TV prod'n at record levels

Around the group of "Gossip Girl" at Silvercup Galleries in New York, Gotham mayor Michael R. Bloomberg introduced Thursday that 2011 was NY City's most popular year for television production on record. "The Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment is dedicated to spending so much time to make certain the industry keeps growing and expand in 2012, getting much more jobs for NYers," stated Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment commissioner Katherine Oliver. "Gossip Girl" is among the 23 series which have been shot in NY City throughout this year's-12 TV season -- a significant uptick in the mere nine that shot in Gotham in 2002. The series spent $200 million on development in your area and employed some 6,300 people, based on stats in the Mayor's Office. Mayor Bloomberg continues to be all pervading on NY City's production scene for a long time. Tubthumping the city's benefits ruffles some down in Albany (there's some private grumbling that Bloomberg provides a 5% tax break on the top from the state's 30% and takes 100% from the credit), but his efforts with respect to film and television shoots have introduced focus on local companies within an economy hammered through the decline of charitable giving on Wall Street following the housing crisis. The state's focus on tax credit issues continues to be important, too. This Year, the Empire State's legislature chosen to completely fund the loan for 4 years, giving series producers some space following a backlog of programs along with a couple of intransigent political figures drove shows like "Fringe" from the city in '09. Contact Mike Thielman at mike.thielman@variety.com