LIVERPOOL, N.Y. (NCC News) — American High Studios are located in Central, New York. Movies with actors including Sydney Sweeney, Pete Davidson, Vince Vaughn, Dexter Dardon and more have all been filmed at this same location in Liverpool. And there’s one common theme. They’re all high school movies.
CEO and Founder of American High, Jeremy Garelick has had his fair share of time in the industry directing and working on movies like Murder Mystery 2 and The Wedding Ringer with Jennifer Anniston, Adam Sandler and Kevin Hart. One day he had an idea and never looked back.
“If I owned a high school, raised a bunch of money, we could just go make high school movie after high school movie and that’s when I had the idea for American High,” Garelick said.
American High currently makes around 2-3 movies a year. This year, they’re looking to make a few more.
“Each room is a set,” Garelick said. “You’ll find a hospital, a dorm, and even a classroom. You may recognize some from recent films that are on Hulu.”
Currently, American High has a deal with Hulu, which is where you’ll find many of their films. However, you’ll find American High on a lot of different platforms. “We know a lot of people in the industry, “Head of Development and Internships Matt Sacca says.
“We’ll see what happens,” Sacca replied when asked about Hulu’s new plan to crack down on password sharing.
Although the movies are great and bring in lots of money, the real growth is seen in the Central, New York economy.
“Most of the actors we’ve brought here have really become a part of the community,” Garelick shared. “They’re going out to Dinosaur Barbeque and Destiny Mall.”
Garelick continued to say that American High caters from local restaurants on long filming days. He also added that most actors stay in local hotels.
“A lot of independent productions divorced from American High are still finding this part of New York to be a viable lucrative hub to shoot in,” Sacca continued.
The movies are currently bringing in around 12 million dollars, but Garelick believes that number will only go up.
Not only does American High film movies and large productions, they also own a nonprofit academy. The training program offers classes within the entertainment industry to college students. More information can be found on the American High Academy website.
