Dan Havlik

The area surrounding New York City’s High Line, a former elevated railroad that has been transformed into an aerial greenway, is one of the liveliest in Manhattan. And now, there’s a new studio to match its energy. Called Highline Stages, in tribute to the nearly 1.5-mile-long park, this 45,000-square-foot facility located at 440 W. 15th Street in the meatpacking district has become a haven for fashion and commercial photographers along with film and video makers.

 On a recent summer afternoon, the complex was completely booked with three film jobs, one advertising photography job and one editorial job filling the three-story space.

“It’s the perfect mixture of everything,” said Kimberly Slayton, one of Highline Stage’s four partners, about the day’s clientele. “They’re even doing a water shoot in one of our studios which is built with a drain right in the floor. Not only is this place beautiful, it’s so unbelievably user-friendly, it’s like a gift.”

Along with the great location, which puts Highline Stages minutes from just about everything in the city, there’s the facility itself which is designed to be completely full service. Studios range in size from 1,000 to 6,000 square feet and the facility’s 3,000-foot cycs (cycloramas) are designed for both still photography and film. They also make ideal green screens.

Modernized freight elevators offer street access on both 14th and 15th Streets for easy loading and unloading of gear and sets. There are also production office rentals, lighting grids, digital capture stations and an e-commerce facility. Other amenities include 20 bathrooms, a separate kitchen area, and a full shower. For quickly uploading and downloading images and video, speedy, high-bandwidth Internet access is available throughout the building.

“We can provide virtually anything here,” says Peter Triolo, another Highline partner. “And if it’s not here on site, one of our sub vendors will have it. We have everything to do a large scale commercial production, a small scale film production, and any type of photo production.”

The group behind Highline stages—which also includes Alina Lundry and Gary Kline—has worked extensively in studios throughout New York City. Kline, whose family owned a previous film sound stage at the same site, helped assemble the “dream team” that put the fully renovated and reimagined Highline Stages together.

“This place is a testament to Kim, Peter, and Alina,” Kline said. “Their reputations are second to none.”

Lundry noted that because the facility and staff have a history in both film and photography, photographers who are making the transition to shooting moving images will feel right at home.

“Right now we have a fashion photographer who is doing a commercial for one of his clients of many years and it’s a very safe environment because we’re set up for both and there’s a history here,” she said. “Everything is converging right now and this space is designed for that.”