Hackley School
Hackley’s stunning 285-acre campus is an ideal home for all the academic, athletic, art and extracurricular activities at the School. But the appeal of our beloved Hilltop reaches beyond what Hackley offers our community. In recent years, the Hilltop and our state-of-the-art facilities have played starring roles in a variety of photography and film projects, including a Google Pixel watch commercial this summer featuring basketball star Steph Curry.
At the helm of coordinating these productions is our Operations and Campus Planning Office, specifically Director of Auxiliary Programs Emilia Goldstein.
“Our facilities are beautiful, and our website is a really great first look, especially the virtual tour,” Goldstein shared, adding that people approach her for a project already knowing what space they’re interested in. Goldstein also cited the ease of getting to Hackley’s campus from New York City and the convenience of having a number of hotels and airports nearby as factors that attract many filming crews to the Hilltop. And sometimes, the School is fortunate enough to have crews referred to Hackley by our wonderful alumni, as was the case with this most recent shoot, as well as a 2019 commercial featuring Yankee pitcher Mariano Rivera filmed on DelMoro Field.
The process typically begins with a cold call that Goldstein fields. From there, she works to get an understanding of what spaces a client might need, how many people they are bringing, what equipment they will be using, the time frame and more. If the project is something that Hackley can accommodate, the film crew arranges a visit to campus to check out the spaces, take photos, then decide if they want to use Hackley or not. The process from start to finish typically takes a couple of weeks, including the actual production days.
When deciding if Hackley can host a production, Goldstein works with Director of Operations and Campus Planning Robert Aldrich and Director of Buildings and Grounds Bill Smith to determine what else is going on in the space, looping in Director of Athletics Jason Edwards when the spaces involve our athletics facilities. “In most cases so far, it has been the sports fields that are in demand,” Goldstein noted. “So, in the summer, it was easy to coordinate because we don’t have a lot of programs going on during particular times.”
That flexibility allowed for the recent commercial production for the Google Pixel watch. “Had they wanted a week prior, I would have had to say no right off the bat based on the number of partner programs that were on campus,” Goldstein added. “So that’s really what it comes down to — what programs are in the spaces at those times.”
During the school year, the coordination of productions becomes a more difficult one. “One of the first things I say to crews who are interested in Hackley is that we usually do not film during the school days,” Goldstein said. In those cases, crews are offered the option of filming on a weekend, a day off or on a break, she added.
Now, there are some exceptions, like the “FBI: Most Wanted” production that set up in the Lindsay Room and Admissions Hallway in early 2024 for an episode of the show’s fifth season. In that instance, the cast and crew created opportunities for our students to sit down with members of the show’s production team, who shared about the TV and film business and answered students’ questions — a unique opportunity for our Hornets to get some firsthand knowledge of the industry.
Other projects that have featured the Hilltop in recent years include magazine fashion shoots, feature films, TV shows and more. Based on the quick production schedule of a commercial set, Goldstein hopes to attract projects of a similar nature in the future. “The commercial shoots tend to be more of a one-and-done day, so it would be great if we can attract more opportunities like that, which don’t take up too much of our resources over time,” she said.
Hackley’s performance and athletic spaces have also helped to attract and foster longstanding relationships with various community partners, including the Westchester Symphonic Winds and Excelsior Symphony Orchestra, our resident ensembles in Diller Hall in the Allen Center for the Creative Arts and Technology. Athletic partnerships include our varsity basketball coaches Scott Kato and Zach Kuba using the gyms in the Johnson Center for Health and Wellness for their respective programs, as well as Empire Swim and the New York Soccer Club. In the summer, Hackley hosts Yankees Baseball Camps and several Nike programs, including a track program run by a former Olympian, as well as Steve and Kate’s camp after the conclusion of Hackley Summer Programs. And throughout the course of the year, the Hilltop hosts various tournaments, including debate, chess, judo and basketball, among others.
Check out the Johnson Center for Health and Wellness in the Google Pixel watch commercial here and here.
