With filming in Kingston, Whoopi Goldberg helps boost Hollywood on Hudson

A new movie starring Academy Award-winner Whoopi Goldberg is wrapping up filming in Kingston this week and will include scenes shot in Pine Plains.

“Furlough” also features Academy Award winners Melissa Leo, a Stone Ridge resident; and Anna Paquin. Scenes for the movie were also filmed in Port Ewen and the Town of Ulster.

“Furlough” also stars Tessa Thompson from “Westworld” and La La Anthony from “Power.” Goldberg was in Kingston for filming, but was not in Pine Plains.

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“Furlough,” which will head to New York City for filming after concluding in Kingston, adds momentum to the Hudson Valley’s film industry. “Furlough” also shows the benefits of having an Oscar winner as a resident of the region.

Film production in the Hudson Valley generated more than $8 million in local spending in 2016.

The movie momentum is set to continue this month, when actress Maisie Williams from “Game of Thrones” arrives in the Hudson Valley to film “Departures.” This movie will be filmed in Dutchess and Ulster counties.

And Laurent Rejto, director of the Hudson Valley Film Commission, credited Leo - also a co-producer on "Furlough” - with bringing the movie to the region for filming.

“Over the past 17-plus years, no one has been more responsible for local production work, including short and feature films, than Melissa Leo,” Rejto said. “Her regional work has helped to give the Hudson Valley Film Commission serious credibility and helped bring serious economic development to the region.”

Scenes for “Furlough” were filmed at the Ulster County Jail. A casting call for 50 female inmates and guards prompted 1,800 resumes, Rejto said.

“Furlough” was written by Barry Strugatz, who wrote “Married to the Mob.” “Furlough,” according to the Internet Movie Database, revolves around an inmate who is granted a weekend out of prison to see her dying mother, and the rookie corrections officer who struggles to keep her under control.

Leo, Goldberg and Paquin all won their Oscars in the category of Actress in a Supporting Role. Paquin won for “The Piano,” which was released in 1993. She is also known for “True Blood” on television. Goldberg won her Oscar for Ghost, which was released in 1990. Leo won for “The Fighter,” which was released in 2010.

John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo