Mr. Hope, a consummate New Yorker, riding the C Train. (hopeforfilm.com)
Recently, New York has started to feel like the epicenter of the film world. We may not have the soundstages, the studio execs or the Hollywood sign, but we do have Steiner studios, the most diverse array of movie theaters in the country and film crews shooting on every other corner (or so it seems).
It's too bad that celebrated indie producer and longtime resident Ted Hope won't be able to fully experience New York's time in the klieg lights. Mr. Hope, who started as the executive director of the San Francisco Film Society last fall, has sold his co-op at 361 West 22nd Street, according to city records, listing his address on the deed as the city by the bay. Hey, at least it's not L.A.
Mr. Hope bought the duplex penthouse, located on the top two floors of a Chelsea townhouse, back in 2007, taking time out of his busy schedule to house hunt. That year his company released four films, among them the Academy Award-nominated The Savages, which followed in the footsteps of his other indie hits like Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Happiness, American Splendor and In the Bedroom.
It's hard to give up a gorgeous co-op, but the future of indie film demands it.
A major force behind independent cinema who launched his film career as an undergraduate at NYU, Mr. Hope has been a staple in the city's film scene for the last two decades; he even curated a monthly screening series at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. But last year, Mr. Hope took the San Francisco position in what he described as a bid to help filmmakers distribute their work in a constantly evolving industry, focusing on infrastructure building rather than hands-on production.
"Everything is a different model," he told Indiewire. "It's a herculean effort that will require many to make it work."
Many people and selling his charming 2,000-square-foot Chelsea duplex with a sprawling roof deck, skylights and three wood-burning fireplaces. "A rare find," cooed Douglas Elliman listing brokers Leonard Steinberg and Herve Senequier, who went on to describe the enviable layout—an elegant, sunny main floor with a South-facing living room and two bedrooms plus a library on the upper floor. And, add the zoning-savvy brokers, the unit comes with additional FAR of approximately 325-square feet, allowing for the possible construction of another room on the 1,000-square-foot roof deck.
Mr. Hope paid $2.1 million for the pad in 2007; he tried for $2.75 million this time around but the box office was slightly smaller than expected and the sale closed for $2.65 million. Of course, there's a possibility that Mr. Hope may be maintaining a toehold elsewhere in the city, though no such sales have been recorded.
Assuming that buyer Jaidev Shergill is one and the same Jaidev Shergill as the Bundle CEO and ex-Citibanker, we guess he has finally recovered from the expense of his recent wedding: "It's easy to get carried away with a wedding," the CEO's profile reads on the company website. "He and his wife, Kristin, are now working on establishing their goals and money guidelines together."