ArtCube Nation Presents The Patrick Dashwood Stories Inc.
The Patrick Dashwood Stories Inc. is a production company and studio space that was brought together by a crew of freelancers with skills across the board this past February! More notably, longtime Cuber and Art Department crew member, Samuel Swanson is one of the founders and a director, “It’s very nice to do what you love and to have a facility with the whole team. It’s super humbling to rebrand our freelance careers and to operate it together.”
They opened their doors and hit the ground running.
The Patrick Dashwood Stories Inc. works both as a production company, creating their own and other’s stories, and as a studio/location/event space; they play host and can be as full service as you need. They are a team of producers, directors of photography, set builders, editors, composers who can build out a shoot from beginning to end — they can also simply shoot for you and hand off the hard drives.
Their motto is, “if you need to make a movie of any kind — we can film, photograph, cast, screen-write, build sets, location scout, hire crew, compose an original score, edit, color correct, etc… We do it all, and we can do it all in-house. We’ve got ample studio space for rent as well as a production office that we both operate out of and rent to our collaborators and clients.”
Their company came about as a silver lining of the pandemic. When productions and sets shut down — Samuel was able to create his own sets, COVID safely. He was able to rent a space in Midtown because prices were no longer as astronomical. This space wouldn’t have been available for entrepreneurial artists without the real estate flux in New York.
Samuel met the property owner when he was approached about being their in-house director. The conversation progressed and the owner mentioned, “I can show you the upstairs space that hasn’t been fully rented in 20 years” and now it is the home base for The Patrick Dashwood Stories Inc.
With Samuel’s hands-on approach from the Art Department, he has been able to build out the studio himself and advance it much more than a slap of fresh paint. Samuel and his team have truly made this space multi-functional as a production office, a sound stage, a space to edit and project as you work, or a dynamic space to shoot everything from a commercial to a music video to a short film. They keep morphing and organizing the space as they grow — building out an inventory for their set paper, equipment and whatever may be needed for a shoot.
“It’s amazing to have someone who owns a space and who has also been a part of the industry. [The landlord] truly wants to help and understands the demands, what information we need to know about the fuse box, that we need quick turnarounds, and that we function weird hours.
Their space has two levels, the first floor has beams and used to be an old carriage house. It has been transformed into a studio space with great acoustics. When theaters and musicals were open, they would come to this space and record their soundtracks and performances. The best gift of the space is to see how other people come and adapt its use to their needs. One day it is a gallery space, another a recording studio, a photoshoot or PBS is filming a special. Then you take the freight elevator up to the second floor, and it has a convertible office space. They are adding airplane curtains as a backdrop, to section off the space and to quickly black out the windows.
The Patrick Dashwood Stories Inc. has been very mindful of COVID-protocols. If you’re in the building, other than actors on camera, they require everyone to stay masked. They have PPE on-site and everything gets sanitized and cleaned. Along with your insurance, they ask that you have your crew tested, and respect the space so that they can provide a safe space for everyone. They believe the business of renting the space is about keeping things safer and allowing and promoting space for the arts to come together and become more accessible.
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Samuel Swanson
Director & Founder of The Patrick Dashwood Stories Inc.
“I feel really lucky to have a job where I get to make things and I have a lot of fun making them with and for others. I like working here.”
ArtCube Nation has helped the budding business by connecting them with fellow artists, sourcing materials, and with the beauty of our Cube’s mentality to save items from the dumpster, Samuel hasn’t had to pay for furniture yet for their new space — so thank you Cube!
To be a part of the network of helpful, entrepreneurial artists who work more sustainably, join ArtCube Nation — the professional social network of the Art Department!
