MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Berkeley and Jefferson counties are the predominant settings in “The Making of the Mob: New York,” an eight-part AMC miniseries that begins airing Monday night.
The docudrama from Stephen David Entertainment, with narration from actor Ray Liotta, details 50 years of organized crime history, including the rise of notorious gangsters like Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Meyer Lanksy and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel.
During filming in the summer and fall of 2014, Laura Gassler, executive director of the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said parts of her community took on new looks.
“We’ve had buildings that have been transformed into New York City brownstones, into markets. We’ve had buildings that have been used as New York City docks. We’ve got buildings that were used for a jail,” Gassler said.
“Quite a few of the buildings and people, houses, meetings places for the mob, were here in Berkeley County.”
Since 2012, producer Stephen David has brought productions to West Virginia several times including “The Men Who Built America” and “The World Wars” for the History Channel along with “American Genius” for National Geographic.
In addition to West Virginia’s film tax credit, an incentive created in 2007, Gassler said the Eastern Panhandle is easily accessible via train or plane which makes it attractive for such filming.
“We’ve got a community that’s very welcoming to the film production,” Gassler told MetroNews, noting production has already started on a future project. “We have people opening up their houses. We have people that are extras in the show. We’ve got catering. We’ve got a lot of infrastructure that’s good for the film process.”
Some of the sites used as locations included the Martinsburg Roundhouse, the Jefferson County Courthouse, Wild Goose Farm, Interwoven Mills and Green Hill Cemetery.
“To think that they have turned Berkeley County into New York City for ‘The Making of the Mob’ is fabulous,” Gassler said.
The first part of “The Making of the Mob: New York” airs at 10 p.m. Monday on AMC and will continue on subsequent Mondays.
The Martinsburg-Berkeley County Convention and Visitors Bureau hosted a “thank you” event Saturday night for local residents who participated in the filming.