Netflix film 'Women Like Us' could bring $100G to Shelter Island Town

Shelter Island Town stands to collect more than $100,000 in fees and deposits from Netflix when the company comes to film "Women Like Us," a new comedy movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, later this month.

The large-scale production is expected to bring approximately 200 cast and crew members to Shelter Island for 11 days of filming between Sept. 20 and 30, qualifying it as a “mega film” under Shelter Island’s town code. Netflix is set to pay a $55,000 "mega filming" fee and $7,700 for use of a town parking lot, according to a resolution approved by the town board.

The company will also provide a $38,000 deposit for local police services, post an $11,000 refundable cleanup deposit and could pay an additional $2,000 fee if the shoot required the temporary removal of a bathroom trailer at Crescent Beach, where filmmakers will shoot for a couple days. Portions of the deposits may be refunded if the services aren't used.

Netflix is also responsible for the cost of any other municipal services documented by the town resulting from the production, the resolution says. A Netflix spokesman declined to comment.

"Women Like Us" stars Goldberg alongside Jenifer Lewis, Vanessa Williams and Vivica Fox. The film is directed by Tasha Smith and produced by Higher Ground, the production company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama, along with Macro Film Studios.

Filming is expected to take place primarily at The Pridwin Hotel & Cottages. There will be two days of filming, on Sept. 25 and 26, at Crescent Beach, with portions of the town-owned beach closed to the public. A section of the beach will also be closed for a smaller photo shoot on Sept. 27. Shore Road, which runs parallel to the beach, will remain open during those days.

The story follows a recently widowed woman who is brought to the Hamptons by her lifelong friends and sister during what should have been her 30th wedding anniversary, according to Tudum, a Netflix-run website.

“The weekend becomes a reckoning with grief, marriage, and the sisterhood that’s carried them throughout the years — as well as the realization that dreams don’t have an expiration date,” the article states.

The women will travel to Shelter Island in the movie for a reunion and to reconnect with one another, Ryan Ferguson, the film’s location manager, previously told town officials.

Waldron Casting is recruiting Shelter Island locals for paid background actors who would "portray Hamptons residents, resort guests & upscale vacationers," according to a social media post this week.

While the Island has hosted film productions before, a project of this scale is rare, Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams previously told Newsday. Town officials are hopeful the influx of cast and crew could provide a boost to local businesses at the end of the busy summer season.