Where was Synecdoche, New York (2008) filmed?

Production

After the success of Kaufman's previous three screenplays, Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, all Oscar nominees or winners, Sony Pictures Classics approached Kaufman and Spike Jonze about making a horror film. The two began working on a film dealing with things they found frightening in real life rather than typical horror-film tropes. This project evolved into Synecdoche. Jonze was slated to direct but chose to direct Where the Wild Things Are instead. Kaufman then chose to direct the film himself. Because he was an untested director, Sony Pictures Classics dropped its involvement with the film. Instead, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment invested in the project, giving the film its $20 million budget. This was low for the ambitious script, and Kaufman struggled with the limitation. The old armory the crew shot in got very hot, and the prosthetics the actors wore to show age trapped sweat. At one point, several crew members, including Kaufman, got trapped in an elevator, a phobia of Kaufman's. When the movie premiered at Cannes, the Great Recession hit, and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment shut down. Sony Pictures Classics picked the film up for distribution.