*Aerial view of 32 Avenue of the Americas set against the backdrop of the New York City skyline.*

Finding yourself among the cobblestone Tribeca side streets at dawn is one of the most beautiful sights to behold in New York City. There’s something indescribable in the early morning air of lower Manhattan, and the senses are heightened as the city wakes up and comes to life. On one of our latest projects, we were faced with the difficult task of bringing this sense of wonder to the screen. The focus: 32 Avenue of the Americas, an iconic but forgotten Tribeca behemoth. Our job: capture it in all its glory.

Shortly after setting up shop in New York we were introduced to the team at Friction Design, a boutique branding and design agency who give buildings like 32AOA a unique voice. In the years following, Wright Film Co. and Friction Design have teamed up on several properties across the east coast, leading us to partner with their team again to capture the story of 32AOA through film.

When the winter sheds its coat and spring starts to bloom, the New York energy is magnetic. Exiting the Canal Street subway station on our first location scout, we found 32 AOA in, quite literally, the heart of Tribeca. We were blown away. Sitting at the intersection between some of Manhattan’s most iconic and sought after neighborhoods, 32 AOA is an oasis in the concrete jungle and has one of the city's most elusive luxuries: space. Floor after floor of sprawling office layouts, so many configurations, so many styles and ideas, all come together inside the building the same way the city does outside. And, as intriguing as the possibilities were as we made our way upstairs, nothing could have prepared us for our final stop on the scout: the roof.

Our producer thought he had seen it all. Being a born and raised New Yorker, growing up in Soho, he’s seen the neighborhood change before his eyes - from the artist lofts and abandoned buildings to the designer shops we know it for today. Stepping out into what seems like a helicopter view of lower Manhattan was something he had never seen before. 32 AOA is uniquely positioned right at the center of the island and stands taller than any of the immediate surrounding buildings. For a few moments we forgot about the scout, and just admired the view. We knew we had to do everything we could to do this building justice.

A few months later we found ourselves looking out the window, overlooking Manhattan. This time it was at 4:30am as we were preparing our first shot on our final day of shooting. We were getting our camera movement just right, blocking the scene with the cast, and mainly, just waiting for the sun to come up. The day before we had been running around Soho, Chinatown, and Tribeca filming cyclists, shoppers, joggers, dancers, tourists, locals; capturing a pastiche of the neighborhood to fine tune in the edit.

We had wrapped late, started early that morning, and were there awaiting the sun with baited breath and groggy eyes, hoping to capture the magic we knew this moment could be. Our weariness suddenly faded and we were awestruck as a gradient of light shot across the city skyline, a fiery red sun peeking out through the metal and glass buildings in the distance. The first rays of sunlight crept their way through the window on the 19th floor. We roll camera.