George S. Kaufman, Chairman of New York's Kaufman Astoria Studios, has made dramatic strides transforming the Landmark filmmaking center in Queens to a world-class entertainment and telecommunications production and office center.

He has undertaken and implemented a visionary program to expand and modernize the facility, placing it on a par with studios in Hollywood and throughout the world.

Efforts by Kaufman and his studio management team are playing a central role in bringing feature film and television production back to New York.

A prominent figure in the New York real estate community, Kaufman saw the Astoria Studios as "a sleeping giant, a unique complex whose replacement value would exceed $100 million and where the dream of a revitalized East Coast entertainment industry could be realized." This undertaking, Kaufman declared, "could not have taken place without the cooperation of the unions, the city, state and federal agencies, and had there not been a studio in existence."

To implement his ambitious plans, the realtor assembled a group of entertainment industry notables, including Johnny Carson, Neil Simon, Alan King, Terry Allen Kramer, Dina Merrill, Gregory Peck, and Robert W. Sarnoff.

George Kaufman serves as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Kaufman Realty Corporation, which has been active for 45 years in the ownership, management and development of commercial and residential properties, including office buildings, apartment buildings, and shopping centers located primarily in the New York City area.

Kaufman has participated in the renovation and modernization of the Volney Hotel, 74th Street and Madison Avenue; The McGraw Building, a 36-story office building, 330 West 42nd Street; and the New York Theological Seminary, 235 East 49th Street, converted into an apartment building.

He graduated from Ohio State University and has a Master of Science Degree from New York University. He served as an officer during the Korean War. He is President of the Midtown Real Estate Owners Association which represents most of the property owners in the midtown New York west side area, and is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York.

In addition, the realtor is on the Board of Trustees of a number of philanthropic and civic organizations, including a Hall of Science Museum, The Whitney Museum, and The Fashion Institute of Technology. He is also on the New York Council for Motion Pictures and Television, and The American Museum of the Moving Image.

In his 17 years as president of Kaufman Astoria Studios (KAS), Hal Rosenbluth has helped to solidify the studios¹ reputation as the largest, most experienced and most comprehensive studio facility in New York City. Rosenbluth oversees all of the marketing, administrative and technical aspects of the studio and, under his direction, has seen the 14-acre production complex attract such high-profile movies as The Return of the Pink Panther, The Stepford Wives, The Manchurian Candidate, Scent of a Woman, and The First Wives¹ Club, and popular TV programs Sesame Street, Angels in America, Whoopi, and The Cosby Show.