Hollywood on the Hudson, it is not.

In truth, the new $118 million Steiner Studios overlooks the East River. But the movie factory's growing presence on the Brooklyn waterfront is starting to produce ripples far beyond that borough.

The 280,000-square-foot studio with its five stages will not even be finished until the winter. But already there is a measure of pride in blasé, forget-about-it Brooklyn, which, despite its rocketing condo prices and feisty, Manhattan-is-Satan esprit, still smarts from being relegated to a laugh line in so many Hollywood movies.

After all, when the movie version of "The Producers: The Movie Musical" started production at Steiner last November, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell and Mel Brooks traversed local streets - though invisible behind smoked limo glass. And even Brooklynites who would rather be banished to the Bronx than be caught gawking at marquee names were peering over the walls of the studio's home in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Now the cameras are whirring for "Fur," a film about the early life of the photographer Diane Arbus, with Robert Downey Jr. and Nicole Kidman in the lead roles. And since Spike Lee has finally signed a deal to direct "Inside Man" there, Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster will also be toiling in Brooklyn.

Steiner has joined Kaufman Astoria Studios in Astoria and Silvercup Studios in Long Island City and a collection of smaller studio spaces to form the backbone of New York's thriving film and television-production industry, which pumps billions of dollars a year into the city's economy and provides tens of thousands of jobs.

Steiner's arrival comes at a time when the industry has been blessed "with some very happy coincidences," said Harold L. Vogel of Vogel Capital Management, an independent media analyst. Most important, he said, in January the city began an incentive program to induce more film and television producers to shoot in the city. One provision offers a 15 percent city and state tax credit for films that complete 75 percent of their studio work in New York.

"Without the tax benefits, the horrible truth is, this movie would probably be made in Kabul, or you know, wherever it's the cheapest place in the world for us to shoot," said Mr. Brooks, the creator of "The Producers," a hugely successful musical and now a $50 million movie, which was shot entirely in the city.

Steiner has also benefited from a weakened dollar, Mr. Vogel said, which makes it cheaper now to shoot foreign productions in New York. And a strong Canadian dollar could reduce the number of so-called runaway productions, which use New York for exterior scenes, but shoot the bulk of a film more cheaply in Toronto or Vancouver.

"It's amazing to see this up and running, considering that recently it was just dirt," said Douglas C. Steiner, the chairman of Steiner Studios, referring to the weed-choked, rubble-strewn lot that preceded Hollywood East.

Steiner is 90 percent complete. Still under construction are a 100-seat screening room, a 200-seat cafe for workers and visitors (to be named Cafe Isabel, after Mr. Steiner's 9-year-old daughter) and Stage Six, a third-floor special-events space for wrap parties, weddings and bar mitzvahs that can accommodate 500 people. An open-air fourth-floor rooftop space with an enclosed glass pavilion is also planned.

So far, the city's craft unions like what they see. "Steiner has been a home run for us, and it's made New York more competitive," said John R. Ford, president of Local 52 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents more than 2,000 electricians, sound technicians and other craft workers in the New York metropolitan region. "Often, producers with big films had no place to go, and through the years we lost a lot of that type of work."

Steiner also has something that, while unglamorous, is vital to making movies in New York - a 1,000-vehicle parking lot. On peak production days, 500 to 800 vehicles belonging to carpenters, actors, dancers, caterers and technical workers have been parked at Steiner.

But Steiner's early days have not been bump free. There was the day when the new roof leaked. And as the studio's first tenant, the crew of "The Producers" found itself "the beta tester," said Jonathan Sanger, the movie's executive producer.

"It was scary to commit to a new facility, one that was still under construction," he said. "It was a gamble to come here, and when we did, at the beginning of November, we advised them on the things we thought they needed to do." So, dressing rooms were relocated and reconfigured and Mr. Sanger gave a thumbs down to the studio's small makeup rooms "We suggested breaking through walls," he said.

Still, from the start, Mr. Sanger said, he was impressed by Steiner's 35 and 45-feet "grid heights," the space between a stage and the top of a lighting grid, because they made it easier to shoot large dance scenes.

"If our cameras tipped up during a shot, you didn't see the ceiling," he said. "A 45-foot grid - this is a standard that you only see in Hollywood stages." Having the production's studio, office and support space under one roof also saved money, Mr. Sanger said.

In the early days of Steiner's construction, "everyone in town was asking us - 'is it nice?' " said Nick Miller, the construction coordinator who supervised the building of the sets. "We realized we could answer yes."

Film and television production in New York City contributes $5 billion a year to the city's economy, provides work for 100,000 people in the region and benefits 4,000 related businesses, said Katherine Oliver, the commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting. Mr. Steiner said he hoped to establish local work-force training and business-development programs, as well as an internship program with New York City Technical College.

Ernie Rodriquez, the owner of Bear Security Locksmiths, at 24th Street and Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, said he had already benefited from Steiner's presence. Since October, his 25-year-old business has supplied more than 100 locks, 150 cylinders and thousands of keys to Steiner to supplement its security system.

"It may be glamorous and exciting, but they pay their bills quickly and that makes it even better," Mr. Rodriquez said. Publicly, so far, Kaufman Astoria Studios and Silvercup Studios have reacted cordially to their splashy new competitor, even though Steiner's 27,000-square-foot stage has taken the city crown from Kaufman's "Big House," the 26,000-square-foot Stage E.

Hal G. Rosenbluth, the president of Kaufman, said the advent of Steiner was "an exclamation point to the growth of the industry in New York." It was also a validation, he added. "The investment they made shows that there is someone else as crazy as we are." Mr. Rosenbluth is planning to build another 18,000-foot stage and support structure across the street from the original 300,000-foot studio, where "Sesame Street" is taped.

Stuart Match Suna, the president of Silvercup, home of "The Sopranos," said that "Steiner has helped the industry," though he acknowledged that it will eventually mean more competition for future productions.

Still, he also is planning to add to Silvercup's 18 stages, which occupy more than 400,000 square feet.

Mr. Steiner wants to expand, too. "We aren't done," he said. "We want to build additional stages and support buildings."

The studio hopes to make money in three to five years, Mr. Steiner said, despite studios' traditionally skimpy profit margins and high fixed costs. But the future is still as murky as the nearby Gowanus Canal. "Though Steiner brings something to the city that was needed - large space that is conveniently located - I think it is too early to know how this will work financially," said Mr. Vogel, the entertainment analyst.

Already, though, Steiner has an alumni society. Some of the crew members of "The Producers" are working on the production of "Fur."

"This," said Mr. Rodriquez, the locksmith, "is the biggest thing happening in Brooklyn."