When location scouts want to set films and TV shows at Fordham, Leslie Timoney is the woman they call. As director of conference services, she manages all the shoots across our New York campuses, and the meticulous walkthroughs of every possible room, field, and stairwell to film.
“We go through all the buildings and take the stairs because they’re good for filming as well,” said Timoney, who recently took a scout on a nine-mile tour across the Rose Hill campus for Your Friends & Neighbors, the Apple TV+ show that has been renewed for a second season ahead of its April 11 premiere.
All that legwork has paid off. Fordham’s filming revenue skyrocketed since she began overseeing film, TV, and commercial bookings in 2022, earning the University over $1 million in revenue in just the last two years alone. The figure is even more impressive considering this is Timoney’s third act at Fordham—she began here in 1993 as the resident director of McMahon Hall at Lincoln Center.
Now, on the eve of her retirement this summer, we caught up with Timoney to talk about the highlights of her 32-year career at Fordham.
Fordham Filming Gets Rolling
Fordham’s campuses have long appeared on screen, but Timoney’s approach made the University even more of a filming destination. She created Fordham’s first-ever “lookbook,” a photo collection of campus locations.
“Once location scouts could see what we had, it really took off.”
Since then, she’s overseen dozens of projects, from The Night Agent to Zero Day and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
“I’m not even a big TV watcher,” said Timoney, who got her first Netflix account after Zero Day premiered.
Behind the Scenes
Timoney now has an insider’s view of the work that goes into one film scene or commercial. When Fordham hosted 175 pastel-clad extras for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, it took a week of filming on Eddies Parade to yield about a three-minute scene.
She’s also witnessed some diva behavior as well as more down-to-earth stars.
“Christopher Meloni [of Law & Order fame]stayed in the Law School and spoke to every student who waited to meet him,” she said. “He didn’t even go back to his trailer. That really stuck with me.”
Days and Nights on Campus
Timoney was hired as the resident manager of McMahon Hall in 1993, and lived in an apartment in the building for 15 years with her husband and later their two sons.
She then became associate director of campus operations, leading major transitions like Fordham Law School’s move to its new building and helping the Gabelli School of Business relocate from the Lowenstein Center to 140 W. 62nd St.
And when Development and University Relations moved from 888 Seventh Ave. to Martino Hall, she spent the night on a couch to ensure things went smoothly.
Sure enough, she said, at 11 p.m. the building manager stopped letting the moving company use the freight elevator—and she was there to speak to him. “They didn’t realize somebody was there representing Fordham. They backed off of that.”
Life After Fordham
Timoney is looking forward to spending more time with her husband in retirement to hike and travel—they plan to make a second Camino pilgrimage in Spain this July. She also wants to publish a children’s book inspired by the 3,000 or so acorns she hand-painted to look like miniature pumpkins, “a collection that’s gotten a little out of hand,” she admits.
And yes, she will miss Fordham.
“There’s just such a great energy here,” she said. “It’s been an amazing place to work.”
