Friday, March 28, 2025
The hit Apple TV+ series “Severance” brought its eerie, corporate dystopia to Long Island, using Nassau Community College in Garden City as the backdrop for the Feb. 28 episode’s opening scenes.
Now in its second season, the sci-fi thriller explores a corporate conspiracy at Lumon Industries, a biotech company where select employees undergo a surgical procedure that splits their consciousness in two. Their work and personal lives exist as separate entities, with no shared memories—only the knowledge that they have an "innie" (their work self) and an "outie" (their personal self).
Trapped in the sterile, maze-like corridors of Lumon’s “severed floor,” workers are cut off from the outside world, with no access to news, communication, or life beyond their office walls.
Nassau Community College Vice President of the Office of Community and Governmental Relations Jerry Kornbluth told the Herald he received the call about filming from a regional director for Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“I thought it would be great for Nassau Community College,” Kornbluth said. “It also gave students, current and former, the chance to see a real-life production come together—and even be a part of it.”
The latest episode, titled “Chikhai Bardo,” references a Tibetan Buddhist concept of the moment of death. It features flashbacks of Mark, played by Adam Scott and Gemma, played by Dichen Lachman, meeting as college professors, falling in love, marrying, and struggling with infertility.
Several scenes were filmed on the college’s 225-acre campus. The episode opens with Gemma walking through an open-air tunnel into the administration plaza, passing groups of students. An overhead shot shrinks the scene to ant-like figures—a visual cue reinforced later when Mark gives Gemma an ant farm as a gift.
Another moment, filmed inside the A. Holly Patterson Library, captures Mark and Gemma’s first encounter as they meet while donating blood at a campus drive.
Kornbluth noted that the show also filmed on campus in summer of 2023 for its first season.
With no classes in session on the early-summer Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of last year’s filming, the production team asked Kornbluth’s office to post notices recruiting extras for the opening scene. At least 30 people from the college were paid to appear.
Kornbluth added that hosting a major production was an unexpected experience for students.
“They come to college expecting to go to class, but being part of a show like this is something different,” he said.
He also emphasized that under the leadership of Chief Administrative Officer Maria Conzatti, the administration has prioritized revitalizing NCC’s sense of community.
“Word of mouth has made it clear—NCC is a place for community engagement,” Kornbluth said.
