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Massachusetts software maker and “Star Wars” studio form strategic bond.

A good chunk of the film was shot in Rockport, where the downtown was transformed into the town of Sitka, Alaska. Large totem poles stood tall in Dock Square and the usual storefronts and street pole banners became signs or symbols from Sitka.

Study says film tax credit more than pays for itself with jobs and spin-off economic benefits.

The cast and crew have shot scenes at the two lighthouses in Provincetown and currently are filming at Cook’s Camp, a 100-plus-year-old cottage colony overlooking the ocean at LeCount’s Hollow Beach in Wellfleet.

Shooting is set to start in late summer in Boston with a July 23, 2010, release date.

Filmmakers Collaborative is proud to present Making Media Now 2009, a full-day conference for film and media makers of every skill level. Held at Waltham’s Bentley University, Making Media Now 2009 will continue its tradition of providing the New England film and video community with the latest information and workshops around media making.

The film production and infrastructure credits have created jobs Connecticut cannot afford to lose.

Tuesday morning, actor Christian Bale got into character by shadow boxing Dicky Eklund on the streets of the Highlands section of Lowell. Bale, who recently played Bruce Wayne in the blockbuster the Dark Knight, will portray the fallen Lowell boxer in the feature film The Fighter.

The state’s film office expects a busy year for movie production in Massachusetts now that the Screen Actors Guild board has approved a contract with the major studios.

The future of the proposed Plymouth Rock Studios came into sharper focus last night as the town planning board voted unanimously to approve the master plan for the project.

The Motion Picture Association of America today issued an economic impact report ranking Massachusetts among the top ten production states outside of California and NY—and the only New England state to make the list.

The movie and TV industry contributed 2.5 million jobs and $41.1 billion in wages to the U.S. economy in 2007, according to an MPAA report.

That’s up from more than 1.3 million jobs and $30.2 billion in 2005 as reported by the trade group in its inaugural report a couple of years ago.



Clearly, when it comes to the film business, New York officials are nervously watching Massachusetts and hoping we decide to throw in the towel.

Ambitious studio projects could make Massachusetts a center for the film industry.

Yesterday, Ben Affleck and co-star Kevin Costner were on location in Roxbury shooting scenes for the upcoming “The Company Men.” The flick, by “ER” producer John Wells, is about corporate downsizing.

By all accounts the film tax credit passed in Massachusetts in 2005 and expanded in 2007 seems to be working well in an otherwise down economy. The two production companies filming here now – and the competing plans for soundstage capacity – are on-going testament to that.

Word is, location scouts already have scoped out car czar Ernie Boch Jr .’s Ferrari dealership for the flick, which has Paul Blart being fired from his mall cop gig and being forced to find work as a zookeeper at the Franklin Park Zoo.

“Hollywood East” isn’t just a clever sales pitch. It means getting our fair share of a $60 billion industry that every year enjoys a balance of trade surplus of $10 billion – even in bad times.

Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Affleck are set to star in “The Company Men,” an independently financed drama about the impact that a corporate downsizing has on both its casualties and survivors, starting April in Boston.

Bob Iger, CEO and President of the Walt Disney Company, is the keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Entertainment & Media Club at Harvard’s Business School on March 19, 2009.