News and Events

Boston may have a bigger role in the world of television, assuming that “The Quinn-Tuplets’’ and “Boston’s Finest’’ find success on the air. The two shows, which are in the thick of filming pilots around town, may bring a consistent Hollywood presence.

Leave it alone. That was the feeling of the vast majority of legislators in the state’s House of Representatives who overwhelmingly rejected attempts to cap the film tax credit. The first proposal to roll back the tax credit to 2006 levels was rejected by a vote of 146 to 10. The second proposal to temporarily cap the tax credit at $50 million was also rejected, by a vote of 140 to 15.

KNIGHT AND DAY — New trailer for the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz action romance opening nationally on June 23, 2010. The film was shot in Massachusetts in 2009.

The bipartisan Statehouse effort that preserved the state’s film tax credit last week brought a sigh of relief from cultural economy boosters around Cape Ann and across the state. The state film tax break is one package that’s provided some legitimate boosts for both the public and private sector economies on Cape Ann and elsewhere. It’s good to see our state lawmakers keep it on track.

“I am thrilled at the significant vote in the House today in support of the film tax credit program,” said Mariano. “As other sectors continue to struggle, the film and television production industry in Massachusetts has been a bright spot.

“The House has again fought for our state’s businesses and working people by supporting the film tax credit which stimulates local business and job growth throughout Massachusetts. As many in our state struggle to find work, we must do everything we can to attract job opportunities to our state and grow our economy,” DeLeo said.

The production of more films in the state means more revenues from hotels, restaurants, countless other Massachusetts vendors and the potential construction of permanent production lots with permanent jobs for our residents. We need to encourage businesses to come here and get people back to work. Statistics prove the film industry is breathing life back into our flagging economy.

The bipartisan effort that succeeded in preserving the film tax credit in Massachusetts Wednesday, represented a refreshing change from the all-or-nothing approach both Democrats and Republicans have adopted on Capitol Hill.

It wasn’t that long ago that the industry was splintered and struggling to get lawmakers to pass some form of tax incentives. Today, there’s no question that the state’s rapidly-growing film industry has found its voice.

A more modest, phased-in approach priced at about $250 million will start with some sound stages and office space. The first phase of the studio complex will sit on about 40 acres.

The Massachusetts House has successfully batted back proposed caps on the state’s film tax credit program. During a sometimes impassioned debate on the House floor on Wednesday, lawmakers rejected an amendment that would have limited the tax credit to $50 million dollars per year.

The film industry easily survived a challenge in the House Wednesday to tax breaks which supporters claim are necessary inducements for industry jobs in Massachusetts. Efforts to pass a pair of proposals scaling back industry tax breaks won only 10 and 15 votes in the House after lengthy debate.

Yesterday, the crew of “Boston’s Finest’’ filmed scenes for its pilot at the South End Buttery. The detective show will star Katee Sackhoff of “Battlestar Galactica’’ and “24’’ fame, as well as Goran Visnjic, of “ER,’’ Nia Long, of “Third Watch,’’ and Treat Williams, who has been in just about everything. In other pilot news, “The Quinn-Tuplets,’’ a show starring Amber Tamblyn of “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’’ and Anna Chlumsky of “My Girl,’’ is set to film scenes today in Lowell.

Talent companies out to bilk wannabe kid stars are following Hollywood to the Bay State, according to industry watchdogs who warn of a dark side to the local film boom.

The public policy choice remains simple: Doesn’t it make sense to keep a dollar’s worth of spending in the commonwealth for a dime’s worth of investment? Seventy-seven percent of more than 5,000 respondents to a recent WCVB-TV survey plus a unanimous vote of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Revenue, said “YES.”

Hollywood studios, production companies and independent producers invested more than $521 million in Georgia in fiscal year 2008-09; the state estimates the economic impact of this investment at $929 million. Louisiana has experienced economic success, as well. Its Economic Development department’s Web site says the incentives have generated thousands of jobs and more than $2 billion since the program began in 2002.

A legislative panel yesterday all but killed a proposal to roll back the state’s film tax credits to 2006 levels and restore a $7 million-per-film cap. The Joint Committee on Revenue voted unanimously to give Rep. Steven D’Amico’s bill a recommendation of “ought not to pass.”

A legislative committee yesterday unanimously rejected a bill that would have sharply curtailed the state’s tax credit for the film industry, saying the legislation would hurt a thriving industry that is one of the few bright spots in a dour Massachusetts economy.

Legislation scaling back the state’s tax sweeteners for the film industry received a unanimous thumbs-down today from the Revenue Committee. Joe Maiella, president of the Mass. Production Coalition, applauded the vote saying, “The film industry is outperforming virtually every other sector of the Massachusetts economy during the worst economic recession in living memory. This kind of performance should be protected, not damaged.”

Why cut one of the most successful economic incentive programs we have? People are working, new jobs are being created and existing industries are being bolstered by this program.