News and Events

The ninth season of “American Idol,” the final of the series’ star judge Simon Cowell, debuted last night on FOX to boffo ratings. The show opened its first half hour of its Boston auditions with Victoria Beckham serving as a guest judge for the departed Paula Abdul with 26 million viewers and grew through the 9 PM half-hour. It peaked at 9 PM with 32 million viewers.

Here is a list of movies that have been made in Massachusetts since 2007, along with their 2009-2010 release dates.

September 29, 2009 – A talented videographer, shooting from his office, captured this behind-the-scenes footage of Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz filming KNIGHT AND DAY in Boston in the fall …

December 23, 2009 – New comedy starring Brendan Fraser as a real estate developer moves his family from Chicago to Oregon when his job calls for him to oversee the …

THE BEELZEBUBS of Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts were edged out last night by Puerto Rico’s NOTA for NBC’s Sing-Off Championship. While the BUBS didn’t take home the prize money ($100K) or the Sony Music recording contract, they won the hearts and votes of millions of new fans across America who chose them as one of the two best a cappella groups in the country. NBC’s The Sing-Off was Executive Produced by Newton filmmaker Sam Weisman.

“The Lightkeepers,” the made-on-Cape Cod flick about a pair of women-hating old salts, is a dark-horse candidate for Oscar bling. So says none other than the Hollywood Reporter, which declares that Cape director Dan Adams’ flick gives Richard Dreyfuss his “showiest lead performance since 1995’s ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus.’ ”

For more than 30 years, Berkshire County has been a favored location for an impressive list of big-screen movies. Our Gilded Age mansions and bucolic scenery are likely to be even more attractive now that the state dangles tax-credit carrots and other incentives.

Headed to the movies anytime soon? If the film was shot in Massachusetts, take a closer look at the armoire in that one bedroom scene or maybe the desk in the main character’s office. Either may soon appear at a neighborhood Goodwill – a bit of Hollywood glam for a thrift store price.

As long as the tax incentives debate continues–If the state isn’t careful–whether it’s Plymouth or the group planning to come to SouthField in Weymouth, Massachusetts will seem like a less-than-reliable partner not only in the eyes of film executives but in the eyes of other industries, which are being wooed in hopes they will bring the jobs Massachusetts needs to thrive.

“We had many visitors who came to Rockport this past season, at least in part, because of the movie,” said Rockport Chamber of Commerce manager Peter Webber. “Several visitors with whom I spoke at the information booth mentioned seeing Sandra Bullock on either the (David) Letterman Show or Regis (Philbin) and Kelly (Ripa) speak in glowing terms about Rockport and with her experience here while filming the movie.”

Bay State entries at the 2009 Golden Globes: Matt Damon & Sandra Bullock.

December 15, 2009 – WBUR’s Andrea Shea examines the pros and cons of building state-of-the-art sound stages in Massachusetts. Click here for the full story.

Take a lesson, people, and toughen up. If we want Hollywood to respect us in the morning, we need to treat the movie biz with casual disdain, just like the folks in LA.

The Sundance Film Festival takes its show on the road.

Domestic ticket sales are up a healthy 8% over 2008, with the box office only days away from eclipsing 2008’s record-breaking haul of $9.64 billion in ticket sales.

by Sara Underwood FOX-25 News November 25, 2009 Since the creation of production tax incentives in the Bay State, lights, camera, action has become an all too familiar phrase in …

Matt Damon wishes he could work in Boston again. Ben Affleck has just made two back-to-back flicks in Boston: “The Company Men” with Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones and “The Town” with Jon Hamm and Blake Lively, which he is directing and taking the lead role. “I’m very jealous and I’m planning my countermeasures as we speak,” Damon declared, adding that the Massachusetts tax incentives that have lured lots of big-budget flicks to the Bay State will help make his countermeasures a reality. “You ask the Teamsters in New York and that’s what they tell you, everything’s happening in Boston.” Damon said he believes the incentives are a no-brainer for the state. “The movie business is a light-footprint industry,” he said. “It doesn’t pollute. We don’t knock down trees. We just turn on our cameras and leave behind piles of cash.”

“It’s an explosion of work and the future is incredibly bright,” said Dona Sommers, executive director of the New England office of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild, which manages more than 2,500 union actors within the region. Local movie studio development may be struggling, but for those in the casting business, the story of film in Beantown remains a feel-good blockbuster. “The local acting community has never had so many opportunities for work before, and I can only see that growing with every passing year,” said Sommers.

The backers of Plymouth Rock sincerely want to build a studio in Massachusetts. And in a better economy, they might have an easier time lining up investors. But while proponents of the studio deserve credit for their imagination, they should build their dream with private money.

“Knight & Day” leading man Tom Cruise took to his Web page yesterday to thank the “wonderful people of Boston” for rolling out the red carpet for his cast and crew. “My family and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your warmth and hospitality during our incredible stay here,” wrote Cruise, who began filming “Knight & Day” (then called ‘Wichita’) with Cameron Diaz on Sept. 15 in Worcester. “We absolutely love Boston and will treasure our memories of the Freedom Trail, the Duck Tours, the museums, restaurants, and gorgeous parks. It was an autumn to remember!”