News and Events

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!”

Now in its 15th year, Powderhouse Productions, located in Somerville’s Davis Square, develops and creates “dazzlingly original, award-winning factual and alternative entertainment for television and emerging media,” according to the company’s tagline, shown on cable channels such as PBS, TLC, Discovery, History, National Geographic and Animal Planet across the country and around the world.

State Rep. Ronald Mariano said the current situation is regrettable, but he’s optimistic. “Tri-Town is doing as well now as it’s ever done,” the Quincy Democrat said. “Have we had missteps and setbacks? Absolutely. It was trial-and-error for a while there. But I think we’re on the right track.”

“It’s certainly a bump in the road,’’ said David Kirkpatrick about the Prosperity debacle. And then Kirkpatrick returned his attention to the most critical remaining task. He’s trying once again to find the money to build his studio. “We’re going to try to persist and drive through this,’’ he said. “We do have some alternatives that we’re looking at right now. And we are hopeful and optimistic that those might emerge.’’

It’s a pity the developers of a major film soundstage project planned for Plymouth have lost their financing, just as the commonwealth’s profile as a go-to state for movie productions is on the rise. But neither the developers nor their supporters on Beacon Hill ought to get any ideas about taxpayers stepping into the breach. This project has terrific potential and we wish the developers well in putting a deal together. But by heavily subsidizing film production costs, the taxpayers are already doing their fair share.

“You’d be amazed at the number of people who are involved in the production of a 30 second commercial. We hire dozens of people, and there are also the local services that we purchase, such as transportation and supplies. Not to mention all the restaurants, hotels, and tourist destinations that get extra business.” said Jim Bacharach of John Hancock. “I think that looking ahead we will always think of Massachusetts first for shooting our commercials.

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November 12, 2009 – Plymouth Rock Studio’s Bill Wynne addresses the news that the agreement with their senior lendor has been terminated.

“Like any development project, it is a difficult process,” Murray said. “And it is up to the studio now to go out and find other financing. With the possibility of the economy improving, and the project’s ability to generate short-term and long-term jobs, the community remains hopeful that there are other lenders who will see the great value of this project.”

“It definitely slows the project down a bit,” said Kevin O’Reilly, a spokesman for the project. “One of the good things is that the principals have been talking to other lenders and they’re hoping that something will materialize.”

The studio said it is now attempting to arrange alternate funding and suggested that the improving economy might enable them to make a better deal. “With the current economic indicators showing improvement, our decision is in the long-term interest of the project, our shareholders, our strategic partners, and our many other constituents, including the town of Plymouth and the Commonwealth,’’

State Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles notified Plymouth Rock officials yesterday that their exhaustive Environmental Impact Report for the studio project – a required permitting step – has been approved. Bowles also noted “the studio would represent a major step forward for the growing film industry in Massachusetts,’’ and added “the project has the potential to create a major economic engine for the southeast region,’’ generating more than 3,000 jobs.