News and Events

Thanks to the state’s newly renovated film incentives, film production in Massachusetts, which struggled along at one or two pics per year, has ballooned to an anticipated six or seven features shooting simultaneously this spring.

The Bay State is fast becoming a favorite location for Hollywood filmmakers, with Taunton’s Whittenton Mills undergoing the latest cinematic transformation into a World War II concentration camp for the upcoming film “Ashecliffe,” directed by Martin Scorsese.

Hollywood’s path to the Whittenton Mills complex began when filmmakers were scouting Massachusetts for a state hospital.

The boom in movies being filmed in the Hub has meant millions of dollars in new business for city hotels.

If patrons of the Burlington Mall notice holiday decorations about five weeks from now, don’t think it’s a rush to create a nine-month shopping season. The decorations will be part of the backdrop as scenes from the film “Mall Cop” will be shot at the mall beginning March 24, the day after Easter.

Sean O’Brien, President of Teamster’s Local 25, and MFO Executive Director Nick Paleologos join NECN’s Jim Braude on Newsnight to talk about the recent success of the Massachusetts Film Office. …

MFO Variety ad congratulating Amy Ryan on her Academy Award nomination for GONE BABY GONE.

A major movie studio in Plymouth could generate as many as 2,000 well-paying jobs and stimulate the tourism and service industries in the region, potentially becoming the largest private employer in the Plymouth area.

WBZ’s Liz Walker interviews the Massachusetts Film Office Executive Director on January 15, 2008.

Director Sam Weisman, Governor Deval Patrick, Speaker Sal DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray head the list of MFO ALL STARS for 2007.

For five days in November and December, the normally sedate suburban town of 25,000 people became Hollywood Central, with town residents enlisted to serve as extras, police controlling traffic and providing security, and the neighborhood buzz centering around how much taller movie star Cameron Diaz appeared in person.

So clogged has Boston been with filmmakers that during the first week in September, crews shooting in the Back Bay kept crossing walkie-talkie signals. In a city where only five movies were filmed in the previous seven years, these are new and pleasant problems.

If your timing was really good, you might also have caught the illustrious likes of Morgan Freeman or William H. Macy making their way from their dressing-room trailers in the Trinity Lutheran Church parking lot to the Worcester Art Museum, where a Hollywood crew was at work on a one-day shoot for a new movie.

Rubbing elbows with the stars is nothing new for Sgt. Michael O’Connor, 54, a veteran of 21 years who is now the Boston Police Department’s motion picture liaison.

WBUR’s David Boeri takes a look behind the scenes at THE LONELY MAIDEN, one of several movies shooting in Boston because of the new Film Tax Credit law. RADIO BOSTON, …

MFO Variety ad saluting GAME PLAN as the number one movie in America.

The increase in action is causing a surge in business for a range of companies and individuals related to filmmaking.

Local 481 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts has seen a 37 percent surge in members since Massachusetts’ new film tax incentives took effect last year. More than 140 new enrollees have signed on, bringing its membership to a record 537.

August 29, 2007 – Fox 25 News Anchor, Maria Stephanos, takes a closer look at the burgeoning film industry in Massachusetts.

For years, Hollywood producers steered clear of the ‘celluloid pariah’ known as Massachusetts. But now they’re all over Boston, thanks to tax breaks and a warm welcome.