A Hollywood-type movie studio in Stoneham? It’s possible, says Gary DeCicco, a Nahant-based developer who says he wants to buy the dormant Boston Regional Medical Center in Stoneham and convert the 40-plus-acre property into a studio and soundstage for movie productions.

Welcome to Southie-wood. Developer Tim Pappas is floating plans to build an L.A.-style movie production complex on a vacant lot he owns at the corner of West First and E streets.

Boston has been home to more than 400 movies and television shows. Add to that the seven major movies that have been shot in Massachusetts just this year alone — and suddenly it doesn’t seem so crazy that Boston fancies itself Hollywood East.


“It’s been wonderful for the city and it’s great for us,” said Lisse Grullemans, who, as assistant to the vice president at Barneys, has coordinated pulls for about eight costume designers for everything from Ricky Gervais’ “This Side of the Truth” to the Kate Hudson/Anne Hathaway comedy “Bride Wars.”

With the region’s talent, low costs and natural beauty, the Berkshires should be attractive to directors, producers and studios, and it is encouraging that a concerted effort is in place to make them welcome here.

Gov. Deval Patrick said he believes Hollywood East will help boost Massachusetts’ place in the national spotlight.

The Berkshire Film and Media Arts Commission, a nonprofit coalition seeking to connect the Berkshires to the Hollywood film community, is looking to market the Berkshires–in part by creating a Berkshire Production Guide.

Plymouth Rock Studios has picked a golf course in Plymouth as the site of its $300 million “Hollywood East” project.

At the halfway mark in 2008, business for the Massachusetts film industry is, in a word, booming.

Scorsese and the film’s star, Leonardo DiCaprio, arrived at Pemberton Point early Monday morning to prepare for filming on Peddocks Island, which has been transformed into the set of “Ashecliffe,” a movie based on Lehane’s 2003 novel “Shutter Island.”

Massachusetts is fast assuming a new image as a place where Hollywood-style motion pictures are made.

Hollywood has invaded Walpole’s neighbors over the last few months as Academy Award winning director Martin Scorsese begins to wrap up shooting for his new movie “Ashecliffe.”

After escaping fallout from the three-month writers’ strike that ended in February, Massachusetts’ growing motion picture economy faces another potential setback in a looming strike by the Screen Actors Guild.

Bruce Willis was on hand for filming in Lynn on May 30th, but stunt doubles took over yesterday for car and helicopter chases. “The Surrogates,” a sci-fi thriller starring Willis and Ving Rhames, is also being filmed in Worcester, Lawrence, Wayland, Taunton, Hopedale, and Boston.

With Massachusetts experiencing a mini-boom in filmmaking, the push is on to build a full-scale studio.

Actress Jayma Mays spent March through May shooting the comedy “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” in Burlington Mass. Mays’ co-workers splurged at Marc Jacobs, Envi, Calypso and Gretta Luxe, and the movie’s costume designer, Ellen Lutter, spent more than $100,000 locally.

Seven films have wrapped up production so far this year – and while Boston has most often been the location for filming, this year moviemakers have moved outside the city to Beverly, Gloucester, Rockport, Woburn, Lowell, Worcester and other communities. 


Since last July, when Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed into law a 25 percent film tax credit, a wave of major film projects has landed in Massachusetts.