ABOUT: MPC in the News
Boston — the new Hollywood?
Tax incentives attacting more and more filmmakers to the area
But celebrity-obsessed locals might notice an influx of stars in the near future. Massachusetts — with its newly enacted tax breaks for the motion picture industry — has started to attract filmmakers who used to skip the state, heading for its cheaper neighbors like Canada, according to a recent study.
State legislators approved incentives for filmmakers in January, including breaks on sales, income and excise taxes. Since then, the black comedy "Stiffs," starring veteran actor Danny Aiello, was shot in the North End; "Gone Baby Gone" has started production in Dorchester; and The Rock's "Daddy's Girl" will film in Boston in the coming weeks.
At the time, "Stiffs" executive director Roger Marino said his crew saved 20 to 25 percent, or "hundreds of thousands of dollars," from the tax breaks.
And the state has added 41,500 jobs directly or indirectly connected to the motion picture industry, according to the study by the Alliance for Independent Motion Media (AIMM), in collaboration with the state's leading film industry advocacy group, the Massachusetts Production Coalition (MPC).
"[It's] more and more a bottom-line business," said Joe Maiella, president of the MPC, noting that the state struggled to attract TV and filmmakers during the economic downturn from 2001 to 2004. "Massachusetts would not be on the radar screen without tax incentives."
Besides "simple economics," Maiella added that Boston's architecture, recognizable locations, wealth of young people and "character individuals" as extras, and the state's topography also drew production crews.
"Going to South Boston, you couldn't cast them any better. They look the part, they sound the part," Maiella said. "How many movies have you seen where actors fake a Boston accent. It's terrible!" "You can't replicate Fenway Park," he added.
LAURA DANNEN
ldannen@metro-boston.com
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