Tax incentives have been so conducive to moviemaking in Massachusetts over the last year, some film executives and mogels want to build a studio on the South Shore. A former air base in Weymouth and a 1,000 acre plot of land south of Plymouth are being eyed as location candidates, while Quincy state Rep. Ronald Mariano has a bill that would offer further tax incentives for its creation.
BOSTON. The state’s film industry is eyeing a record-setting year in revenue in 2008, with more major studio films than ever before already in production or in the pipeline.
After the state increased tax credits for filmmakers in 2006, there has been a staggering rise in film industry spending over the last few years. In 2005, filmmakers only spent $6 million, but that number jumped to $50 million in 2006.
Last year, $125 million was spent here, and this year will likely exceed that amount, according to Nick Paleologos, chairman of the Massachusetts Film Office.
“Last year was our best year, and this one will be even better,” he said.
While only one major movie was filmed in Massachusetts last spring, at least seven will be filmed here prior to July 4. Last week, production started in Boston on Matthew McConaughey’s new film, “The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.”
Other films set for production in the Bay State include the Martin Scorsese film “Shutter Island,” Bruce Willis’s “The Surrogates” and “Mall Cop” starring Kevin James, which is close to principal photography.
The state is also trying to secure a TV series in the next year or two, according to Paleologos. He said the industry’s rapid growth here, along with their prolonged stay, from carpenters to catering to the hotel business.
“We don’t have enough people to meet the demand,” Paleologos said last week.
“We have more jobs being created than ever before. Our biggest challenge for 2008 will be to grow the crew base and production service base.”
And while the major Hollywood studios fretted for months during the writers’ strike, the situation didn’t slow down the state’s momentum, Paleologos said.
“In a perverse way, it actually accelerated some projects into production because a lot of the studios wanted to get some movies in the can in case actors went on strike,” Paleologos said, referring to the June 30 date the actors’ contract expires.