Written by new-contact on Apr 18, 2013. Posted in On Location

Massachusetts plans full-time filming industry with New England Studios

The Massachusetts Film Office is anticipating the start of a full-time production industry for the state when New England Studios opens in Devens in the next few months. It’s a development that could help attract more productions like Oscar-winning feature The Fighter.

A recent report revealed that 77 separate productions filmed on location in Massachusetts in 2011 and that the state paid out USD44 million in filming tax credits, more than double that of the previous year, the Lowell Sun reports. The filming incentive programme is divisive, with some local politicians questioning its true benefits for the state.

"This business is pretty unique," Massachusetts Film Office Director Lisa Strout told the outlet: "It's not an industry you can start overnight. I think it really takes a decade. And the progress at Devens changes things a lot because then you can film a lot more during the winter."

It's not an industry you can start overnight. I think it really takes a decade. And the progress at Devens changes things a lot because then you can film a lot more during the winter.

Lisa Strout, Massachusetts Film Office

"[Filming tax credits are] a total waste of money," Andy Bagley, of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, added to the outlet: "There's always this sense that we can become the Hollywood of the East, but other states have tried that and as soon as the incentives aren't as lucrative as another state's the movie industry moves on."

The film office's aim is that New England Studios will help create permanent production jobs in Massachusetts. This could help build on the USD60 million that production spending fed into the state economy in 2011.