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Allston screen test
Los Angeles production company opens $1.5m studio for film, photo
By D.C. Denison
Globe Staff / November 3, 2010
At this point, the only exterior sign on the bland, industrial building in Allston is a single sheet of paper taped to the front door. Just two words ? ?Quixote Studios?? ? are printed on the page.
The site is the home of an ambitious production facility for photography, television, feature films, and music video shoots. Quixote Studios, a Los Angeles production company, built the $1.5 million facility as its Boston satellite operation, and the cameras have been rolling even though the grand opening is still more than a week away.
The cable TV company Comcast Corp. has already been there to produce an ad featuring the Celtics? Shaquille O?Neal; Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was in yesterday for a photo shoot.
Although the facility opened its doors in August, it is still rough around the edges, with concrete floors waiting for carpeting and Sheetrock walls primed for paint.
There are two soundstages outfitted with lighting, camera dollies, and other equipment, where scenes can be shot for films, commercials, or television programs. Each has its own wardrobe/makeup rooms and temporary offices for production companies using the studio.
The scale is impressive. The largest soundstage is 60 feet by 80 feet with towering, curved white walls.
On a recent weekday afternoon, two makeup rooms were occupied by actresses primping for their photo shoots, the smaller soundstage, decorated to resemble a 1970s-era game show set, was bustling with crew members pushing bright lights around the actors.
Wardrobe stands, ladders, and dollies were haphazardly parked in the hallways. A long table outside the soundstage was loaded with food that ranged from unhealthy to sinful.
?This place is gorgeous, even though it?s still at half-mast,?? said Matt Campbell, a producer with the local production house Nesson Boston Media Inc., as he took a break from shooting an educational film. ?The newness of this equipment is really exciting.??
Quixote officials said the studio is big for Massachusetts. ?There?s hasn?t been a facility like this around here, ever,?? said Jason Nute, general manager of the facility and a 15-year veteran of the Boston film industry.
Quixote?s arrival was triggered by the rise of movies being filmed in Massachusetts since 2005, when the state instituted a 25 percent tax break for film and television projects produced here.
The incentive program, which is in place until 2023, has been credited with bringing dozens of major film productions to Massachusetts, including Ben Affleck?s ?The Town?? and the Martin Scorsese mystery film ?Shutter Island.??
Proponents of the program claim that it has pumped millions of dollars into the local economy, as productions set up shop here and patronize local businesses.
Mikel Elliott, the cofounder and chief executive of Quixote, said that ?the tax credit was definitely part of the decision?? to open the Massachusetts facility.
Elliott said that he became familiar with the local film community over the last few years, as many of his Los Angeles-based customers began shooting movies in the state.
?At first, we were going to just rent equipment here,?? he said by phone from Los Angeles, ?and then we saw the facility in Allston, and we decided to take a bigger step.??
Quixote and its photography studio subsidiary, Smashbox Studios, have five locations in Los Angeles. The Allston facility will be its first East Coast operation.
?People assumed that New York would be our next move, but it?s too expensive there and it?s a crowded market,?? Elliott said. ?We decided that there?s enough content creation going on in Massachusetts to warrant a first-class operation.??
The studio is facing an immediate challenge: the recent lull in feature film activity in Massachusetts. After a flurry of high-profile, big-budget films, the number of movies being made in Massachusetts has fallen off over the last few months. Right now, there isn?t another large movie scheduled to film here until March 2012.
?We are in the middle of a lag, but it?s because the economy is in a lag,?? said Sam Weisman, a television producer and director and chairman of the Massachusetts Sports and Entertainment Commission, which funds the Massachusetts Film Office.
?Far fewer studio movies are being made right now, period.??
Yet Elliott said the current major movie drought will not have a significant impact on Quixote?s business, because it is initially aiming at smaller targets: regional commercials and still photography.
Quixote will seek to rent equipment like lights and dollies to visiting feature film productions, he said, but it will not be dependent on these productions to survive.
And because the Massachusetts film tax rebate applies to projects over $50,000, Elliott said he expects that even relatively small productions will continue to be attracted to the state and the Quixote facility.
Quixote?s arrival, Weisman said, ?says that you can come to Massachusetts to make big movies, little movies, TV series, commercials. It says that anything can happen here.??
Link
Los Angeles production company opens $1.5m studio for film, photo
By D.C. Denison
Globe Staff / November 3, 2010
At this point, the only exterior sign on the bland, industrial building in Allston is a single sheet of paper taped to the front door. Just two words ? ?Quixote Studios?? ? are printed on the page.
The site is the home of an ambitious production facility for photography, television, feature films, and music video shoots. Quixote Studios, a Los Angeles production company, built the $1.5 million facility as its Boston satellite operation, and the cameras have been rolling even though the grand opening is still more than a week away.
The cable TV company Comcast Corp. has already been there to produce an ad featuring the Celtics? Shaquille O?Neal; Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was in yesterday for a photo shoot.
Although the facility opened its doors in August, it is still rough around the edges, with concrete floors waiting for carpeting and Sheetrock walls primed for paint.
There are two soundstages outfitted with lighting, camera dollies, and other equipment, where scenes can be shot for films, commercials, or television programs. Each has its own wardrobe/makeup rooms and temporary offices for production companies using the studio.
The scale is impressive. The largest soundstage is 60 feet by 80 feet with towering, curved white walls.
On a recent weekday afternoon, two makeup rooms were occupied by actresses primping for their photo shoots, the smaller soundstage, decorated to resemble a 1970s-era game show set, was bustling with crew members pushing bright lights around the actors.
Wardrobe stands, ladders, and dollies were haphazardly parked in the hallways. A long table outside the soundstage was loaded with food that ranged from unhealthy to sinful.
?This place is gorgeous, even though it?s still at half-mast,?? said Matt Campbell, a producer with the local production house Nesson Boston Media Inc., as he took a break from shooting an educational film. ?The newness of this equipment is really exciting.??
Quixote officials said the studio is big for Massachusetts. ?There?s hasn?t been a facility like this around here, ever,?? said Jason Nute, general manager of the facility and a 15-year veteran of the Boston film industry.
Quixote?s arrival was triggered by the rise of movies being filmed in Massachusetts since 2005, when the state instituted a 25 percent tax break for film and television projects produced here.
The incentive program, which is in place until 2023, has been credited with bringing dozens of major film productions to Massachusetts, including Ben Affleck?s ?The Town?? and the Martin Scorsese mystery film ?Shutter Island.??
Proponents of the program claim that it has pumped millions of dollars into the local economy, as productions set up shop here and patronize local businesses.
Mikel Elliott, the cofounder and chief executive of Quixote, said that ?the tax credit was definitely part of the decision?? to open the Massachusetts facility.
Elliott said that he became familiar with the local film community over the last few years, as many of his Los Angeles-based customers began shooting movies in the state.
?At first, we were going to just rent equipment here,?? he said by phone from Los Angeles, ?and then we saw the facility in Allston, and we decided to take a bigger step.??
Quixote and its photography studio subsidiary, Smashbox Studios, have five locations in Los Angeles. The Allston facility will be its first East Coast operation.
?People assumed that New York would be our next move, but it?s too expensive there and it?s a crowded market,?? Elliott said. ?We decided that there?s enough content creation going on in Massachusetts to warrant a first-class operation.??
The studio is facing an immediate challenge: the recent lull in feature film activity in Massachusetts. After a flurry of high-profile, big-budget films, the number of movies being made in Massachusetts has fallen off over the last few months. Right now, there isn?t another large movie scheduled to film here until March 2012.
?We are in the middle of a lag, but it?s because the economy is in a lag,?? said Sam Weisman, a television producer and director and chairman of the Massachusetts Sports and Entertainment Commission, which funds the Massachusetts Film Office.
?Far fewer studio movies are being made right now, period.??
Yet Elliott said the current major movie drought will not have a significant impact on Quixote?s business, because it is initially aiming at smaller targets: regional commercials and still photography.
Quixote will seek to rent equipment like lights and dollies to visiting feature film productions, he said, but it will not be dependent on these productions to survive.
And because the Massachusetts film tax rebate applies to projects over $50,000, Elliott said he expects that even relatively small productions will continue to be attracted to the state and the Quixote facility.
Quixote?s arrival, Weisman said, ?says that you can come to Massachusetts to make big movies, little movies, TV series, commercials. It says that anything can happen here.??
Link
