Movie Studios: Boston is the new Hollywood.

I'm guessing we won't be seeing her in an off-Broadway production of Hedda Gabler any time soon...
 
Should I change this thread to "Rate hot Hollywood Actresses Filming in Boston"?
 
Am I the only one who is not gaga over Blake Lively? As a heterosexual 23 year old guy, I find MANY women a lot more attractive. I'm 100x more giddy every time I see a picture of Giselle on Newbury St.
 
Anyone else notice the BPL popping up all over the trailer for the upcoming David Kelly/ Cameron Diaz movie, The Box. Gives it a bit of an Overlook Hotel vibe:

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This isnt the right place for this but does anyone on here have any pictures of the city they can use to help spruce up our city's Wikipedia entry?

The pictures currently in use are so crappy....such a waste of free publicity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston
 
The BPL, both sections, is a great place for a set.

I've always wanted there to be a GTA game based on Boston. With all the tunnels, bridges,and crazy roads it has be one hell of a game.
 
briv said:
Anyone else notice the BPL popping up all over the trailer for the upcoming David Kelly/ Cameron Diaz movie, The Box.
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I was at the BPL when they were filming it - the reference desk between the two staircases was removed, and some sort of glass thing on a large wooden pedestal was put in its place. Doesn't take place in Boston though...it's supposed to be a library in Virginia. It was pretty cool to see the BPL up on the big screen (in the preview)! Looks like they did a fantastic job with the lighting of the place.
 
The dream is over.
Plymouth studios on hold as funding collapses
Funding collapses as company cuts tie to financial backer

By Thomas Farragher, Globe Staff | November 10, 2009

Just weeks before its scheduled groundbreaking, Plymouth Rock Studios said yesterday that its construction funding has collapsed, raising serious questions about the future of its plan to bring a major film and television production facility to the woods of Plymouth.

The studio, in a surprise announcement, said it was severing ties with a Florida firm that was to finance its $550 million plan to transform 240 acres of what is now the Waverly Oaks Golf Club into ??Hollywood East.??

News of the financial turnabout comes just a week after the Globe began making inquiries about the background of the studio?s would-be financier, Prosperity International LLC, of Orlando, Fla.

Studio officials said they had fully investigated Prosperity and were comfortable that it could fulfill its promise to deliver a half-billion-dollar loan amid treacherous economic times.

??We feel like we were very fortunate, in light of the storms going on in the capital markets, that we were able to land a deal such as the one that we have with Prosperity,?? Bill Wynne, president of the studio?s real estate arm, said in an interview last week.

But yesterday, the company?s comfort level with Prosperity had evaporated.

??The lender was required to meet a milestone on November 6 and has failed to do so,?? the studio said in a prepared statement. ??Consequently, [the studio] exercised its contractual right to cancel the agreement.??

The studio said it is now attempting to arrange alternate funding and suggested that the improving economy might enable them to make a better deal.

??With the current economic indicators showing improvement, our decision is in the long-term interest of the project, our shareholders, our strategic partners, and our many other constituents, including the town of Plymouth and the Commonwealth,?? Wynne said in a prepared statement.

A spokesman for the studio would not elaborate beyond the studio?s statement. He said studio executives would not make themselves available to respond to questions last night.

Before yesterday?s announcement, studio officials said they were weeks away from buying the golf course for about $16.5 million. The deal was set to close in December, about the time they had hoped to begin work on a $50 million access road.

The studio project has raised high hopes on the South Shore, where people have packed studio-sponsored job fairs and officials have projected that more than 2,000 high-income employees would staff the sprawling project of 14 sound stages, a 10-acre back lot, and post-production facilities for movies and television shows.

Studio officials said last week that a broker had recommended Prosperity International and that they had spent months making sure the deal was secure and that the interests of the studio project were fully protected.

Timothy J. Hadley, the studio?s senior vice president for legal affairs, said one of the largest law firms in the country helped the studio with its vetting of Prosperity. ??So that gives us a good amount of comfort when you enter into these transactions,?? Hadley said last week. ??[We] made the appropriate changes that you would to shift risks in the product. A lot of comfort comes from that.??

The Globe?s review of Prosperity found that its track record was thin, at best. In one case, for example, a project it claimed to have developed was, in fact, the work of a separate company.

Michael F. Burgess, Prosperity?s principal, could not be reached for comment yesterday. He did not return e-mails or phone calls. A consultant for the firm said Burgess was traveling in South Africa and was not available.

In a recent interview, he defended his company?s financial capacity and track record and said he fully intended to deliver the construction money for the Plymouth studio.

??We have an executed contact, and it?s on us to deliver,?? Burgess said.

The studio project has enjoyed wide support in Plymouth, where Town Meeting representatives overwhelming endorsed the project last year, approving a package of tax breaks and an elaborate zoning change. Studio officials were disappointed earlier this year when the state denied the project $50 million in infrastructure funding, but they promised that setback would not derail them.

Thomas Farragher can be reached at farragher@globe.com.
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http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/11/10/plymouth_studios_on_hold_as_funding_collapses/
 
Here to save the day (and the city of Boston, too)!

Underdog!

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Without Bill and Ted's phone booth... how will this happen? We can't make the movie without the studio, just like they couldn't make a triumphant video until they got Eddie Van Halen (or travelled in time for 6 months of intensive guitar training.)
 
As the financial state of my company and some of our 300 employees job security (mine included) is sort of dependent on this project getting going. I will choose for now to take a slightly more optimistic view. They are searching around for lenders... banks are turning profits... money is there, just needs to be lent. C'mon banks, open your purse strings.
 
Banks are willing to lend, but not $550 million. This project is too big as it is currently underwritten and the rents they are assuming are just not realistic.
 
Re: Movie Studios: Plymouth & Weymouth

JimboJones said:
How can we allow these tax credits to continue???? It's a losing proposition - other states will just increase the incentives, etc., etc., etc.

We're already lining the pockets of movie stars with these handouts. Do we need more???
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WHY MUST YOU BE SO NEGATIVE!
 
Bubbybu said:
LOL at The Simpsons embed....

This is about as risky as you can get....which is shocking for Massachusetts

Makes me think of Auto World in Flint Michigan....

Though Plymouth is admittedly nicer...

But honestly if I am a bank there is no way I am anxious to assume even a quasi-substantial chunk of the risk in financing this scheme. Maybe they will have to take on private investors? Maybe this will never even see the light of day?

I remember when people were calling Vancouver the 'New Hollywood' back in the late 90s
It's a fickle biz.
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So... forget it.
 
You were asking in all serious, tobyjug? I don't know why it makes me so angry. I just think it's foolish to throw money at it. There's plenty of industries already here and already employing thousands; I don't think we need to take a chance on things, even in the quest for ""good jobs at good wages". Same thing with casinos. At least, with casinos, there'd be little state money invested (we can only hope), beyond infrastructure. There, I fear the social costs, plus I am very skeptical our elected leaders can make it work in a way that benefits the state. I gamble all the time but I have no problem going elsewhere to do so. I still would.

The success of Vancouver in bringing in the movie business is impressive.

The number of movies filming here in Massachusetts is impressive, as well. It's a loss-loss, however. The number of people making salaries off it pale compared to the millions of dollars in credits that the companies are holding onto, and can turn in for rebates at any time (am I right that it's north of $750 million?).

I've kind of gotten over it, though. There seems to be a strong feeling on this board that the movie credits and movie studios are good for Massachusetts. I've decided to just sit back, smugly, waiting for the chance to say, "I told you so."

Old age will be fun.
 
Me? Serious?
The Globe Spotlight team croaked these guys yesterday. I immediately thought of you. It was your "I told you so" moment in spades!
 
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