Why would anyone want to make movies in Massachusetts. More to the point, why would anyone not? There is a lot to show the world in our neck of the woods. The town I live in will celebrate its 350th anniversary in a year. Just south of here, Sturbridge Village is the perfect locale for a costume drama. Do you need an ivy covered university to shoot a college movie?
From Hahvud* in Cambridge to Williams on the New Your border, we got em. We can give you snow cover part of the year and about now, I hope you’ll take it. We have beaches and old mills as well as staid and sedate residential areas and great estates. Heck, if its a gritty, downscale urban neighborhood you want, it's here. Mountains, forest, and farmland exist in abundance. Of course, there are other reasons to shoot a picture in the Bay State. It costs money to make movies. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts offers hefty tax incentives to film makers. There is a 20% tax credit for payroll expenses and a 25% tax credit for production costs. If that were not enough, there is a sales tax exemption on sales to a qualifying motion picture production company. That part of it was easy to find. A more interesting aspect of the Commonwealth’s tax policy can be found at the website appropriately called Massachusetts Film Tax Credit. That site, founded by Attorney Doug Kirkpatrick and his wife Melinda notes that All or any portion of the film tax credits may be assigned, sold or transferred to other Massachusetts taxpayers with individual or corporate tax liabilities. A production must obtain a Certificate of Eligibility from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue prior to transferring or assigning a Film Tax Credit to another taxpayer. All of it goes a long way to making show biz on screen bankable here.
As the Film Industry Examiner for Boston and environs, we are going to keep an eye on it as it grows here. We’ll also look into other media such as webisodes. If your an actor or a fan, we hope to keep you informed. Stay tuned.
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