![]() “If you don’t have the infrastructure and crew base, you’re only going to attract so much business and so much production” he says.Īdditionally, thousands of already-existing jobs were at stake if the sunset date were not extended. With an expiration date on the horizon, also known as the 2023 Tax Incentive Sunset Date, O’Donnell feared that businesses would not continue to invest into the infrastructure and workforce of the film industry. ![]() Preserving the film tax incentive and local jobsĪttracting new film and television business to Massachusetts was only the first hurdle keeping productions in the state for the long haul was another matter. Among the findings of the MPC's reporting, ‘Don’t Look Up,’ starring Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio, resulted in the booking of 15,000 hotel rooms the first season of ‘Castle Rock’ generated over 1,000 full-time equivalent jobs and Warner Brothers productions generated $69 million in local economic activity within a 12-month period. Within the incentive’s first five years, 270 productions were filmed in over 220 cities. According to the Massachusetts Production Coalition (MPC), there have been more than 30 major productions filmed each year and over $3 billion in direct spending over the lifetime of the tax incentive. Thanks to the tax incentive, film and television production bolstered economic activity throughout the state. 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' / Marvel Studios In 2005, O’Donnell and leaders from around a dozen film-related businesses began urgently campaigning for a competitive tax credit program, and in 2006 the Massachusetts state legislators passed the Film Tax Incentive program, offering productions the following benefits: “If we start advocating for some kind of incentive program in Massachusetts, we going to have an industry left in a year or two,” says Chris O’Donnell, Business Manager of IATSE Local 481. ![]() Business and talent were outsourced, and the industry was atrophying. Prior to the film incentive, Massachusetts-set projects were filmed elsewhere due to the exorbitant price of production. Boston was also heavily featured in the television series ‘Julia’ (HBO), as was Provincetown/Cape Cod in ‘American Horror Story' (FX) and ‘Hightown' (Cinemax). Over the last decade, several high-profile productions have come out of Massachusetts, including critically acclaimed films ‘Don’t Look Up’ and ‘Knives Out,’ (Netflix), ‘American Hustle’ and ‘The Tender Bar’ (Amazon), ‘Bros’ (Universal Pictures) and most recently the sequel ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ (Marvel Studios) which filmed partially at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and grossed over $850m. Massachusetts’ scenery, culture, and character have attracted filmmakers to the region for years, but it was the state's highly competitive film tax incentive, passed in 2006, that established Massachusetts as a hub of Hollywood East and a destination for productions large and small.
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