Hallelujah! The Committee of Conference Bill, AN ACT PROVIDING INCENTIVES TO THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY, moved through both House and Senate to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s desk for signature making it law. We were sworn to secrecy until the official press release came out.  

It felt great to go to the Governor’s Holiday Gala and say thank you in person to Governor Romney and Lt. Governor Healey for their support of film tax incentive legislation. It was my first event at the impressive Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in South Boston. It was a celebration of a successful year for the administration and that success also extends to the film production business in the Commonwealth.  

When IMAGINE began publishing early in 1998, we stated our goals of supporting, growing, and working every aspect of the Film and Television Production Industry in New England. Some of that was in our imagination, but we did believe we could connect the dots! Soon after, IMAGINE added New Media to its list. In 2002 we declared politics as on our list because in 2002, no one would take our industry telephone calls on Beacon Hill and we lost an important state film office that I knew would take 3 to 5 years to replace.  

In 2002, the industry was not well organized, the industry had no clout, and as an industry we were losing the competitive “locations” war, especially in Massachusetts. It needn’t have happened; but, that’s another very long story for another time. 

There comes a time in every company’s life when it realizes it can serve itself better. Sometimes it’s a name change. I still believe in the name IMAGINE as I believe every creative process begins there. Now that Massachusetts and Rhode Island are incentivized, IMAGINE is moving to a new phase of business philosophy. This month, in this issue, we have changed our positioning statement to “The Business of Film, Television, and New Media Production in the Northeast.”  

Let the competition begin. It will with a solid implementation of the good incentives the legislature and administration have provided for us. The region is about to arrive in a new age of its competing for the business. IMAGINE will be there to light the way. Massachusetts and Rhode Island, are at the top of the list of national competitors as locations for the production business. This can be a very exciting time. 

It was Thanksgiving Day when Governor Romney’s press release landed on the business pages of the local main stream press. “Thank you,” I said. Can we now stay in the business pages and out of the gossip columns, please? Celebrity and gossip have their place when it comes to selling tickets, but, industry leaders and elected officials must focus on business. It’s called show business, remember? 

Yes! Massachusetts is open for business, at last! We tip our hat to Steven Feinberg and Rhode Island who led the way. In less than six months after passing their thoughtful legislation, the state has attracted more than $200 million in Film, Television, and New Media production and commitments, better than Louisiana in their first year of aggressive film tax incentives! I’ve been so impressed with Rhode Island where leadership, elected officials, industry unions, Steven Feinberg and those who work in the industry have worked tirelessly together to make extraordinary things happen. 

Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, HARD LUCK producer Peter McIntosh, and Director and Star Mario Van Peebles in the Rhode Island State House for a press conference welcoming HARD LUCK to the State. Production has begun with leads Wesley Snipes and Cybill Shepherd bringing even more production revenue to Rhode Island. Photo by Lew Place

Now we have to concern ourselves with implementation in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Film Tax Incentive Law is not the best in the country, but there are off-sets and many ancillary benefits for coming to the Commonwealth, like our world class educational institutions, our great architecture, our creative, technical and business acumen that we provide for the entire planet, and don’t forget our mysterious coastlines and wintry landscapes. 

Wouldn’t you want to stop by MIT’s Media Lab or Harvard’s Film Archive if you needed a certain kind of support? What about Emerson, Boston University, Brown University, and the Rhode Island School of Design, and others if you needed a cadre of intern and entry level support? It just doesn’t get any better than this anywhere. When we play this out professionally, we’ve got a lock on a great future.  

The imprimatur of the state is imperative!  We do need to move quickly as now the world knows we have passed film tax incentive legislation. IMAGINE has experienced a large volume of calls asking who to call to pursue our newly passed incentives and how to get those credits.

In Massachusetts we may have the cart before the horse. While we have a competitive piece of tax legislation to attract movie studios and major producers, the implementation of a new office for incentives, its administration, and marketing needs considerable attention from our administration and legislature. There is a cost involved. We still have opponents out there looking to turn back to the dark days of the past. We just can’t allow that to happen. 

Here at IMAGINE we are thankful to the elected officials that have been helpful in our quest to pass this important legislation. I have thanked and appreciated them regularly in Take Two, and placed some of them on the cover of IMAGINE because of their support. We will continue to show our appreciation of our elected officials as we did the day after the bill got out of Conference and onto the Governor’s desk. IMAGINE organized an event for one of our most important proponents, Representative Brian Wallace, a writer with two novels optioned by Hollywood. Wallace has worked tirelessly inside the legislature for our industry’s benefit. IMAGINE identified Wallace in 2002 and helped him get elected because we knew he was like-minded and would be supportive of our industry. 

Christy Scott Cashman (see the cover story in this issue), hosted this event at her home in the Back Bay of Boston. It was a lovely evening and it was apparent that many in our industry appreciated Wallace’s work in our behalf. He was the first, of now many, to support us. I want to thank everyone who attended in behalf of Representative Wallace. He was very taken with our gesture. 

Please put January 10th on your calendar for IMAGINE’s big industry celebration of the New Year and the New News! We’ll be gathering at Hoffa’s Swiss Alps Restaurant in Harvard Square. Your invitation is on the inside back cover of this issue. Unfortunately, space is limited and this event sells out every year. Book early if you can. 

I wish the best to our readers, advertisers, co-workers, and vendors. May it be a year to find peace and prosperity. Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy New Year to everyone! 

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