Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, Meg Ryan and Cameron Diaz are just a few of the stars spotted in Boston recently. Thanks to new tax credits, filmmakers are eying Massachusetts as a new movie backdrop. Is this going to last or is it just fifteen minutes of fame?
We take a stroll down movie memory lane, hear from independent filmmakers looking for a big break and go behind the scenes of a major motion picture being filmed in Boston.
Listen to the full show:
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Plus, a video web special: Go behind the scenes on the set of The Aristocrat.
Radio Boston: The Movie Boom in Massachusetts
Airdate: November 23, 2007
- Guests:Nicholas Paleologos, executive director of the Massachusetts Film Office
Rob Paris, producer of The Lonely Maiden
Chris O’Donnell, business manager for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (Local 481)
Angela Peri, co-owner of Boston Casting
Charles Merzbacher, chairman of the Boston Unversity Department of Film and Television
Greg Croteau, Richard Stack, and Rachel Luskin, director and co-producers of The Aristocrat
Radio Boston Web Special
Take our techincal director, Tim Skoog. Toss in an old Handycam, the set of a Massachusetts indy film, a little iMovie, and presto! We’ve got our very own Tim Skoog-erbergh.
He went to New Bedford to visit the set of The Aristocrat, and brought back this short film.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v5Oc8vo1BY[/youtube]
Interesting show, but not as meaty as the ones that have gone before. I like less fluffy topics. I know bringing money in to the State is not fluffy, but this particular money is not going to help people in Worcester, Springfield, Pittsfield, or Framingham who are hungry or without childcare.
Did I fog out completely or was there no opportunity for callers?
Hi Berni531 -
Nope, you didn’t fog out completely. There weren’t any callers in this show. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we pre-recorded this program.
Thanks for your comments. And keep listening… you’ll get your dose of hard-hitting Radio Boston (as well as more whimsical voyages, though no less intelligent), I promise.
- Meghna
Interesting and timely – although I have to say that your presentation of local crew people as being represented by a part-time carpenter who sounds like he’s on the skids most of the time and occasionally picks up film work shows a very uncharacteristic, not to mention unflattering, image of what producers should expect when they come here looking for crews. I have been a set lighting technician in Boston for 24 years and, like hundreds of my freelance brothers and sisters in the business in New England, have raised a family, bought a house or two, and sent my child to college, strictly by working freelance on motion picture productions. Film work is highly specialized and takes years to develop the experience to run a smooth production. We crew people in IATSE Local 481 are in the forefront in the country in safety and technical education for our membership, and strive to be highly skilled artisans and craftspeople.
Other than that, the piece gave a pretty fair idea of the local production scene. Thanks for doing it, and also for showing the many levels of society involved in the business.
Hi wawawayne,
The vagaries of radio… when Tim and I went out to visit the local crew on the set of “The Lonely Maiden”, we met a bunch of really great guys. I agree with you: they were all highly skilled, were earning money that supports their familes, and had all done very interesting work well beyond the film sets as well. (In fact, one foreman told us that when it comes to construction and framing for a number of the sets that you had to, “forget everything your grandfather taught you.” In other words, maybe the perfect dovetail or an exquisite mitre isn’t exactly needed, since the set is going to be taken down in less than a month.)
You know, they also mentioned a kind of moral dilemma… that a lot of construction materials were going into building these sets (the foreman we spoke to was actually recycling frames from the previous week’s shoot, of his own accord!), and maybe it’d be better to see virgin materials going to lasting construction, like homes. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on that.
Also, there’s so much work available now, they were telling me that crews are pretty much at it around the clock. Is that stretching the union thin, or is everyone at the Local glad for the opportunities? I guess I’m wondering if the craftsman can keep up with the demand?
Thanks so much for your comment… it’d be great to get your response.
- Meghna
[...] WBUR’s David Boeri takes a look behind the scenes at THE LONELY MAIDEN, one of several movies … [...]