On November 23rd Governor Mitt Romney signed the bill that will bring film and tv production to Massachusetts. I am very excited about this I can’t think of a better Thanksgiving Present. Yipee! Big Film compaines and TV productions are already looking into Masachusetts for future projects.

Here is the latest from the CP Casting hot line:

More Movies To Shoot In Commonwealth as Film Incentives Bill Signed Into Law

(Boston, MA) With a stroke of his pen, Governor Mitt Romney signed bill
4252, providing tax incentives to the motion picture industry, into law and
completed the work begun by members of the Massachusetts Production
Coalition (MPC) and members of the House and Senate. The new law puts
Massachusetts in the spotlight as a premiere venue for motion picture
production, and not surprisingly is already garnering projects from motion
picture studios that would not otherwise have come to the Commonwealth.
Upon hearing the news, Mary Ann Hughes, Vice President, Film Production
Planning, Walt Disney Company commented “This law makes Massachusetts
very competitive in attracting film and TV production. We look forward to
doing business in Massachusetts.”

The new law will take effect in 90 days but will be retroactive to January
1, 2006. It’s principal elements include a 20% tax credit on all
Massachusetts source payroll, a 25% tax credit on qualified production
expense in Massachusetts, and a sales tax credit for producers who spend a
minimum aggregate of $250,000 per year in the commonwealth. The law is in
place through the year 2013.

Senator Jim Timilty, key sponsor with Senator Cynthia Creem of the bill in
the Senate, remarked, “It’s very gratifying to sponsor legislation that
actually creates jobs. It’s been my platform, and now it’s being realized
due in large measure to the determination of the production community
represented by the MPC.” Representative Tom O’Brien, chief sponsor of the
bill in the House, reflected “Since actors Marianne and Chris Cooper brought
the need for our state to be more competitive in attracting this industry
back to Massachusetts to my attention, I have worked closely with Speaker
Sal DiMasi, Speaker Pro-Tem Tom Petrolati and the MPC to put our state back
on the map. These efforts will return millions of dollars of lost revenue to
our state economy, revenue that otherwise would have been lost to other
states or other countries.” And Vans Stevenson, Executive Vice President for
Industry Affairs for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA),
specifically thanked motion picture and television director and MPC
Legislative Committee member Sam Weisman for his “perspective and
intelligence in advocating for the final passage of the bill.” Weisman, who
resides in Newton, MA, has directed George of the Jungle and the TV series
Seventh Heaven.

The MPC now sees a great deal of work ahead, most significantly on the
creation of a state sanctioned film office under the Executive Office of
Economic Development. “During our efforts to get the legislation passed in
the past year, the MPC brought together many important industry
stakeholders from both inside and outside of the state, from Massachusetts
based film and video companies to Hollywood studios,” remarked Joe Maiella,
MPC President. “In addition, our coalition represents the interests of the entire
production community. For these reasons, the MPC is in a unique position to
provide the state valuable assistance in the creation of a vibrant and
effective film office.” Chris O’Donnell, IATSE Local 481 business manager and
MPC Legislative Committee Chairman adds, “This new law is going to open
the floodgates for production in Massachusetts, and we have to become very
effective in channeling this new business into our community. The MPC’s sole
agenda is to facilitate production in the commonwealth - and we look
forward to working with the Office of Economic Development to make this the
mission of the new film office as well.”
__________________________________________________________

The Massachusetts Production Coalition (www.massprodcoalition.com) is an
alliance of many of the area’s leading production professionals and related
groups that are actively engaged in making media in Massachusetts - from
independent documentary production to feature films, commercial production
and new media. The volunteer-driven coalition’s mission is to help maintain,
promote, increase and expedite the development, creation and production of
film, video and new media content in the city of Boston and the state of
Massachusetts.

Read the official release from the state house here.

So the talk on the set of “Armageddon of the Kippered Beef Steak” is that the movie is in fact cursed. The script has been floating around for a couple of years, and this is the third attempt at shooting it. All other attempts have failed for varies reasons, like actors quitting, someone getting injured, equipment failure and the like. I am in fact the third person to play my character Art von Domme. Our current attempt has been filled with plenty of mishaps and the curse desperately seems to be trying to assert itself. The first night we shot the sound equipment was acting up. After hours of messing with it we shot some footage only to find later that it was unusable. Then the next time we tried to shoot the costume for the navy ensign went mysteriously missing, and we could only do a few cut away shots and close-ups to save the night. Also the lead of the movie had to drop out because of other conflicts which meant that the whole thing was postponed till we found a replacement. Tonight the our new navy ensign (the third person to be recast so far) could not make it because he was grounded or something. He is the youngest in the cast and still lives at home and is still subject to his parent’s wrath. However, I think the old adage “Three times a charm” may have come true for us. It seems the curse may be lifted because we did manage to get some good footage tonight, and I was told that this is the first time the film made it past two shooting days. Curse or no, I am having a blast and plan to stick it out to the bitter conclusion. The cast and crew are great to work with and I have a feeling that this movie is going to be a very funny comedy.

Exciting news! The Film incentive legislation passed in the Massachusetts Senate yesterday and is heading for the governors office. Once this bill comes in to play, it will greatly benefit all the actors in New England by bringing in more job opportunities for paid higher profile gigs. Normally actors in the area would eventually have to head to LA or NYC if they wanted to go to the next level. Rhode Island passed a similar bill and that state has already had some cool high profile gigs come their way. Show Time is filming a TV series there called ‘Brotherhood’ starring Jason Isaacs. Also Mario Van Peebles is shooting a feature lengh film called ‘Hard Luck’. It is rumored that Disney is looking into Rhode Island as a location for a future film as well.

Below is the latest from the SAG/AFTRA office.

Film/TV Tax Incentive Legislation Passes Senate

We are very happy to report that yesterday, November 16th, the Massachusetts Senate passed the Film & TV Tax Incentive bill that we have been working to get enacted. There was no roll call vote. From the Senate Gallery we were able to hear Senator Jim Timilty and Senator Cynthia Creem, the principal sponsors of the bill in the Senate, present the bill in yesterday’s session - citing the direct and immediate impact the legislation will have in creating jobs for the workers and businesses in our production community. This is a comprehensive bill with a sales, employment, and production tax credit that is very competitive with similar laws in other states.

As we previously reported, the bill has already passed the House. It will now go to the Governor for signature. All indications are that he will sign the bill into law. Once signed, the bill will take effective January 1, 2006 . We will continue to monitor the situation and if calls need to be made to the Governor’s office to insure that, we will let you know.

We urge you to call your Senators to thank them for supporting this important piece of legislation. This is especially true if your Senator is either James Timilty or Cynthia Creem, both of whom gave impassioned speeches on the Senate floor yesterday on the importance of the bill and our industry. Even if you do not live in their jurisdiction, calling Senators Timilty and Creem and thanking them for their support would be greatly appreciated. Phone numbers for individual Senators can be found at:

Our thanks to all of you who have helped to move this important bill through the legislative process with your calls and emails. Your support has been and will continue to be important to ensure our success. http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenus.htm

The other night when showing my parents the costume of my latest movie “Armageddon of the Kippered Beef Steak” and talking to them as the character I play in the movie for laughs. My father all of a sudden got quiet and then said with total seriousness “I can definitely see you playing a big role on TV or in a big movie”. I was stunned, speechless. Than I thanked him. I knew right then that this was an important moment but it was not till later that night that I realized what it meant to me. My parents have always been supportive of me, but I am pretty sure that they considered this acting thing yet another weird fun hobby of mine and nothing more. But those words he spoke and the way he spoke them seemed to be saying “I believe in you and I share your vision of you as a professional actor”. To have your personal vision and dreams become bigger than yourself by existing in the minds of others is both somehow humbling and inspiring and helps you move forward towards your goals knowing you are not alone, you are not insane or foolish, others are with you on your journey. I am thankful, and humbled. Life is good.

Great News! I received an email this morning from Arnon Shorr owner of OxRock Productions and director of the movie short “The Salesman” where I play the lead role. His email was announcing that “The Salesman” has been selected for an on-demand video service called Akimbo. This is certainly a first for me and I am very psyched that Arnon is working so hard to get his films seen. If you wish to view the web site advertising the movie then click here.

Oh Well! We did not win the November Slam tonight. We did a good job and got lots of laughs. We scored pretty high, but not high enough alas. The group that won the night, and had the highest cumulative score for both nights was really hot tonight and they deserved the win hands down.

I will be revisiting the theater world in February, but for now it is back to doing movies for me!! We start shooting “Armageddon of the Kippered Beef Steak” this Saturday, and we had already started shooting “Out of Alignment” last week with more to come soon. Busy, Busy!