Massachusetts' independent filmmakers are getting a boost from Hollywood's interest in the bay state.
By Melissa Unger
4/30/10
Massachusetts' independent filmmakers have survived and thrived for decades in the Bay state. But right now they are getting a boost, thanks in part to Hollywood's interest in Massachusetts.
"There actually is a significant film industry in Massachusetts that is independent of the big Hollywood films that we have been seeing coming lately in response to the tax credit," said Economics Prof. David Terkla, who coauthored the study, "Film and Television Production in Massachusetts: An Industry Overview and Analysis."
Brian Malcolm of Rule Boston Camera understands the current film scene in Boston. He says, "There has always been a strong independent film market here in town and it is getting easier if anything to make an independent film." Terkla said Hollywood has helped independent filmmakers in the Bay State by making it easier to make a movie in Massachusetts. "First, it has made this area more visible. Second, it has kept more of a work force around that benefits them also," he noted.
Nick Pistorino, who attended Flitchburg State College for film and now has made an indie hit film called "Catching On: The Day the World Turned Gay," said "when you are having more mainstream films coming in that means more movies are being made here, which means making a movie a little bit easier because people are going to be use to it."
Pistorino also noted that with big Hollywood productions bringing more filmmakers into the state, he and other indie filmmakers are finding a new voice. "With the movies coming in here and sort of and taking that Boston perspective and making it mainstream, your perspective starts feeling a lot more mainstream," he said. "So instead of being completely independent and not having a very broad audience, now the audience that I am looking for and writing for is much broader than when I first started filming."