NewEnglandFilm.com

Interesting conversations have been taking place lately on the Film Tax Credits and their worth. Let me start by explaining to you a little about myself, and why I am so committed to the results of this debate. I moved back to Boston in the early 2000s (using that terminology seems funny to me, but maybe that’s a sign I’m getting old LOL). I’ve been fortunate enough to have been a part of many productions that have sought the Bay State and New England due to those tax incentives or rebates, as I like to call them. To me it better explains what’s going on, and how it works. Film companies who, chances are, would may never have filmed here have come to the area and spent money… big money. They plug places like Boston, the Cape, and Lowell, and as Nick Paleologos explained in last week’s Boston Globe, ‘We can’t buy this kind of publicity.’ And this solidarity from someone who has since departed for another state’s film office.

We have seen the busy spurts and slow times. I’ve managed to carve out a small piece of the pie, but I understand the importance of the bigger picture. We need allies, we need training, and we need to commit ourselves. Without the credits, we can’t get the studios… without the jobs, we won’t have the infustructure. It’s a vicious cycle that turns on itself. We must start with understanding how it works and explaining that it’s a rebate–not a give away. We have to reach out to those who understand and thank them. Critics have too much power sometimes to stop progress. We know it works. Now we just need the dissenters to see it for themselves.

We do have some allies who understand. Recently Representative Jim Cantwell visited the set of a movie I was working on. Representative Cantwell is on the Joint Committee on Revenue and represents the 4th Plymouth district, including Marshfield where the film was being shot. Cantwell physically illustrated interest in the project with a special emphasis on how the local economy is positively impacted. This paired with his solid support of The Mass Film Tax Credit makes him one of many valuable advocates to our industry. Does that mean we are assured safety from critics? No. It never will. It illuminates the hard road ahead just enough to show the goals we all must work to achieve. The powers we hold are all equally important. Even if you do not have the ear of a state representative, your support for film alone can make all the difference. Be sure to take the right opportunity to thank your reps at your own discretion.

As my good friend Billy V. says, ‘Some people watch things happen, Some people wonder why things happen, and some people make things happen.’

Let’s make things happen!! Yours in film, Chuck Slavin ‘DotCom’

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