On behlaf of the Motion Picture Association of America Corry Associates worked towards passage of the film tax credit which will attract movie industry production to Massachusetts:

DIMASI, TRAVAGLINI JOIN MARINO, AIELLO TO TOUT
"STIFFS," FILM TAX CREDITS

By Amy Lambiaso
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
amy.lambiaso@statehousenews.com

BOSTON, JAN. 17, 2006.....In the eyes of Senate President Robert Travaglini and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, Massachusetts native Roger Marino was a fitting film producer to take advantage of the first tax credits offered by the state under a new law providing such incentives. Aside from being a fellow Italian-American and Bay State resident, Marino is now employing upwards of 75 of Travaglini and DiMasi's constituents and pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into their districts with the filming of the new comedy "Stiffs," a movie starring Danny Aiello that depicts the lives of three men working at the nation's oldest Italian-American funeral home.

"Half of them didn't have to go to wardrobe, they just showed up," Travaglini said of his constituents serving as actors or extras in the film. Acknowledging the location of many scenes - Boston's North End - Rep. Thomas O'Brien (D Kingston), author of the law providing tax credits to filmmakers shooting in Massachusetts, told Marino Tuesday the setting was a "clear sign of your intelligence." The quip was one of many by lawmakers Tuesday at a press conference held on scene at Joe Tecce's Ristorante, where Travaglini said he is a regular customer when film crews and director chairs are not occupying the restaurant's eating space.

Marino said he waited for the new law, which expires in seven years, to take effect on Jan. 1 before he began shooting the film in cities and towns such as Everett, Randolph, Newton, Chelsea, Allston and parts of Boston. He predicts the film will cost roughly $2 million to be filmed and produced over the next year, excluding promotional costs. "We thought of other locations, but there's nothing like the North End,"

Marino said of his sixth film. He said the tax savings, which he estimated to be "in the hundreds of thousands," will help facilitate promotional costs. Sporting sunglasses and a designer suit, Aiello thanked the lawmakers on hand for helping encourage more movie productions in Massachusetts, where he also filmed the 1991 comedy "Once Around." "Who knows, we might have gone to Canada," Aiello said. "Not that I hate Canada, I love Canada . . . I'm a four-season guy. I hate California." The law providing production tax credits took effect on Jan. 1, lawmakers said, and is projected to bring in $110 million in new revenue this year, followed by $158 million next year, O'Brien said. DiMasi said Massachusetts lost out on $60 million in new revenue last year because production crews here chose not to shoot more of "The Departed" here. That film, about undercover officers in the Boston Police Department, was also shot in New York.

Under the law, signed by Gov. Mitt Romney on Nov. 23, 2005, filmmakers are eligible for 20 percent income and corporate excise tax credits after incurring at least $250,000 in production costs here; filmmakers spending more than $250,000 on production in any one year are eligible for a sales tax exemption, and those who site more than half of their total production in the state are eligible for a 25 percent tax credit for all production expenses, excluding payroll.

Film production companies cannot receive more than $7 million in total tax credits, under the law. Travaglini and DiMasi said they considered previous between filmmakers and unions that discouraged other movie makers from shooting in Massachusetts, but said such issues are in the past. "There was a presence of the movie industry, in the building, indicating to us that there was significant interest and that if we passed this legislation we would reap significant dividends," Travaglini said. DiMasi added: "I don't think you'll see the same problems you saw in the past. That's in our past and I'm not worried about that." Former Gov. Paul Cellucci came under fire for his ties to the Teamsters leader George Cashman during discussions between the state, unions and production companies to film "The Perfect Storm" in Gloucester in the late 1990s. "Hollywood doesn't move unless you give them incentives," Aiello said. "And you've given that."

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