Hollywood East

Craving the feel of NYC and in no mood for a Fung Wah trip, I went to see ‘Bride Wars.’ But when I saw that the Boston Public Gardens played Central Park and that Newbury Street, scattered with yellow cabs, was made out to be the upper East Side, I realized that I had gone nowhere ‘-‘-‘ I was still in Boston.

‘Bride Wars,’ a movie set in NYC but almost entirely filmed in Boston, is part of the latest Hollywood craze that has made Massachusetts the new it location for feature films.

Now that Boston has become synonymous with NYC and even Paris (in ‘Pink Panther 2’) it’s hard to imagine that Hollywood once refused to shoot in our city. After all, it was only 1997 when Matt Damon went head-to-head with Castle Rock and battled their decision to film ‘Good Will Hunting’ in Toronto. Castle Rock eventually bowed out of the production and Miramax bought the rights to the film that eventually brought Boston back on to Hollywood’s radar.

Although Castle Rock missed out on a two-time Oscar winner, most filmmakers still steered clear of Boston-based productions. ‘There was this idea that you shouldn’t make a movie in Massachusetts,’ said Ty Burr, film critic for The Boston Globe.

Boston’s rocky relationship with Hollywood stemmed from the 1999 alleged beating of a production grip on the set of ‘The Cider House Rules’ and a then-advantageous Canadian dollar, Toronto or Montreal easily transformed into Boston, sans the off-camera drama.

After the success of 2003’s ‘Mystic River,’Hollywood was again reminded of the eloquently shot Boston scenery. Clint Eastwood condensed pages of Denis Lehane’s novel into frames of shadowed Southie that shone a light into the Boston film genre of dodgy, crime infused films that showcase a neighborhood. However, Boston productions were still limited, producing four feature films in the two years after ‘Mystic River.’

And it was just four-years ago when we saw another Boston-born Oscar contender in the form of Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Departed.’ The 2005 Boston-based gangster movie warranted applause nation-wide. Finally, Massachusetts was no longer a dangerous bet.

A once-again booming Canadian dollar, the launch of the Massachusetts Film Tax Credit and an energetic new director of the Massachusetts Film Office, Nick Paleologos certainly didn’t hurt the city’s chances.

Beantown had not only regained the part of Boston but it also earned a few new roles. Since the success of ‘The Departed,’ the numbers speak for themselves. As the MFO reports, there were 21 films shot in Massachusetts in the past two years.

Hoping to ride the sudden wave of New England success is Rock Studios, a film and television studio complex scheduled to open in 2010 in Plymouth. Currently under construction, Rock Studios will provide filmmakers with every tool necessary to make movie magic, from makeup artists to post-production labs.

Bob Nolet, director of public relations for Plymouth Rock Studios, describes the Hollywood interest in Massachusetts as ‘definitely coming from the tax incentive, but also because of the scenery. New England is so varied, it has historical landmarks like Quincy, charming brownstones, Cape Cod . . .’ Massachusetts has so much to offer in terms of scenery.’

But Burr warns of the fickle Hollywood limelight, citing North Carolina, a state which attracted many film sets during the 1980s. ‘I just hope that by the time Plymouth opens the boom will still be going on,’ said Burr.

Plymouth Rock Studios is determined to transform Massachusetts into a hub of the film industry, even creating a Hollywood East (complete with its replica of the iconic sign) and Hollywood East TV, a’ networking site for budding members of the film industry.

‘We want Hollywood East to be different from Hollywood. We want to keep the culture of Plymouth as is and bring opportunities to New England,’ said Nolet.

Not satisfied with creating a film-making haven along with thousands of jobs, Plymouth Rock Studios also developed a partnership with MIT’s Media Laboratory: the Center for Future Storytelling. The plan: to apply leading edge technology to the way we tell stories.

‘This partnership could change the way we make movies. We want to make stories more interactive and that may come from a new lens or a robot. We can’t predict what it will be because it hasn’t been created before,’ Nolet said.

With plans to revolutionize standard filmmaking, a 240 acre film and television campus and a tax break that attracts dozens of films per year, Boston is ready to take on Los Angeles as Hollywood’s newest home away from home.