The town of Plymouth, MA have brought us one step closer to "Hollywood East" by approving the $400 million Plymouth Rock Studio! Here are a bunch of news items I pulled from the Massachusetts Film Office website (thank you MFO!):

Plymouth town meeting approves $400 million studio project

By Tamara Race
The Patriot Ledger
October 28, 2008

PLYMOUTH — The town is closer to being the home of Hollywood East now that town meeting voters have approved zoning and tax agreements that will allow construction of a movie and television production studio on Long Pond Road.

The $400 million project includes plans for 14 sound stages, a 10-acre back lot, a theater, a 300-room hotel in a small village center and an education center. It is planned for the site of the 240-acre Waverly Oaks golf course.

Only three town meeting members opposed the zoning bylaw.

No one opposed the 20-year property tax break agreement that starts with a 75 percent reduction in taxes and gradually decreases over the life of the deal.

Nearly 1,000

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Studio officials show residents how 30- to 40-foot-high, tree-lined earthen berms that would screen any view of studio sound stages and mute any noise from inside.

(from www.mafilm.org - By Tamara Race, GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE, Aug 26, 2008)

PLYMOUTH - Plymouth Rock Studios officials wowed planners and residents and did it without special effects, stunts, song or dance.

Studio officials showed residents how 30- to 40-foot-high, tree-lined earthen berms along Long Pond Road and Bump Rock Road would screen any view of studio sound stages and mute any noise from inside.

They also gave an overview of their intended design strategies for the entire Plymouth Rock Studios site.

Alex Fernandes, architectural designer for Plymouth Rock Studios' design firm Gensler Associates presented a video montage of his design ideas and inspirations to make the world class studio a unique destination nationally and internationally.

The presentations drew praise from both planners and residents.

"This was a terrific presentation," planning board member Malcolm MacGregor said. "I hope we can fashion the regulations and laws to make it a reality."

"It was magnificent," board member Paul McAlduff said. "That's what we want from you: magnificence."

Leon Lopes, who lives a mile north of the studio's proposed Waverly Oaks Golf Course site was equally impressed.

"I think this was a turning point in the process," he said. "Everyone in the room was stunned. It's the first time we really got to see what things might look like."

Lopes hoped the presentation would begin to win over critics of the project.

"No one could not like what they saw here tonight," town meeting member and chairman of the precinct chair committee, Paul Luszcz, said. "Their intentions are wonderful. Now we have to write the laws that will reflect that intention."

Luszcz said the debate over a special-permit versus allowed-use process still rages.

"I know it can happen," he said. "And they (studio officials) have expressed a willingness to do so, but we still have a long way to go."

Building the screening berms will mean moving lots of dirt on the site, but will not require any import or export of fill, Studio development director William Wynne told planning officials and the crowd of about 60 people.

Studio officials also intend to sink the large sound stage buildings into the ground making them virtually invisible from Long Pond Road.

"I think we listened to the concerns of the Planning Board and neighbors and addressed them intelligently and artistically," Plymouth Rock Studios founder David Kirkpatrick said.

Planning Board members will vote their recommendation on the proposed studio zoning bylaw Sept. 15.

Town meeting Oct. 27, will have final approval.

Planning board members will meet Wednesday, Sept. 3, Sept. 8 and Sept. 10 prior to the Sept. 15 vote.

Tamara Race may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

"In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c**t." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days." (from The Real McCain by Cliff Schecter)

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For the fourth time this month, I was told by a complete stranger, that I needed a sandwich, cheeseburger, steak or something of that sort.... Why? because it's LESS acceptable in this country to be thin than it is to be fat. You know that if I EVER told an obese person "you don't need a sandwich", it would be considered so un-PC and I'm sure there'd be some rights group filing a lawsuit against me for some kind of hate crime. But anyone can just walk up to me and tell me I'm too thin and that's totally acceptable!?! By the way, I'm no 80 pound Ana either .... I am only 5'3" and my weight is in the three digits. In any european country, I would be considered an average person.

But that's besides the point, the fact that people I don't even know feel that they can tell me what I should eat is completely astounding. But I am going to start accepting donations of food .... but only IF I can tell fat people to stop eating candy bars. It should go both ways or no ways...... (read more...)

Hub of the film industry: ‘Big Screen Boston’ chronicles city’s starring roles
(Massachusetts Film Office, Yesterday at 10:14 PM)

(By Ed Symkus, GateHouse News Service, Aug 18, 2008)

BOSTON —The folks in the movie business aren’t kidding when they refer to Boston and its environs as Hollywood East. That moniker was given to Toronto for a while, but new tax incentives and some eager folks in the Massachusetts Film Office have been luring more and more productions to our fair state.

Over the past year, films shot in and around Boston (but not yet released) include: “The Women” (Meg Ryan, Candice Bergen), “Pink Panther 2” (Steve Martin, Emily Mortimer), “My Best Friend’s Girl” (Kate Hudson, Alec Baldwin), “Real Men Cry” (Ethan Hawke, Mark Ruffalo) and “The Surrogates” (Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell).



But this is hardly a new phenomenon. As pointed out in Paul Sherman’s new book “Big Screen Boston” (Black Bars Publishing, $18.95), the Hub has been a, well, hub, for film production for decades. The well-researched (read more...)