April 2002
Hollywood woos the City of Trenton: Movie studio
could boost local economy
By
Mike Chamberlain
It
was a little bit of Hollywood in New Jersey on March 7 as some
of
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Alec
Baldwin
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Tinseltown's
finest, including actors William Baldwin, Paul Sorvino and Valerie
Harper, came to lend their support to legislation that could help
New Jersey become a major player in the film industry.
The
stars first showed up at Massimo's Restaurant in Hamilton. With
limousines, a red carpet and hundreds fans cheering from behind
velvet ropes, the scene was reminiscent of a big time movie premier.
At
a ceremony in front of the restaurant, the Mazzella family, owners
of Massimo's, presented a 5000-signature petition they started
a month earlier in support of the legislation.
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Paul
Sorvino
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Hamilton
Mayor Glen Gilmore and Mercer County Executive Robert Prunetti,
who has been one of the leaders in what has been dubbed the "Hollywood
East" legislation and at the forefront of a deal to bring
Manex Entertainment to Trenton, were among some of the local politicians
there to show their enthusiasm for the bill as well.
After
having lunch, the actors made their way to the State House in
Trenton, where they met with top legislative leaders. A short
press conference was held after the meeting, which had a crowd
that rivaled the one at the Hamilton eatery earlier in the day.
The
stars were excited about the positive outcome of the meeting,
but wanted the crowd to know that they still needed everyone's
support in order for things to come to fruition. The legislation
sponsored by Hamilton senator Peter Inverso and Lawrence senator
Shirley Turner, known as the "New Jersey Film Industry Assistance
Program," or Bill 911, will provide independent filmmakers
with grants and low-interest loans for productions filmed in New
Jersey.
This
bill is part of a larger effort to stop "runaway productions."
Recently the trend in the film industry has seen studios develop
projects in the United States, only to film these projects in
other countries to keep costs down. Countries such as Canada and
Australia are luring filmmakers away with the offer of tax breaks
and exchange rates that provide more for the dollar than they
can get in the U.S.
William
Baldwin is the president of The Creative Coalition; a nonprofit
arts and entertainment advocacy organization that is trying to
combat runaway productions. The Creative Coalition says it wants
to make sure that the large number of jobs and the even larger
amount of money that is generated from a film's production will
stay in the United States.
According
to Mr. Baldwin, actors and film crews are not the only ones hurt
by the migration of productions to other countries. Local economies
are stimulated where films are produced. There is always a need
for lodging, transportation, food and other necessities that are
not directly part of the filmmaking process, but that will be
directly impacted from the money spent by a film crew.
To
further state his case for the program, Baldwin cited North Carolina
as an example of what New Jersey could become. In 1980 North Carolina
invested $5 million in establishing a film commission. At that
time there was little that was produced outside of Hollywood or
New York.
Since
that initial $5 million investment, North Carolina has gone on
to become the third-ranked filmmaking state in the country, with
more than $6 billion in state revenue coming from film and television
productions.
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Valerie
Haper
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The
other actors also voiced their belief that New Jersey can become
a major hub in the film industry should this legislation pass.
Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas) said that he has three movies ready
to shoot, including one that his Oscar winning daughter Mira would
star in and direct. He stated that he wants to film those movies
in New Jersey should the legislation pass.
Leo
Rossi, who co-starred in the movie Analyze This, also said that
he was readying a movie to shoot in Chambersburg. Rossi got the
biggest response from the crowd when he suggested that the "Trenton
Makes" bridge should be changed to read "Trenton Makes
Film, the World Takes."
It
could be that the sky is the limit for New Jersey if lawmakers
are willing to have faith in the movie industry-an industry with
an overwhelmingly successful track record.
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