Word: filmed
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...variable weather, thousands of graying tourists stumble through the gates of Harvard, flattening students, taking pictures of every irrelevant detail possible, and saying things like “Wow, this is just like a movie set.” Recently though, this has become a literal reality as large film productions roll into Boston and Cambridge. Ben Affleck has graced the grimy pit of the Harvard T station, John Hamm has been spotted outside burrito joints, and Katie Holmes has been mobbed while eating cupcakes with her daughter Suri. Perhaps it’s just my Boston-is-always-cold...
...most part, the answer is sample—tax breaks! Up until about five years ago, there was no major financial incentive to bring studio movies to Massachusetts. That was until then-Governor Mitt Romney signed in a series of laws that gave significant tax breaks to large film productions...
...section on the policy found on the Massachusetts Film Office website reads: “Studios, producers and filmmakers–who either shoot at least half of their movie or spend at least half of their production budget in the Commonwealth–are eligible for a tax credit equal to 25 cents for every new dollar of spending they bring to Massachusetts...
...idea behind this 25% break is to reel in film production and, in doing so,, stimulate the Massachusetts economy. The MFO claims that, in 2008 alone, the tax breaks led to $452 million in “direct spending,” and they have a star-studded picture on their homepage bearing the header, “Meet Massachusetts Newest Taxpayers.” They also add elsewhere on the site that Massachusetts’ movies have received a total of 60 Academy Award nominations...
...with big tax breaks and even bigger budgets on the line, it’s in Hollywood’s interest to airbrush away Boston’s flaws. If you consider though that right now, there is a Tom Cruise movie, two Ben Affleck movies, an Adam Sandler film, and a movie about Facebook starring Justin Timberlake all being filmed in Boston at the same time, it’s not hard to imagine how good Hollywood is going to try and make Boston look...