About 200 people, nearly all cheering for a proposed movie studio project, clashed last night with a committee of 14 precinct chairmen they feared could block the project.
How a film gets made
Development
- It starts with a script, sometimes as simple as a draft.
- The writer hires an agent to get producers for the film.
- Typically, financing and distri bution deals determine whether a film is made by an independent filmmaker or a large studio.
Pre-production
- Preparations are made for filming
- The script is broken down and analyzed to determine wardrobe needs, cast and filming locations.
Production
- The movie is filmed in three components: in-studio, on location and what is called “second unit” production, when a small crew films extra footage for transitional scenes, such as generic cityscapes.
Post production
- Editing takes place, special effects and sound effects are added until the film is completed.
Sales and distribution
- Film must be picked up by distributor so it can reach an audience
- It goes to theaters or direct to DVD
- Independent filmmakers rely on film festivals to get noticed and have their films sold for distribution.
Source: Charles Merzbacher, association professor of film pro duction at Boston University
By TAMARA RACE
The Patriot Ledger
About 200 people, nearly all cheering for a proposed movie studio project, clashed Thursday night with a committee of 14 precinct chairmen.
The project supporters were worried that the committee could block the project.
Plymouth Rock Studios officials presented their proposal Thursday night at a joint meeting of the precinct chairmen and the finance committee.
The exchange was cordial for most of the night, but it became heated at times when studio supporters grew impatient with questions from precinct chairmen.
“There seems to be a perception that we somehow want to slow down and derail the project, but that is simply not the case,” precinct Chairman Paul Luszcz said. “We have an obligation to determine whether we are going forward in the best manner.”
Plymouth Rock Studios officials want to build a movie and television production studio with 14 sound stages, two back lots, offices and a small village center. The project also would include an educational campus with a private arts academy for training young talent.
The proposed site is 1,000 acres of town-owned land off Route 25.
Town meeting would need to vote to sell the land and make a zoning change. Both requests would need to be approved by at least two-thirds of Plymouth’s 126 town meeting members.
The state has tentatively agreed to pay for a $55 million highway ramp off Route 25.
“We like the project, but we need answers to make an intelligent decision,” precinct Chairwoman Janet Young said.
With a special town meeting set for June, Young fears that there would be insufficient time for addressing matters such as potential congestion on local roads, increased demands on town services, infrastructure and traffic studies.
But town Planning Director Lee Hartmann and Plymouth Rock attorney Ed Angley said most questions would be answered during the lengthy special-permit process should town meeting approve a conditional land sale and zoning bylaw crafted for the studio project.
Plymouth Rock officials said many, but not all, of the committee’s questions could be answered before the June town meeting.
Precinct Chairman Patrick Ellis compared the studio project to the Pilgrim nuclear power plant, which promised huge tax revenues and no on-site storage of nuclear waste. Plymouth saw revenues drop dramatically with utility deregulation, and nuclear waste remains on the site.
“I’d trade a bad David Hasselhoff movie in my back yard for a nuclear-waste dump any day,” planning board member Loring Tripp said.
“If you snooze, you lose,” Selectman David Malaguti said, saying town meeting may not have every answer before it needs to make a decision.
Plymouth Rock has spent $4.5 million on consultants and preliminary site design, highway-ramp designs and other studies, development partner William Wynne of Bison Investments said.
“It’s reasonable to ask for a commitment from the town before we spend millions more,” Wynne said. “We’re not asking the town to move ahead without controls. We understand a commitment with conditions.”