34 replies to this topic

[Cotuit]

Ian Donnis reports on his blog that a news conference is scheduled today at 2:15pm to announce a "major film production studio" coming to RI:

Quote

From the State House:

The news conference is scheduled today, Thursday, Feb. 7, at 2:15 p.m. in the House Lounge on the second floor of the State House.

Expected to participate in the news conference are Speaker Murphy (D-Dist. 26, West Warwick, Coventry and Warwick), President of the Senate Montalbano (D-Dist. 17, North Providence, Pawtucket, Lincoln), House Corporations Committee Chairman Brian Patrick Kennedy (D-Dist. 38, Hopkinton, Westerly), Senate Minority Whip Kevin A. Breene, (R-Dist. 34, West Greenwich, Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond), Hopkinton Town Council President Vincenzo Cordone and Hal Katersky of Pacifica Ventures, LLC.

My guess would be it will be in Hopkinton since the Town Council President will present.

[JimmyGreaves]

Cotuit, on Feb 7 2008, 11:47 AM, said:

Ian Donnis reports on his blog that a news conference is scheduled today at 2:15pm to announce a "major film production studio" coming to RI:



My guess would be it will be in Hopkinton since the Town Council President will present.

I'll reserve judgement until the details are announced.  My first impression is that Hopkinton would be an interesting choice, albeit not a very centrally located one.

[Cotuit]

No further info, but the ProJo 7to7 Blog has a post on this as well, along with a crazy all CAPS comment from someone who apparently does not grasp the concept of economic development. Maybe "Hollywood" will just write us a check to solve our budget crisis.  

[Jenkins]

Cotuit, on Feb 7 2008, 11:17 AM, said:

No further info, but the ProJo 7to7 Blog has a post on this as well, along with a crazy all CAPS comment from someone who apparently does not grasp the concept of economic development. Maybe "Hollywood" will just write us a check to solve our budget crisis.  

Sometimes people in this state just brings me to tears...

[jencoleslaw]

i am going to guess "Cranston Street Armory"

[mental757]

Utopia RI???

maybe we can get a theme park out of it too...

seriously though - every penny of out of state investment is needed in RI, so this must be good on at least that level.

[glassandsteel]

I'd like to see this happen (if not in Providence proper) on the East Providence waterfront, in the areas zoned for light industrial.  This would count as such, right?  I think it would make a nice impression to those that come into the state to work on a project, to be working across from the city skyline.  It would also be a catalyst for a lot of other development on that waterfront.  Hotels, condos, apts, supporting retail, etc.  

I just hope it's not really in Hopkinton.  Let's stop developing in the sticks, before there are none left.

[mental757]

it's in Hopkington (great addition to the State in all, but why here?)

http://www.beloblog....wood_is_co.html

[frymasterspeck]

I'm all about the clusters, so I can see some sense in Hopkinton. There's a place about 20 miles from there in Watertown, CT, Sonalyst Studios. They mostly do military simulation stuff, but they have a HUGE soundstage.

Plus, that location is real close to the casinos which is probably where "the major talent" would prefer to be compared to Prov. (Harsh, I know, but it's true. Casino hotels are a familiar home away from home for some people.) Around two and a half hours to NYC.

I don't feel like this detracts from the Providence scene at all. It's a plus for the category. And as cool as the armory space is, it's not big enough for even moderately serious stuff. There's a reason the studios are all out in a backwater like Burbank. Space is what you're looking for and the ability to build clean, square open steel-frame buildings.

Another plus for RI is the diversity of locations in close proximity: up-scale and down-scale urban including historic, modern, industrial/ex-industrial/art-in-ruins, waterfront, quaint, gritty; suburban neighborhoods from wealthy to working class; rural settings from family farm to agribusiness, woods, rocky cliffs, beaches, yadda yadda yadda. The dunes at Horseneck Beach can look like the Sahara Desert. That's the magic of Hollywood. I mean Provywood. I mean Hopkywood.

The X Files was shot almost entirely in the Vancouver, BC region for this reason.

I'm not saying good or bad. Let's see what the deal is.

I'm just saying I see how the deal works.

Edited by frymasterspeck, 07 February 2008 - 02:48 PM.

[jencoleslaw]

waterford. but i think this would have been better closer to the city where most of the filming seems to happen.

[frymasterspeck]

jencoleslaw, on Feb 7 2008, 03:57 PM, said:

waterford. but i think this would have been better closer to the city where most of the filming seems to happen.

LA? :-)

[webbage]

Well not 100% happy with the location, but nevertheless pleased with more development that will bring us some more jobs.

[Cotuit]

I imagine Hopkinton was a place where a nice chunk of land could be bought cheap, also watching Channel 6 tonight (their 4 o'clock news totally blows by-the-by) it appeared that there are some existing buildings at this site (but as I said, their 4 o'clock news blows, so I don't really know what I was looking at, there was a funny video on YouTube of a baby laughing at a Wii which they spent about 10 minutes on though   ).

Hopkinton gives relative proximity to Amtrak stations at Kingston and Westerly, easy access to Green (in the less traffic-y direction)... There's no reason big stars can't stay in Providence/Newport hotels and be limo'd to the studio, or limo'd to Providence when wanting to enjoy the nightlife and enjoy to boogie.

Of course this would have had some spin-off effect if located in Providence such as staff eating lunch at local eateries and such, but I don't think we would have noticed day-to-day that much, and there will probably be a largely transient workforce that moves in for months at a time to work on projects, so it's not as if we're losing an influx of residents that a similarly large project in another industry would have brought.

Seems good for the state, and having a studio here, anywhere in the state, will ensure that crews keep coming to Providence.

[CtownMikey]

Cotuit, on Feb 7 2008, 05:48 PM, said:

Hopkinton gives relative proximity to Amtrak stations at Kingston and Westerly, easy access to Green (in the less traffic-y direction)... There's no reason big stars can't stay in Providence/Newport hotels and be limo'd to the studio, or limo'd to Providence when wanting to enjoy the nightlife and enjoy to boogie.

Of course this would have had some spin-off effect if located in Providence such as staff eating lunch at local eateries and such, but I don't think we would have noticed day-to-day that much, and there will probably be a largely transient workforce that moves in for months at a time to work on projects, so it's not as if we're losing an influx of residents that a similarly large project in another industry would have brought.

Seems good for the state, and having a studio here, anywhere in the state, will ensure that crews keep coming to Providence.

True, this is..

stars are used to L.A.  .. I heard a rumor that LA has some bad traffic and everything is spread out.

They'll Love that everything is so close in RI and that NYC is so close


OMGAHH I wanna meet Britney Spears

[Recchia]

They're proposing a large movie studio in Plymouth, MA as well.  I wonder if this is in place of it...

[glassandsteel]

Rrrrrrrrrrreally?  I know some folks that would love to hear THAT news.

[mental757]

PROJO:  "Dialogue starts on film studio plan"

http://www.projo.com...76.38dbfda.html

[brick]

What is the deal with CT's Utopia project?  That could be a peripheral reason for this location, as it will be close to that cluster.

Still, it would be nice to get less car activity in this state, and car is the only way to get to Hopkinton.

[Cotuit]

brick, on Feb 8 2008, 10:12 AM, said:

What is the deal with CT's Utopia project?

I think it has died, there is a thread about in the CT section.

[mental757]

last I read on that thread and in the news was that Utopia did, in fact, fall through.