Mass. Production Coalition hosts expo

Don Packer insists it’s just a coincidence that the Massachusetts Production Coalition is hosting an event to highlight the benefits of the state’s burgeoning film and TV business just a few months after Governor Deval Patrick announced plans to curtail the film tax credit program. “This was actually planned for the past six months,” Packer, the MPC president, said of Saturday’s Massachusetts Media EXPO. The event, which is being held at WGBH, is intended to showcase some of the film and media companies that have sprung up in the Bay State since
Hollywood has rediscovered the Hub. Speakers will include Mass Film Office director Lisa Strout; Oscar-nominated special effects guru Doug Trumbull, who worked on “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”; “The Fighter” producer Dorothy Aufiero; Mark Kamine, who was co-producer of “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Ted”; and producer Todd Arnow, who’s currently in town working on the pilot for “Hatfields & McCoys.” Packer says the governor’s proposal — to cap at $40 million the state tax credit given to television and film projects — is a bad idea. “It’s unwise,” he says. “You’re basically putting a nail in the tire. But I think we’ll get beyond this and continue to grow this industry.” Saturday’s event, which is open to the public, will also include a casting and talent seminar for aspiring actors.