Please Welcome NCTV To The Vendor Guide

Northampton Community TV

I’m happy to announce the addition of Northampton Community Television to the Vendor Guide.

NCTV is best known for their diverse programming available on local cable channels 12, 15, and 23 and online.

What not everyone knows is that they also offer rentals of their equipment and facilities to the public.

Available rentals include

• HD cameras
• Microphones
• Sound mixers & recorders
• Lighting Equipment

Production Facilities include:

• Editing Suites
• Studio and Control Room

If you need a camera or other gear for a quick shoot or need to finish some editing or tv studio with digital switching capabilities give them a call.  Also check them out on Facebook and on Twitter @northamptontv

Here is a PDF with a list of the equipment and facilities that are available for rent:  NCTV List of Rental Services

2011: The Year In Western Mass Film

2011 was a big year for both The Location Reservoir and Western Mass film production in general.  The film industry in Massachusetts made a rapid recovery from a trying 2010.  That year saw a threatened cap to the film tax credit scare away potential productions that could have shot in Massachusetts.  The cap was eventually voted down by the state House of Representatives thanks to the efforts of The Massachusetts Production Coalition and countless other advocates of the film industry, but the damage had already been done.

In February of 2011, representatives of the state and industry went on a trade mission to LA to make sure that the studios knew that Mass was open for business and that they could rely on the tax credits for their productions.  You can read more about that here.  It was a definite success and productions began looking all over the state as possible destinations for their productions.

In order to capitalize on this increase in production I approached Diane Pearlman, the executive director of The Berkshire Film & Media Commission (BFMC) about expanding the BFMC to include Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties.  Diane had been doing a great job of marketing the Berkshires to the film industry, especially in the face of all the unease surrounding the tax credit but Western Mass is much more appealing to productions and stronger as one region than if we limit ourselves by archaic county lines.  Since that time we have been working to raise money in Hampshire, Hampden, and Franklin counties to provide the necessary resources to adequately represent the region as a whole.

I officially launched the first version of The Location Reservoir in January of 2011 after about 3 months of trying to design and build as professional a site as my limited funds and training would allow.  I had already been shooting various public lands around the Amherst/Northampton area for awhile including a few friends who let me scout their properties as a test run.  I launched with only a handful of properties including:

Cushman Village Center

Downtown Amherst

Fitzgerald Lake

This Lake House

North Amherst Cemetery

The Rendezvous in Turners Falls

By February I had outgrown my very limited web host so after some research I chose Gaia Host and started started adding locations at a faster rate.  At this time I was contacted by Open Square in Holyoke and they became my first paying client.  I was treated to an in-depth tour of the building including:

Creepy Basement

Creepy Basement

Raw Industrial Space

Event Space

Office Space

Future Loft Space

At the same time Diane Pearlman, the executive director of The Berkshire Film & Media Commission began getting more and more inquiries about locations in Western Mass.  The two that stuck the longest were for a lake house and open fields and forests that could be dressed as a 1600’s style farm.  I spent the next several months scouting all over Western mass for options for both films.  Using this blog and the kind assistance of several other community organizations I found many options.  Here are a few with the town where they are located:

Buckland

New Marlborough

Hancock

Cheshire

Sandisfield

Cummington

Petersham

Petersham

Ashfield

Warwick

Bernardston

Plainfield

Leyden

Granville

Granville

Becket

Tyringham

Becket

While scouting for those two films I juggled several other location requests through the Mass Film Office and the Berkshire Film & Media Commission.  Most of these projects were in the very early stages and some are still considering the area as an option.

In May I started the Codependent Film Club, an informal group of folks in Western Mass who work in film or are interested in film.  The main focus is an open screen where anyone in the area can show their work and enjoy a few adult beverages.  It’s been a few months since I’ve had time to organize another but I hope to have another soon, so stay tuned.

Big changes came to the film industry in Massachusetts in June when it was announced that Lisa Strout was going to take over the Mass Film Office.  This was encouraging news, as the Film Office had been without a leader since the departure of the previous film commissioner.  This article has more information about Lisa Strout and the future of the film office.  Lisa has already proven herself an advocate of the entire state of Massachusetts and has visited Western Mass twice with plans to return.

As the industry waited for Lisa to take over her post officially I continued to handle multiple location requests for productions of all sizes.

In July I also took part in the first of a series of seminars put together by the BFMC and IS183 Art School in Stockbridge about the different stages of production.  I spoke about my experiences working as a location scout and manager and we had an enthusiastic crowd of folks from all over the Berkshires interested in various aspects of film production.

In August we finally had a production commit to filming in Western Mass.  It was a commercial that you may have seen on local tv or even Facebook for Cooley Dickinson Hospital.  I was hired as a production manager to help with hiring crew, as well as the location manager to scout the locations and facilitate the filming.  While it wasn’t a feature film or anything glamorous they did spend several days here and contributed to the local economy by staying in a hotel, eating out, purchasing supplies, hiring local crew, paying location fees etc.  You can see the videos and other components of the campaign here.

This ended up being only the first of two hospital shoots this year.  In October I was contacted about a shoot for Baystate Hospital in Springfield.  After a few delays (including the October snow storm), they came for a scout and then in December we shot for 3 days.  Keep your eyes out for the finished project and I’ll be sure to post a link when I have one.

So, that pretty much covers 2011.  Clearly it was a busy year with many encouraging developments in the film industry state wide and in Western Massachusetts specifically.  I myself scouted and/or shot in just about every corner of the region and I haven’t even mentioned all the work by local filmmakers that has either been completed or is in progress.

So what’s on tap for 2012?  Well for starters since September I have been scouting locations around Berkshire County for the BFMC in order to expand on and refine the library of location photos they maintain on their website.  I am also working for the Berkshire Visitor’s Bureau to assemble 500 photos to be used as their contribution to the Mass Film Office’s new location library.  Standby for more information on that, or you can email me at locations@berkshirefilm.com.

My main goal for the year is to finalize the expansion of the Berkshire Film & Media Commission into Hampshire, Hampden, and Franklin counties.  In order to successfully advocate for the region the BFMC needs funds for marketing, office space, and to expand the staff of the organization.  If you are interested or can think of anyone who might be interested in making 2012 even better than 2011 by investing in the region through the BFMC please visit the BFMC’s website and mention that I sent you.

Thanks for reading and supporting film production in Western Mass and have a Happy New Year!

Baystate Medical Commercial Shoot Recap

A few weeks ago I got a call from a line producer based in Chicago who was working for a production company in Milwaukee if I was available to location manage a shoot in Springfield.  The shoot was for an “image campaign” for Baystate Medical Center.  The campaign is to educate the community about what Baystate brings to the region as well as to provide a glimpse at the “Hospital of the Future.”

The line producer had gotten my name from someone in the valley who I had never worked with or met but who had come across my site.  I guess what promotion I’ve done for the site has worked.

The company was interested in hiring some local crew but had a crew of grips, electrics, and camera department with their own equipment that they had worked with before.  On the bright side that meant more money being spent on hotel rooms and restaurants.  Locally they hired someone to do both Hair & Make Up and Wardrobe (for the “talent” who were former patients, doctors, and other community members), a sound mixer, prop master/set decorator to dress a few sets, and 4 PA’s.

In advance of the actual shoot the line producer, director, and 1st AD flew into Springfield to do a director’s scout to chose the specific locations within the hospital and other associated buildings.

When they returned to Milwaukee to finish preparations I put together some “site maps” using the maps of Baystate provided on their website so that the crew wouldn’t get too lost in the hospital.

Here’s what my map looked like:

A few weeks after the directors scout the director, 1st ad, and line producer returned with a few more key crew members including the director of photography, gaffer, key grip.  We then went on a “tech scout” which is when we visit the filming locations and determine what will be needed for the shoot in terms of crew and equipment.

The next day the rest of the crew arrived and we got to work.

We shot for 3 12 hour days mostly in the hospital but also in the YMCA, and one of Baystate’s medical clinics.  We had amazing assistance from members of the hospital’s creative services and PR departments which made my job much easier than usual.  I spent most of my time posting signs between set, catering, and other places the crew had to get to and from.  The hospital is a huge place and we were moving a lot so I did my best to stay ahead of the shoot and nobody got too lost.

The hospital was very helpful and once everyone had adjusted to the size of the crew things went smoothly.  Hospitals are always a challenge to film in because the shoot is never as important as the patients or employees being able to do their jobs.  Luckily the crew understood that and was very professional.  Most of the crew had worked on similar projects so they knew how to handle the situation.

After we finished shooting and ate some Red Rose Pizza we went out for drinks at The Picadilly Pub on Riverdale St because it was close to the motel where the crew stayed.  Other restaurants that proved popular with the visiting crew included Bottega Cucina, Cal’s, Samuels, Sierra Grille, Mama Iguana‘s, and The Green Street Cafe

All in all the crew used about 12 hotel rooms during the shoot as well as 4 during the tech scout.  They ate at various restaurants 3 nights during the tech scout, and another 5 nights during the shoot.  They didn’t spend anything on location fees because everything was arranged by the hospital but even on a small job like this quite a bit of money was put into the area economy.

Here are some photos starting with the director’s scout and ending with the shoot itself 

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My First Film Shoot in Western Mass

I spent the past two weeks Location Managing and co-Production Managing a commercial shoot for Cooley Dickinson’s new advertising campaign.

We filmed two sets of interviews/conversations between former patients of the hospital describing their experiences.  We filmed at The Bars Farm in Deerfield and The Academy of Music in Northampton.  We used equipment from Lime Light Productions

In addition to my usual location duties I helped line up crew and deal with some additional logistics.  Using the Berkshire Film & Media Commission and newenglandfilm.com I managed to fill most positions locally except for craft services, wardrobe, 1 PA, and hair/make-up.  So, if you’re looking to break into the business in Western Mass, there are some good places to start!

We had a delicious meal catered by Nancy Jane’s Catering of Amherst in the Dynamite Space in the basement of Thornes to get us through our day.

The producers, director, and some key crew were from Kansas City, Missouri and while they were in town they ate at restaurants throughout the valley including Sylvester’s, Carmelina’s, Eastside Grill, Judies, The Northampton Brewery and made use of rooms at the Hotel Northampton left emptied by Irene.  They even did a little clothes shopping and bought some UMass baseball caps as souvenirs.

For a 1 day shoot they put quite a bit of money into the community at a time when it was dearly needed.  It wasn’t a very high profile production as far as star power or glitz and glamour but everyone who I spoke to in the area was excited to have them around.

The out of town crew and producers were all very taken with western Mass and look forward to shooting here again as well as coming back on their own time as tourists.  One of them even has an interesting concept for an online series and is considering relocating the production here to take advantage of the tax credit.

Perhaps more importantly, the Western Mass crew were very encouraged that a production like this could come together so quickly and smoothly in Western Mass.  They spend much of their time commuting to Boston and NYC and would much rather be able to work closer to home.  Like myself and the Berkshire Film & Media Commission they are committed to increasing production in Western Mass.

If you want to see more production like this happen in Western Mass, please consider donating to the Berkshire Film & Media Commission.  Your donations will not only help provide jobs closer to home for those already in the industry but also create new opportunities for others in Western Mass to get their start.

If a small, one day shoot can bring as much to the local economy and community as this commercial did just imagine the impact of a full feature film and a steady stream of short shoots like this one..  You can donate by clicking here and make sure you tell them The Location Reservoir sent you!

And of course if you are interested in having your property considered for future shoots please email me to discuss being added to the location database.  As you can see once you’re a part of the Reservoir I take every opportunity to promote your property and business both before and after a shoot takes place there.

Also, thank you to the Northampton Center For The Arts, R. Michelson’s Gallery, and APE Gallery for allowing me to scout their properties for consideration for this project.

Here are a few photos I grabbed with my iPhone while on set.  You may recognize some of the folks in them.

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Crew Call: Commercial Shoot 9/1 Northampton, MA

I’m production managing a short commercial shoot in Northampton on September 1st and we are looking to fill a few positions with qualified experienced crew members.

Here is what we need:

3 Grip/Electric

Art Director/Props (2 prep days, 1 shoot day)

Sound mixer (must be familiar with capturing directly into a RED camera and making digital backup. 1 shoot day)

Wardrobe (2 prep days, 1 shoot day)

Hair Make/Up (12 hr shoot day)

Crafty/Catering (12 hr shoot day-light breakfast, snacks throughout day, and catered lunch)

If you’re interested please email me: evangregg@locationreservoir.com