Save Massachusetts Film Jobs

My name is P.J. Kenrick. I was born and raised in Massachusetts, and I’ve always loved to see movies set and made here. Some of my earliest memories had to do with visiting sets in Boston as a child, whenever a movie was being shot here (which wasn’t often). I went to school here, I worked here, and I paid taxes here. Then I went to film school and moved to Los Angeles, where I worked on TV shows and movies for nearly a decade. But I always enjoyed “Boston movies” the most, and wanted nothing more than to come home and be part of Massachusetts productions again.

When the Massachusetts tax incentives were implemented and created a film industry boom here, coming became a reality. I have now been working at New England Studios for almost four years. I have a wife and new baby, and I am with my friends and family again. Nothing could be better — but my job wouldn’t exist without the film tax incentives. If the tax incentives go away, the films go away. If the films go away, my job goes away… and the income tax from my household goes with it.

We are a working family. We are Massachusetts taxpayers.

My name is Meghan Marrer Andrew, and I am resident of Watertown, MA. I moved to the Boston area about three years ago to be with my (now) husband. I was living in NYC and working as an account manager for an entertainment lighting company. With a background in theatrical lighting, my occupational choices are somewhat specific and limited! We decided that I should move to Boston, as our quality of life would be significantly higher here than in NY, and I could find work here due to the thriving entertainment industry. I found a job at High Output as an account manager in the film and television department.

We settled into a lovely apartment on a quiet street in Watertown. We’ve enjoyed getting to know our neighborhood and frequenting local restaurants and shops. We still make an effort to eat and shop locally, and I just bought a new car from a dealer in Watertown. All of this economic activity is supported by my job in the film industry. We would not be able to live where we do or spend the way we do on my husband’s salary alone.

About a year after we moved in, we woke around 1 AM on April 19, 2013, to a house and living room riddled with bullets, a street full of law enforcement and the bomb squad patrolling the area. As residents of Laurel Street, we were told that we needed to stay inside, stay away from windows, and stay down.  There was a manhunt on for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing. We alternated between huddling in our bed and sitting in our living room staring at a single solitary bullet on the floor surrounded by plaster dust. We watched TV and got periodic updates from law enforcement. We were scared and unsure of what was happening. That evening, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was apprehended in a boat four blocks from my home. It is, by far, the longest and most terrifying day of my entire life.

We are honored to have become a part of a community that is “Watertown Strong.” We are proud of our town and we continue to eat, shop, pray, volunteer, and spend locally. We are forever bound to Laurel Street and the Watertown community by the events of April 19, 2013. However, should the Massachusetts Film Tax Credit be revoked, I will likely lose my job and we would have to leave. We cannot support ourselves in Boston on one income, so we would need to relocate to a state where we can both work. I am proud to say that the Tsarneav brothers couldn’t scare us into leaving Watertown. I am sad to say that if the film tax incentive is eliminated, my elected officials may force us to leave.