Photo by Wesley Ennis
David Kirkpatrick of Plymouth Rock Studios speaks to a capacity audience Wednesday at South Elementary School during a public meeting to share the company's vision of the largest and greenest film studio on the east coast.


Photo by Wesley Ennis
Joe DiLorenzo talks about the proposed recreational facility included in the Plymouth Rock Studios concept during a public informational meeting sponsored by Plymouth 1000 Wednesday at South Elementary School.

Photo by Plymouth Rock Studios
A proposed site plan for the Plymouth Rock Studios off Bourne Road shows the studio complex at right, the village and educational facilities at center and a portion of the recreational area at left.

Studio questions abound
by Kathryn Koch - WickedLocal.com

PLYMOUTH - Town Meeting representatives won’t be asked to formally approve the proposed Plymouth Rock Studios movie production studio in South Plymouth this spring, But they will be asked to give the project a yellow light.

A special session of Town Meeting would have to be convened for a formal vote on the method for acquisition of the studio portion of the 1,000-acre town-owned land and on a probable overlay zoning district.

Several hundred residents attended an informational meeting Tuesday night at South Elementary School for an update on the studio project. And after the presentation residents had the opportunity to ask questions and make comments.

Plymouth Rock Studios Managing Director David Kirkpatrick and his team presented maps of the proposed studio, village center and recreational grounds, and spoke about the specific benefits of the recreational facility, the balance between development and the environment, the potential benefit to the town through jobs, increased tourism and impact on revenues, and potential educational benefits.

Highway access to the studio was a major concern for several residents. Engineer Ken Caputo of Coler & Colantonio, a Plymouth resident working for Plymouth Rock Studios, assured residents that a traffic study that factors in plans for a highway interchange will be completed.

“The project doesn’t work without an interchange,” he said. “We’re very focused on minimizing the impact to Bourne Road.”

Answering a question from a resident who lives off Bourne Road, Caputo said an interchange or ramp for highway access and approval of the studio project go hand-in-hand and are not independent of one another.

“It’s all one project,” he said.

Joe DiLorenzo, former chief financial officer for the Boston Celtics and a member of the Plymouth Rock Studios team, said no one in the group wants to have a negative impact on the quality of life in South Plymouth. The company is investigating several different concepts to keep traffic away from Bourne Road, he said.

Kirkpatrick said traffic will be a big hurdle to overcome, he said while answering a question about the timeline for the project. But the best case would be a construction target date of December 2010. Noise and air quality studies would be part of an environmental impact study that will also be conducted. Planning Board member Loring Tripp cautioned residents that a studio in South Plymouth isn’t a guarantee, but it is a good opportunity that deserves close attention at the very least, because of the economic diversity it would bring to Plymouth.

Tripp said the simple question, yes or no, that will be asked this spring, will send a clear message to Good News Holdings about the community’s interest.

“This is your land,” he said. “We decide if we want this project.”

One question Plymouth Rock Studios couldn’t answer was posed by Precinct 4 Town Meeting Rep. and Open Space Committee Member John Hammond, regarding the resulting secondary development around South Plymouth due to the studio.

“I’m talking about ripple effect,” Hammond said.

Helen Hapgood, chairman of the Plymouth 1000 Committee, a group of 18 South Plymouth and Manomet residents dedicated to serving the public as a clearinghouse for information about the studio project, said after the meeting that she was excited so many people turned out to be informed and express their opinions.

At the very start of the meeting, Kirkpatrick said Plymouth Rock Studios intends to be open about the company’s plans. “We’re trying to be as transparent as we can be,” he said.

“We’re here because we’re dedicated to the belief that Plymouth is a very unique, special place.”

Kirkpatrick was formerly president of Paramount Pictures and has also worked for major studios like Disney and Touchstone Films. He has been involved with more than 200 films from Top Gun to The Little Mermaid that have grossed more than $10 billion at the box office. He started out as a story editor and has risen to the executive level and can now green light films.

Several residents were interested in the jobs the studio would create. Despite the obstacles to be overcome, Plymouth Rock Studios has set up an e-mail account for residents to inquire about studio staff and artisans positions. Local residents can write to jobs@plymouthrockstudios.com.

Kirkpatrick said his company will look to Plymouth residents to fill studio-related positions. Realistically, flying people in to work in Plymouth would not be cost-effective, he said, and would mitigate the benefits of the 25 percent state tax credit. The studio will be a union operation, he added.

Students in the Plymouth high schools and at colleges across the state would also benefit from the movie studio project, Plymouth Rock’s Thom Black said, from career guidance at the high school level to a major education initiative with local colleges that will be announced this spring.

During the presentation, several speakers stressed a commitment to making the movie production studio a “green” project that exceeds the highest level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification. LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of green buildings.

Architect Doug Gensler, of Gensler Architects, said Plymouth Rock Studios has committed to building a superior product with minimal impact on the site. One way to keep development to a minimum, he said, is to build structured parking. He said a proposed five-floor parking garage fits that goal.

Caputo said restricting development to 300 acres, or 30 percent of the total 1,000 acres, is a focus because of the need to ensure the protection of species and the environment as a whole.

Kirkpatrick said corporations have started approaching him about opportunities to be part of the movie studio project, including a commitment from one company to donate $1 million toward the development of an ecological park on a portion of the conservation land.

Kirkpatrick said he looks forward to the day everyone who watches the end credits of a Plymouth Rock Studio’s movie sees “Filmed at Plymouth Rock Studios in Plymouth, Massachusetts.”