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Wahlberg Film Brings Boost To Local Businesses

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Jul 10, 2009 8:24 pm US/Eastern

Wahlberg Film Brings Boost To Local Businesses

Reporting
Karen Anderson
LOWELL (WBZ) ― Filming of "The Fighter" starts next week in Lowell, and local businesses are looking forward to a boost from the movie.

The owner of Cobblestone's Restaurant, Scott Plath, says Mark Wahlberg has been in for dinner twice in the last week.

"It's great for business, it's a buzz," Plath said. "People notice he's here, they're texting their friends." 

Plath says Wahlberg threw out the opening pitch at Fenway in June, and then came back to Cobblestone's for dinner with the man his character in the movie is based on, Mickey Ward.

In the past year, three movies have been filmed in Lowell. Deb Belanger, of the Greater Merrimack Valley Visitor's Bureau says the movie "The Invention of Lying" brought in $2 million to businesses in the region. She believes "The Fighter" will bring in between $2 million and $3 million to local businesses.

Eight movies will be filmed here in Massachuetts this summer. That surge follows the creation of Film Production Tax Credits. The Department of Revenue just released a study saying that from 2006 to 2008, movie productions pumped in $510 million to the local economy.

But it comes at a cost. The Department of Revenue says the state gave $166 million in tax credits during that same time. Tax collections are expected to be reduced by more than $125 million for 2009 due to the film tax credit.

But business owners like Andy Jacobson, who runs Brew'd Awakening Coffee Haus in Lowell, like the payoff. He says when a movie is produced in Lowell, his business increases between 10 percent and 15 percent.

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