The high water mark for big-budget filming around here was 1998, when Meet Joe Black, Amistad, and There's Something About Mary filled the air with shouts of "Action!" and, not incidentally, the smell of Hollywood money. Last year, no filmmakers from the Left Coast shot locally. So it's an increasingly important investment for the state to attract filmmakers who might just become the Steven Spielbergs and Jane Campions of tomorrow.

If the experience last summer of the makers of the low-budget Easy Listening is typical, Providence's vaunted rep as a supportive location for indies is a sincere one. Since the film was budgeted at under $1 million -- catering costs for a blockbuster-aspiring flick -- the Boston-based director and producer grew tired of getting the bum's rush from their hometown film offices.

"They were fairly unhelpful. We were actually, literally, walked backwards out the door when we were looking for help there," says Paul Tritter, referring to the Massachusetts Film Office. Adds director Pamela Corkery, "They were very much more focused on the big Hollywood films that were in town. Boston just isn't nurturing independent films."

Attending the Newport International Film Festival with their first feature, Tritter and Corkery spoke about their Boston traumas -- reluctant help, no coordination of permits, unreturned calls, etc. -- and the contrast in Providence. Given only two days notice of the crew's rescheduled arrival, Eric Olin, director of the Providence Film Commission, was still gracious.

Recalls Tritter, "Basically, he said, `Well, what do you need?' And I was so used to dealing with Massachusetts that I was like . . ." and here the producer made babbling sounds. "I made clear to him that we were a super-duper low-budget production, so it's not like we were bringing a jillion dollars into the city, or anything like that."

Streets were blocked off, permits arranged, locations and staging areas provided, and so on. The Farrelly brothers were shooting down the street, but the indie crew wasn't made to feel like orphans. They ended up filming about two-thirds of their exteriors in Providence, mostly around Wayland Square, where the 1967 setting of Easy Listening looked natural.

"It's stressful enough to make a film when you are playing with the loyalties of your crew after a 12-, 14-, 16-hour day and also feel that there are people sitting there tapping their feet, waiting for you to get the hell out of their location," says Corkery. "So it makes all the difference in the world to feel wanted and valued."

Issue Date: June 21 - 27, 2002