The Interview: Movie Producer Marina Cappi

Photo by Ken Richardson

If your favorite new movie was filmed in Massachusetts, you probably have Marina Cappi to thank. In 2021, the former construction manager took what was an empty warehouse in Quincy’s Marina Bay and transformed it into Marina Studios, a 26,000-square-foot sound stage with a 3-acre backlot. Already, such major projects as the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody, which comes out next month, have been filmed there, with a full slate of movies and TV shows set for production at the facility. And she’s not done yet: The 33-year-old mother of three-year-old twins recently opened another studio in Canton and has one planned for Watertown to take full advantage of Massachusetts’ best-in-the-biz film-industry tax credit. We sat down with Cappi to talk filmmaking, movie stars, and why the Bay State is perfectly poised to become Hollywood East.

What would you have said to me if, 10 years ago, I’d told you you’d be running a movie studio and producing feature films?

I’d say, “What are you talking about?” I grew up in construction. I thought that’s where I’d stay. I would have guessed I’d be working for either a massive construction company or maybe Goldman Sachs.

Have you always been a film buff?

No. I wasn’t allowed to watch TV growing up. I watched Legends of the Fall and Meet Joe Black over and over, and that was about it.

No TV at all?

No. I was raised with books and I loved reading so much. I still do. I can sit down and read a script in an hour. But I do love movies. I don’t really have time to watch them. It’s funny because I get asked all the time, “Did you see this? Did you see that?” And I have to admit, “No.”

Favorite movie ever?

Probably Legends of the Fall.

You created this studio. Do you see it as a sort of incubator or support system for all the talented crew, actors, and production people in the area?

Yes, certainly. Since I started this project, my goal has always been to increase that crew base and offer training that will lead to union jobs. Everyone from Quincy High School students to adults. If you’re not going to go to college and you want a well-paying job, my thought was: “Why don’t we facilitate that here and have a program?” So that’s what I’m working on. And there’s a need for it. We can’t find production accountants. There are certain trades that there’s just not enough people in here. We have to hire them from New York or L.A., but we need to grow that here.

What gave you the initial idea to start a studio?

Well, I was asked to be on the board of the Boston Film Festival because it needed help, and through that, I met Jeff Kalligheri and Denis O’Sullivan of the production company Compelling Pictures. Jeff was like, “Listen, we’re doing this Whitney Houston movie. We want to bring it home.” They were in L.A., and Denis wanted to be closer to his parents in New York. Jeff said, “If you build a sound stage, I’ll bring you our slate of movies.” So we ended up partnering. I bought the building, built it out, and hired the architecture firm Gensler to build an actual sound stage that’s soundproof. For a repurposed building, it’s pretty great.

What did people say when you said, “I’m opening a movie studio in Quincy?”

They thought I was crazy. Absolutely crazy.

So what made you choose it?

Being so close to the city. Stanley Tucci came to do the Whitney movie, and from where he was staying, he could be here in 15 minutes. That was a real draw and why I thought the business model made sense. There was a real need for sound stages because of the amount of content being generated. It wasn’t that I said, “Oh, I want to be a movie producer and build a sound stage.” It was that I saw the opportunity, and it made business sense to me.

Now you have 26,000 square feet in Quincy and another sound stage that just opened in Canton. What’s that location like?

I was able to build the Canton studio from the ground up and make it what I wanted and what we needed. It’s 32,000 square feet, and we’re doing a Liam Neeson movie called Thug. They just started today. I’m an associate producer on that, and I’m a producer on The Collaboration, a movie about Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

What else do you have in the works?

There are plans for another location in Watertown, but that one’s going to take a while because I’m so busy with what I’m doing right now, between producing and running the studios. But it’ll be coming as soon I can get it open.

What are the similarities or common skill sets between construction and making a film?

Yeah, everyone’s been like, “How do you know how to produce a movie?” Well, you get a budget and a script, and then you hire unions, and you make it. It’s not that different from constructing a building. But when you make a movie, and then you see it on the screen, it’s so mind-blowing because it looks so different from when it was being filmed. It’s so cool because there’s a creative side to it that I didn’t know I had. Editing a film or making comments is so different because it’s not like, “The door needs to be 3 by 6.” It’s like, “Wait a second. That take was better than the last one.”

Actor you were most excited to meet?

Well, I haven’t met him yet. Anthony Hopkins.

What about somebody who’s worked at the studio?

Stanley Tucci would definitely be one of them.

Photo by Ken Richardson

How does it feel to be the only female studio chief?

I was quite shocked when we couldn’t find another female-owned sound stage. And we scoured the country. They’re mostly conglomerates, run by big companies or major studios. But another one actually just opened in Hudson, New York, run by a woman.

Why is Massachusetts such a good place to film?

We have the best tax credit in the country, and that’s because ours is both above the line and below the line. A lot of tax credits are only below the line, but ours also benefits producers, et cetera. So, that, and I mean, every time I go to L.A., I sit in traffic for hours. Here, we have traffic, but it’s a little more condensed. And you can take a water taxi from here to the airport in five minutes. There are also just so many different landscapes, from the Berkshires down to the Cape. There are so many things you can do here to make it look like somewhere else. You also have the historical architecture in the older parts of the city, but then you have the Seaport, where you can make it look like Chicago.

What’s your slate of projects right now?

We’re working on The Collaboration now, and then I’ll go right into Thug. Then we’re making a psychological thriller and then a movie I was about to start, but we pushed to January, called Daddy Issues. It’s hilarious. There’s just a ton coming in. 20th Century Studios is doing something that I haven’t even gotten the information on, but they just moved into the offices in Canton yesterday. I get phone calls every day. There’s just so much going on right now.

Were you a big Whitney Houston fan?

Always, yeah.

Favorite Whitney song?

“I Will Always Love You.”

Is it hard to overcome Hollywood skepticism to entice productions to come here?

It really hasn’t been an issue once you explain how our tax credit works. And then there’s the ease of filming here, from a logistical perspective. I mean, here at Marina Studios, you’re close to the city. You have the condos here, and they’re doing short-term rentals for us. It’s so easy because you can go to restaurants or grab your coffee in the morning. And then we have a 3-acre backlot. Craft services is set up there, you can park there. It’s just seamless.

Anything else this sound stage has that makes it unique?

It’s on the water. Our team from the Whitney movie all said they’ve never worked on a sound stage where you’re not staring at a concrete wall. You can walk around and see the ocean, look at the boats, and take a deep breath. And it’s calming, especially for artistic people, not to be on a concrete campus, taking a golf cart to eat lunch 15 minutes away.

Did you spend a lot of time doing research in Hollywood before launching this whole venture?

Well, yeah. My uncle worked for Warner Bros. when I was growing up, and he still does, so I’d been on a couple of film sets. But actually, I just hired the best studio architect I could. He was local, but he did Manhattan Beach Studios and everything in New York, and he sort of guided me in the right direction in how to make this as quickly as possible into a world-class sound stage.

I heard there was a local dry cleaner who had been struggling because of COVID, and then got all this business from cleaning the Whitney movie costumes. Are there other ancillary benefits to the businesses around here?

Yeah. I think there were 8,000 costumes, and we just kind of divided and conquered with all the dry cleaners in the area. But everyone was slow during COVID, and these restaurants here are normally dead after October, but we were raging in there till December 15. We’ve kept the apartment building at 90 percent capacity. So I think everyone is pretty happy.

Is there a director you’d love to see make a movie here?

I mean, I’d probably love to do something with Scorsese. But I’m just getting into this and learning what it is that I’m passionate about, film-wise. So right now, I’ll say I don’t really know.

What do you see in the future for Marina Studios?

Right now, we have a slate of films that will take six years to make, and I think there’s a great opportunity—especially when I open the third studio—to add in different productions that can come in to help keep the wheels spinning. We want to focus not just on our movies but also allow for the infrastructure to grow for the entire industry.

So that will include television?

Definitely. Netflix was starting a series, and they had to push it back because they missed the timeframe that they needed to film in Gloucester, so they’ll come back in the spring, and we’ll do that show for four months.

As a novice, what’s the best compliment you’ve received from an industry veteran?

Probably how individuals come and feel like a fish out of water because they’re coming from L.A. or New York or wherever, and they don’t have any family or friends around here. They’ve said I make everyone feel like family and try to provide whatever they need. At my birthday dinner last week, everyone went around the table, and our director said, “You’ve made us feel like family, and we’ve only known you for a couple of weeks.” That was neat. I’m a mom to twins, and I think I bring that Virgo, motherly energy into everything I do.

Which do you prefer: a movie theater or streaming from home?

Theater. I really do enjoy the whole experience of going.

Favorite movie theater snack?

Probably popcorn, with nothing on it.

So, is Boston going to become the new Hollywood?

That’s the goal.

By the Numbers

On Set in the Bay State

An inside look at the impact, in fame and fortune, of the film industry in Massachusetts.

2006

Year that Massachusetts started giving tax incentives for TV shows and movies filmed here.

2

Number of movies filmed in the state that were nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 2022, including the winner, Coda.

33

Number of TV shows and movies that were filmed in Massachusetts last year.

2021

Year the state’s film tax credit was made permanent.

75

Percentage of a film’s total spending or filming days that must occur in Massachusetts to qualify for the tax incentive as of 2021. The state increased it from 50 percent to generate a greater economic impact.