Plymouth Hits Bumps On Road To ‘Hollywood East’

Officials in Plymouth will meet with executives from Plymouth Rock Studios on Tuesday night after major financing fell through on the long-planned development project.

The promise of transforming the town into “Hollywood East” was rattled last week when the film studio company canceled a construction loan valued at $550 million.

Plymouth Rock Studios CFO Joseph DiLorenzo talks about the proposed studio complex in Plymouth last year. The film studio company recently canceled a construction loan valued at $550 million. (AP)

Then came a scathing Boston Globe report this past Sunday detailing the studio head’s history of financial conflicts and questionable business moves.

While Tuesday’s selectmen meeting was previously scheduled to go over plans for road development, Plymouth’s acting town manager, Melissa Arrighi, said the recent set-backs will surely be a topic of discussion.

“People were hoping for a groundbreaking this past fall,” she said, “and every time that gets pushed off, that’s a little more frustrating to people who have supported the project.”

That said, Arrighi added, “a project of this magnitude doesn’t come to Massachusetts all that often, so I don’t think we’re ready to abandon ship yet.”

Arrighi also said the town’s primary objective at this time is to protect the taxpayers of Plymouth.

Developers promised to create more than 2,000 jobs as a direct result of the studio project, which is slated to include 14 sound stages, cutting-edge post-production facilities, a visitors’ center and restaurants on a 240 acre parcel of land.