CANTON, Mass. — For Natasha Vogt, there never seems to be a shortage of something to do. Recentlty, the 55-year-old scenic artist was putting the final touches on a mantelpiece designed to look like the one Andy Warhol once had in his New York City apartment.
Vogt's office on this day is Marina Studios, which is one of the only female-owned sound stages in the country.
"I like that what I do is creative. You're doing something new all the time," she said.
Marina Cappi is the CEO of Marina Studios, which operates two locations in Massachusetts. In an industry historically dominated by men, the 34-year-old is trying to blaze a trail for others in the film industry.
"Hollywood has really changed in the last few years. Female producers and directors, those numbers have gone up to where women are now starting to control bigger studios," she said.
And they're about to get national attention.
When the new Whitney Houston biopic "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" premiers in December, most of the film will have been shot inside one of Cappi's sound stages. She's also serving as an executive producer on the film.
"It was so fun. It was the six best months of my life. To see the creativity come to the screen is really neat," she added.
In addition to hiring a diverse staff, Cappi is also trying to bring in productions that elevate the voices of women.
"I'm working on a film we'll start at the top of the year written by women, and produced by women. I consider projects that are uniquely to the diversity," she said.
There is also a very strategic reason behind where Cappi decided to build: tax credits. Massachusetts, where Marina Studios is based, has some of the highest film tax credits in the country.
"It’s been great for jobs and other local businesses that get the aftereffect of all of it," she explained.