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Former boxer proposes media studio downtown
Cinecitta
Video
Ray talks about his proposal to tap in to Youngstown talent how he plans to help with the local economy.
Former boxing champion seeking economic assistance
YOUNGSTOWN
Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, the former world lightweight boxing champion, is seeking economic-development assistance to establish an independent digital-media studio in downtown Youngstown.
Mancini’s company is Champion Pictures LLC.
“Youngstown, I think, given the opportunity, could be a real destination” for video production, Mancini told the Mahoning County commissioners during a Tuesday staff meeting.
“They’re looking for a place that could be production friendly” and more economical than other places for on-location shooting, he said of filmmakers.
Youngstown and its environs offer a variety of urban and bucolic scenery within a short distance that can create the visual illusion of being almost anywhere, Mancini said.
“That’s the beautiful part about Youngstown – the diversity” of scenery, culture and ethnicity, he added.
“It’s the business of illusion,” the former boxer said of video production.
Mancini moved back from Los Angeles to his native Youngstown last November.
In a written proposal he presented to the commissioners, Mancini said he seeks initially to raise $500,000 to develop projects, hire writers and pay rent, salaries and administrative costs.
Anthony Traficanti, chairman of the commissioners, said the proposed studio “would be a great idea to have in downtown Youngstown.”
Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti told Mancini he should speak to the city’s economic-development officials concerning his proposed project because it will be based in downtown Youngstown.
“People want to work. I mean that’s the bottom line. ... If you had enough work here, they’d be back,” Mancini said of Youngstown natives who’ve left the Mahoning Valley.
Mancini wasn’t specific about how many jobs his project might create over a specific time period, but he said the job creation “would be mainly part-time and independent contractors. ... You’ve got to get production going before it creates a lot more jobs.”
The downtown studio could function as a learning lab for Youngstown State University students, Mancini said.
Mancini said he now has an office in the Ohio One Building, but it will be moving to another downtown location.