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Pilot for Shonda Rhimes’s ‘Gilded Lillys’ will film in Massachusetts

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

February 09, 2012

Shonda Rhimes speaks during the Scandal panel during the ABC portion of… (Frederick M. Brown/Getty…)

The pilot for Shonda Rhimes’s new ABC television series, “Gilded Lillys,” will film in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Film Office confirmed yesterday that the drama, which will be helmed by “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Rhimes and written by “Gossip Girl”’s K.J. Steinberg, will be shot in town starting next month. The show will be set in 1895 and will follow characters at the first luxury hotel in New York City (think: sexy class wars). Film Office boss Lisa Strout recently told us that one of her big goals for Massachusetts was to bring a TV show to the state so that there’s year-round work for people in the entertainment industry.

The last TV pilot to film here was “Boston’s Finest,” a cop show that didn’t get picked up for a series. It filmed in 2010 and starred Katee Sackhoff and former “ER” star Goran Visnjic, who wound up scoring a role in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” No word on who will star in “Lillys,” but Rhimes has a good eye. She turned “Grey’s” star Ellen Pompeo — who’s originally from Everett — into a big star. Strout called us yesterday to say she’s psyched about the project.

The film commissioner used to manage the New York office of Merchant Ivory, a production company known for its period pieces. Strout proudly said that this show speaks to our landscape and that it’s “definitely something you couldn’t do in LA.”