“Oddly, Lansing hardly has any crew base at all. Mid-Michigan also lacks crew to adequately fill positions that can range from gaffers and grips to sound technicians and costume designers, according to Lockwood. studio measures only 15,000 square feet, Lockwood said. “We need several 40,000- to 50,000-square-foot soundstages to be built, and we anticipate that happening.”Ĭurrently the largest soundstage in the state is in Farmington Hills however, the Grace & Wild, Inc. “We really need additional large soundstages to be built here in Lansing and across the state if we are to see the total economic benefit from the tax rebate,” Lockwood said. The City Center Studios project in Downtown Lansing calls for the construction of a soundstage big enough to handle major movie projects and could open in late 2009. Several movie-related projects have started in the mid-Michigan area as a result of the tax rebate and Lockwood expects others to follow. “For example, when Jeff Daniels shot Super Sucker in Jackson in 2001, city officials estimated a $2 million impact on the city from that movie,” Lockwood said. Many of those economic impact numbers come from the individual communities that host the production companies. Lockwood said it will be a while before the film office can measure the exact economic stimulus from the influx of movies being filmed here. Approximately 75 percent of the film projects are expected to be filmed in metro Detroit and southeast Michigan. Movie shooting schedules can last up to eight weeks for big budget movies. A lot of them will certainly be recruited from Michigan, but others will need hotel rooms and spend a lot of money right here in the state,” Lockwood said. Crews for the larger shoots can include up to 100 people. The American film industry is very healthy. She said New Mexico and Louisiana and other states are aggressively courting movie studios. Lockwood, who joined the film office in 1992, is the second longest serving film commissioner in the country. The film office employs five full-time state employees and three contractors. It also promotes the growth of the indigenous film industry. The Michigan Film Office was created in 1979 to assist and attract incoming production companies in the entertainment industry, including film, TV and music. When it comes to cash back no one beats Michigan,” said Janet Lockwood, director of the Michigan Film Office. And we now have the most generous refundable tax credit program in America. The production companies are looking at the bottom line: the money. “Right now, as a result of the new incentives, we are just sitting here and they are coming. Some of the proposed movie projects will cost ten million dollars or more to shoot. The film office has received nearly 80 applications for projects since April. Officials with the Michigan Film Office say the in-state movie business immediately took off once the incentives were passed. That could translate into millions of dollars of savings on big budget movies, including Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, which began filming in the metro Detroit area this summer. The new film incentive package gives film production companies rebates of up to 42 percent of their in-state production costs and another 25 percent discount on infrastructure expenses. Jennifer Granholm in April signed legislation aimed at boosting the state’s role in the film industry, Hollywood producers have fixed their attention on the state and the tax benefits it provides.
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