The Place Where Ludington Talks
Michigan's a hot spot for making movies
Being a movie fan as you all might know, I like the idea of movies being made here. Be nice if it hadn't taken the tax breaks for them to come but at least it gives us some extra jobs and advertising for the state.
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In Michigan these days, April showers are bringing new movies -- and stars.
Dimension Films confirms that it plans to shoot "Scream 4" in Michigan. Shooting is expected to begin in mid-June and take place in and around Ann Arbor.
The new installment in the popular horror movie franchise will reunite original "Scream" director Wes Craven, screenwriter Kevin Williamson and stars Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Neve Campbell. The series has made $293 million in the U.S., according to Box Office Mojo.
• Hugh Jackman bound for Michigan
"Scream 4" is the latest project in what's shaping up to be a busy spring and summer for filmmaking in the state. Locals in the film industry say there could be more movies and TV projects here this year than in 2009.
Among the stars are anticipated to be in Michigan are Hugh Jackman, Pierce Brosnan and Alicia Silverstone.
Observers of the local film industry say 2010 could be busier than 2009 -- if Hollywood remains convinced that the state's filmmaking incentives are here to stay.
The biggest movie on the horizon is "Real Steel," the futuristic robot-boxing drama from DreamWorks starring Jackman. The project has production offices in metro Detroit and is scheduled to begin filming in June. Steven Spielberg is one of the executive producers.
"Real Steel" is being touted as the biggest-budget movie -- $80 million, according to Variety -- to land here since the start of the incentives. But it isn't the only project with big names.
• "Salvation Boulevard," a comedy with former James Bond star Brosnan, is set to start shooting in Michigan in May.
• "Scream 4," the latest chapter in the iconic horror series starring Cox and Arquette, plans to shoot in and around Ann Arbor.
• "Vamps," a vampire-themed romantic comedy with Silverstone and Sigourney Weaver, is expected to film here in June.
And that's just the beginning. "Hung," the acclaimed HBO series about a metro Detroit high school basketball coach who moonlights as a gigolo, is working on some scenes this month for its second season. Costar Anne Heche and a film crew were at the Crosswinds Mall in West Bloomfield on Thursday.
A new installment of the "Harold and Kumar" stoner-buddy comedies has been approved for the state's filmmaking incentives.
Shooting is scheduled to start Sunday on "S.W.A.T. Fire Fight," an action movie based on the 1970s TV series. Most of the filming will take place in downtown Detroit, according to executive producer Scott Putman. The cast includes Robert Patrick of "Terminator 2" fame.
Two more movies with homegrown roots are currently filming.
"Jinn," a supernatural thriller starring Ray Park (Darth Maul in "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace") is being locally produced and directed and is shooting mainly in Monroe.
"Sucker," a science-fiction film about a half-man, half-insect, is filming mostly in Pontiac. It's from Big Screen Michigan, the Michigan branch of a California company, Big Screen Entertainment Group. Former Los Angeles resident Michael Manasseri, who's starring, directing and producing, says he moved to Michigan last year.
Also, the Ferndale-based S3 Entertainment Group has plans to produce three to five films here in 2010, with budgets from $6 million to $20 million, according to S3 Entertainment's Jeff Spilman. He said one of them, titled "Crypto," will take place in the days leading up to Pearl Harbor.
Political debate hurt, some say
The filming schedule is heating up earlier this year than it did in 2009, said Kathy Mooney of Pound & Mooney Casting in Madison Heights. Her company is doing casting for two films and HBO's "Hung."
Mooney said it seems "more and more companies are finding out that they've had a real pleasant experience working in Michigan, and that they have the confidence that the film incentive will last."
About 52 movie and TV productions were filmed in the state last year, making a total of 87 productions since the tax breaks went into effect in April 2008. The Michigan Film Office doesn't have an official projection on how many films will be made here this year.
Some in the local film industry say growth was slowed last year by political debate in Lansing that raised the possibility of reducing the incentive rate, which can be up to 42% -- a change that has not happened.
Supporters of incentives say you can't build a business if you're always debating its merits. Opponents argue that a state facing a deficit of more than a billion dollars for the coming fiscal year can't afford subsidies for moviemakers.
The film industry kept an eye on the dispute.
"I think we weathered, in 2009, that storm pretty well," said screenwriter Jim Burnstein ("Renaissance Man"), who directs the screenwriting program at the University of Michigan and is vice chairman of the Michigan Film Office Advisory Council.
"I would get calls, people saying, 'What's the deal?' And we would constantly say nothing's changed. ... And I think the fact that nothing changed in 2009 should be a good thing for 2010."
A busy spring and summer reflects the confidence that filmmakers have in the state's incentive program, according to Ken Droz, communications manager of the Michigan Film Office.
State earns a seal of approval
Much of the current enthusiasm for the 2010 outlook is fueled by "Real Steel." Chris Baum of Film Detroit, a division of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the presence of the Hugh Jackman film is like "the Good Housekeeping seal of approval" for the state's credibility with studios and production companies.
"It makes us more legitimate and makes everyone's comfort zone increase dramatically," he said.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100416/ENT01/4160...
************************
In Michigan these days, April showers are bringing new movies -- and stars.
Dimension Films confirms that it plans to shoot "Scream 4" in Michigan. Shooting is expected to begin in mid-June and take place in and around Ann Arbor.
The new installment in the popular horror movie franchise will reunite original "Scream" director Wes Craven, screenwriter Kevin Williamson and stars Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Neve Campbell. The series has made $293 million in the U.S., according to Box Office Mojo.
• Hugh Jackman bound for Michigan
"Scream 4" is the latest project in what's shaping up to be a busy spring and summer for filmmaking in the state. Locals in the film industry say there could be more movies and TV projects here this year than in 2009.
Among the stars are anticipated to be in Michigan are Hugh Jackman, Pierce Brosnan and Alicia Silverstone.
Observers of the local film industry say 2010 could be busier than 2009 -- if Hollywood remains convinced that the state's filmmaking incentives are here to stay.
The biggest movie on the horizon is "Real Steel," the futuristic robot-boxing drama from DreamWorks starring Jackman. The project has production offices in metro Detroit and is scheduled to begin filming in June. Steven Spielberg is one of the executive producers.
"Real Steel" is being touted as the biggest-budget movie -- $80 million, according to Variety -- to land here since the start of the incentives. But it isn't the only project with big names.
• "Salvation Boulevard," a comedy with former James Bond star Brosnan, is set to start shooting in Michigan in May.
• "Scream 4," the latest chapter in the iconic horror series starring Cox and Arquette, plans to shoot in and around Ann Arbor.
• "Vamps," a vampire-themed romantic comedy with Silverstone and Sigourney Weaver, is expected to film here in June.
And that's just the beginning. "Hung," the acclaimed HBO series about a metro Detroit high school basketball coach who moonlights as a gigolo, is working on some scenes this month for its second season. Costar Anne Heche and a film crew were at the Crosswinds Mall in West Bloomfield on Thursday.
A new installment of the "Harold and Kumar" stoner-buddy comedies has been approved for the state's filmmaking incentives.
Shooting is scheduled to start Sunday on "S.W.A.T. Fire Fight," an action movie based on the 1970s TV series. Most of the filming will take place in downtown Detroit, according to executive producer Scott Putman. The cast includes Robert Patrick of "Terminator 2" fame.
Two more movies with homegrown roots are currently filming.
"Jinn," a supernatural thriller starring Ray Park (Darth Maul in "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace") is being locally produced and directed and is shooting mainly in Monroe.
"Sucker," a science-fiction film about a half-man, half-insect, is filming mostly in Pontiac. It's from Big Screen Michigan, the Michigan branch of a California company, Big Screen Entertainment Group. Former Los Angeles resident Michael Manasseri, who's starring, directing and producing, says he moved to Michigan last year.
Also, the Ferndale-based S3 Entertainment Group has plans to produce three to five films here in 2010, with budgets from $6 million to $20 million, according to S3 Entertainment's Jeff Spilman. He said one of them, titled "Crypto," will take place in the days leading up to Pearl Harbor.
Political debate hurt, some say
The filming schedule is heating up earlier this year than it did in 2009, said Kathy Mooney of Pound & Mooney Casting in Madison Heights. Her company is doing casting for two films and HBO's "Hung."
Mooney said it seems "more and more companies are finding out that they've had a real pleasant experience working in Michigan, and that they have the confidence that the film incentive will last."
About 52 movie and TV productions were filmed in the state last year, making a total of 87 productions since the tax breaks went into effect in April 2008. The Michigan Film Office doesn't have an official projection on how many films will be made here this year.
Some in the local film industry say growth was slowed last year by political debate in Lansing that raised the possibility of reducing the incentive rate, which can be up to 42% -- a change that has not happened.
Supporters of incentives say you can't build a business if you're always debating its merits. Opponents argue that a state facing a deficit of more than a billion dollars for the coming fiscal year can't afford subsidies for moviemakers.
The film industry kept an eye on the dispute.
"I think we weathered, in 2009, that storm pretty well," said screenwriter Jim Burnstein ("Renaissance Man"), who directs the screenwriting program at the University of Michigan and is vice chairman of the Michigan Film Office Advisory Council.
"I would get calls, people saying, 'What's the deal?' And we would constantly say nothing's changed. ... And I think the fact that nothing changed in 2009 should be a good thing for 2010."
A busy spring and summer reflects the confidence that filmmakers have in the state's incentive program, according to Ken Droz, communications manager of the Michigan Film Office.
State earns a seal of approval
Much of the current enthusiasm for the 2010 outlook is fueled by "Real Steel." Chris Baum of Film Detroit, a division of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the presence of the Hugh Jackman film is like "the Good Housekeeping seal of approval" for the state's credibility with studios and production companies.
"It makes us more legitimate and makes everyone's comfort zone increase dramatically," he said.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100416/ENT01/4160...
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by XLFD on
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It just makes good common sense to offer tax breaks to film-makers so that they are more likely to come to our state to make movies. Hollywood is located in seriously overtaxed California, which I am sure has devised many schemes to tax cinema to the hilt. If Michigan can continue with these incentives and show that they are committed to it, we just may have a migration of film studios over to our friendly shores.
The benefits we would receive to the economy and to 'advertising the state' from having them here, would greatly outweigh the tax incentive revenue we would lose. Revenues from which would go up due to the sheer amount of films that would be made here.
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