It's Friday afternoon on a normally sleepy Bloomfield Hills cul-de-sac lined with modest ranches and tri-levels with big, sloping yards. But today, 27 cars border the road. At the bottom of the street, adjacent to the neighborhood playground, are four RVs, a catering tent, a process trailer, a generator, three box trucks, three trailers – one with gold stars on the doors – and dozens of people milling around with headsets and walkie-talkies.
The entourage of people, vehicles and equipment will be here all weekend shooting scenes for an independent film, The Job, a dark, comedic thriller starring Patrick Flueger, Ron Perlman, Taryn Manning and Joe Pantioliano.
The film is one of the first productions to take advantage of Michigan's new film incentives package, and one of at least 22 approved by both the Michigan Film Office and the Treasury. The production spent a month filming in Detroit, but also in Bloomfield Hills, where one suburban neighborhood amiably dealt with congestion, late-night activity, and general hubbub in the name of healthy Michigan commerce.
Hollywood apathy no more
But the skies weren't always so sunny or star-studded in the mitten state. In fact, past years have seen numerous films that were set in Metro Detroit, but actually filmed elsewhere, like the Assault on Precinct 13 remake, Birmingham native Mike Binder's The Upside Of Anger and The Crow – even Detroit Rock City, which was primarily shot in Toronto. If a producer, director or star happened to have ties to the city, we might see more than our skyline (often filmed from Windsor, by the way), as was the case in Transformers or 8 Mile.
But today, the tides are turning as Metro Detroit has a chance to become the next Toronto or Vancouver B.C., a place where producers of feature films, music videos, and television pilots flock for the cash back incentives – namely a 40 to 42 percent rebate on all Michigan expenditures.
Already productions are looking to the Mitten State as the place to shoot. Aside from the incentive package (which is, of course, a mighty big hook), Michigan boasts a wide range of geographies and settings. Need coastline? We're second only to Alaska. Looking for small town Americana? The state is blessed with some of the most photogenic downtowns around. Shooting a battle in the Sahara? Sleeping Bear Dunes has more sand than you can imagine. And though winters are long, we've got all four seasons on full display. From gritty urban mean streets to ivy-strewn college campuses, Michigan can stand-in for virtually any place a film production might require.
And Hollywood is starting to get it. Whip It, a rollerderby movie set to star Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page had already begun shooting in Austin, Texas when they caught wind of what Michigan had to offer and moved their production north. Now rumors of roller rinks being constructed outside Ann Arbor and scouting expeditions in Ypsilanti are bouncing around the web.
Bob Brown a consultant to the Michigan Film Office and producer with Farmington-based Charity Island Pictures, sees nothing but upside for the state. He talks of investment returns of 25 percent and soundstages moving into long empty auto warehouses in Ypsilanti and twentysomethings finally seeing a reason to stay in Michigan with a evangelist's zeal.
"With the stroke of a pen we've created a creative economy that didn't exist here before," Brown says."In the 60 days that we've been on the books we have had $200 million, brand new dollars, float into the state. We're the most aggressive in the country and it's working."
At a recent meeting with leaders in western Washtenaw County Brown explained how Bear Communications and a Wixom company that builds modular offices for construction sites were already fielding requests from film productions for two-way radios and costume trailers.
"Where else are you going to get a response like that?" Brown said at the meeting. "State investment in alternative energy companies or biotech will take years to realize. With the film industry it's almost immediate. They're ready to do business here now and if we do this right they'll keep coming."
So, with what is now the best film incentive package in the United States, how can Hollywood's attention on our state translate to booming business for local communities?
Talk to me, baby
"The biggest thing communities and organizations can do is respond quickly and comprehensively to film industry requests," says Carolyn Artman, manager of Film Detroit, an arm of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. A point person within city governments, visitor bureaus or chambers can serve as a liaison with film crews and help expedite approvals for filming while communicating with appropriate public departments, like police and fire.
"Sometimes it takes an act of city council to get a location approved," says Mark Adler, director of the nonprofit Michigan Film Alliance. "For a feature film it might be okay to drag out a week, but when commercial producers come from out of state, they don't have that kind of time."
Bob Brown points out that movies shoot all hours of the day and that communities should be savvy enough to assign a go-to guy for a visiting production company, a liaison producers can call any time of day to find what they need locally.
"The biggest learning curve for Michigan communities is responsiveness," Brown explains. "There's real world speed. There's business world speed. And then there's the entertainment industry speed, which is 'we need an answer right now'. Our sense of urgency is a thousand times greater than the real world because it costs us so much money to make a movie. 'I'll take a couple of days to get back to you' just doesn't work. You can take a couple minutes to get back to me but otherwise we're moving on."
Community film liaisons can also communicate with local businesses and residents when services are suspended or streets are blocked off. And they can connect with the Michigan Film Office and Film Detroit, alerting them to the resources their community has to offer.
Those film friendly resources, including hotels, property management companies, chauffeur services and caterers, can also be promoted on a website – along with the cool film locations of a particular community.
"Communities may want to get a task force together and do a website catering to the film industry, which might feature unique structures of a town," says Adler.
Websites can often be the first point of contact for producers looking for information and contacts. Kurt Tuffendsam, unit production manager/line producer for The Job used the Michigan Film Office online production guide. "Lots of our crew and vendors came from that list," says Tuffendsam.
Resources and infrastructure
But while solid, speedy and friendly communications will help Michigan communities attract film business, our region also needs the resources, in terms of people and equipment, to meet Hollywood demands.
According to Adler, film crews look for production office space, serving as temporary headquarters, where they can easily put in phone lines and Wi-Fi. They may also need residential accommodations. Adler says that condo developments in Ferndale and Royal Oak have benefited from several film groups staying there. Metromode recently wrote about the impact this has had on the local apartment rental market.
But that means identifying property owners in your community who are flexible enough to grant three or four month leases instead of the traditional year-long commitment. Film crews may not stay long but the production company will rent large blocks of rooms and apartments for the duration of their stay.
Crews also need transportation and food. Dan Gearig of Ciao Catering in Grand Blanc is catering The Job, which is the sixth film his company has catered in Michigan. "It's great. It's real money that's helping people out," says Gearig. "This is real cash for chauffeurs, caterers, hotels, lots of people."
Production vehicles are yet another necessity but appear to be in short supply. The star trailer, process trailer and honeywagons for The Job came from Chicago.
Michigan's incentives helped to lure the production to town, but producers were dismayed by the additional cost of bringing equipment from out of town, which lessened the impact of the Michigan rebate.
And probably most importantly, an ample supply of skilled production people and of actors are also necessary. While The Job eventually found needed crew, it took longer than normal.
"The film package itself is great, but resources for crew were very limited. There were three or four productions trying to hire the same crew we were," says Tuffendsam, who ended up with a crew composed of 65 percent locals.
According to Tuffendsam, "The amount of crew that is local is not enough to support multiple productions at the same time."
Which dovetails with the incentive packages goals. Michigan communities, with unemployment rates higher than the rest of the country, have an opportunity to turn today's crew shortages into tomorrow's job opportunities.
Access to local talent for "day players" is also important. The Job used nine local actors, which they acquired through The iGroup. The film will also use 100 local extras.
Even with production challenges, Tuffendsam is positive about his Michigan film experience and says that he understood the film would encounter challenges because Michigan was not used to doing multiple feature films at the same time. "I would encourage others to come here, but also encourage those in the state to figure out a way to build the infrastructure. Films will benefit a lot more if they don't have to bring resources from out of town."
Location, location, location
Michigan is clearly a good fit for almost any film with its quaint downtowns, rural countryside and big city skylines. With the incentives in place, and producers' curiosity piqued by cash incentives, a community's first and last step to luring film productions should be a proverbial polishing of the storefronts and washing of the windows. We've got the goods; let's make them sparkle.
Currently, Adler and his colleagues are working on a "Capture Main Street" project that will feature the unique architecture of every city in Michigan and help to attract more film projects to the region. Film Detroit notes "awesome architecture and urban grit," "lakes that can double for oceans" and "small town charm" for reasons to film in metro Detroit. And the Michigan Film Office showcases a gallery of Michigan photos that would make any producer's mouth water.
Producers and directors for The Job were attracted to Detroit's Albert Kahn buildings, and the 1930s and 1940s architecture. "We were concerned about the production, but the location hooked us," says Tuffendsam.
The Job filmed at a number of southeast Michigan locations, including the Leeland Hotel and the Masonic Temple in Detroit, and spots in Highland Park and Bloomfield Hills. Film crews captured the mood of the main characters dancing at Nick's Gaslight in Detroit where a local band, the beekeepers, played music composed for the film.
Alexa Sheehan, second assistant director for The Job says that the rebates were a big part of them coming to Detroit, but so was the look and feel of our region. "The story fits very well into the city and the architecture and the people and the vibe. And that's a big part of the story telling," says Sheehan.
And now, it's time for us to tell our own stories about the cities we love to call home – whether plugging the chic of 1960s suburbia or the doom and mystic of urban back alleys.
More films rumored to be shooting (or planning to shoot) in Michigan include:
Gran Torino - directed by Clint Eastwood
The Fifth Mafia - starring Armand Assante, Joe Mantegna, and James Van Der Beek
Whip It - Directed by Drew Barrymore, starring Ellen Page (Juno)
The Prince Of Motor City - Television pilot inspired by Hamlet and set in the auto industry
Youth In Revolt - A Weinstein Co. production starring Michael Cera (Juno)
Prayers for Bobby - A Lifetime Network movie starring Sigourney Weaver (she lead Royal Oak's Gay Pride parade)
The Bassmaster - A Michigan production about the real life story of sport fisherman Bryan Kerchal
The Flynns - A TV pilot shot by Mike Matthews, a Saginaw native, in Flint. Starring Melba Moore and T.K. Carter
Red and Blue Marbles - A science fiction flick starring Ruby Dee
Right Angle - written and directed by Michael Burke for Camelot Pictures (Garden State)
Melinda Clynes is a Detroit-area freelancer. Her last article for Metromode was Boutique Sweets.
Additional quotes and information provided by Jeff Meyers
photos:
courtesy photo - O'Mara & Associates - shot by Joe Gall - Royal Oak
Carolyn Artman, manager of
Film Detroit Tools of the trade
Downtown Detroit from top of the Book Cadillac
Photographs by Marvin Shaouni
Marvin Shaouni is the managing photographer for Metromode & Model D.