Film incentives sends S3 Entertainment soaring

It takes a lot to make a movie and Ferndale's S3 Entertainment Group is ready to lend a hand.

The 3-year-old firm supplies production services and equipment to filmmakers, and has watched its business take off as more and more movies crowd into Michigan to take advantage of the state's tax incentives. Some of its credits include major Hollywood productions like Gran Torino, The Butterfly Effect 3, Whip It! and Youth in Revolt.

"We have provided production support and services to six feature films that have shot in Michigan since April," says Jeff Spilman, managing partner of S3 Entertainment Group.

Spilman expects that number to increase rapidly and his business to grow just as fast. It now has seven employees and its subsidiaries employ about 80 more people. That's up from when Spilman and Hollywood producers Marc Sternberg and Jeff Stern (S3 stands for the S in each of their last names) started the company.

The plans are for the company to grow to 200 employees by handling 15-20 major pictures per year. "We expect to grow exponentially in the next few years," Spilman says.

The firm first set up shop in Troy, but moved to Ferndale soon after. Spilman says Ferndale is an open-minded community with a strong arts background, which made it attractive to him and his partners.

"They are coming here because of the incentives," Spilman says. "They're having a great experience because the crews are great and the places to shoot are beautiful."

Source: Jeff Spilman, managing partner of S3 Entertainment Group
Writer: Jon Zemke

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Film incentives sends S3 Entertainment soaring

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