Attack Of The Wasp Woman!
The Toxic Avenger!
...Sucker!
You
know Michigan is coming into its movie-making own when it starts
producing horror flicks as cheesy as anything that comes out of
Hollywood (And we mean that in a good way).
While we're all familiar with the glitz and glamor of
Michigan's new status as a hotbed for film production – Drew Barrymore
sightings, bragging to your out-of-town friends that your street was in
Gran
Torino, craning your neck to see what's shooting when you notice
one of those cryptic yellow signs – splashy, big-budget, big-star
productions are really only a B-plot in our movie-based storyline.
Instead,
it's projects like
Sucker, a small, sci-fi horror comedy shot in
and around Pontiac earlier this spring, that tell the true tale of the
state's blossoming movie industry, and how it's attracting and inspiring
local talent.
Michigan's film incentives allow filmmakers to deduct up to 42 percent of
direct production costs incurred in-state from their Michigan Business
tax return.
Sucker is being produced by
Big Screen Michigan, a
subsidiary of
Big
Screen Entertainment, which has produced independent horror films
like
Babysitter
Wanted and
Sodium Babies, along with other offbeat
projects.
Woody Robertson, who ran a Southfield-based video
production company for several years, and Michael Manasseri, senior vice
president of Big Screen Entertainment, launched the production studio
last year.
Sucker is their first project to film in the Mitten
and it already has distribution lined up with Warner Brothers.
Manasseri
had been working in LA as an actor, director, and producer much of his
adult life. When the film incentive began in 2008, he decided to launch
Big Screen Michigan as a way to help get people back to work and to be
closer to his family, who live in Rochester Hills, Robertson explains.
As
for Robertson, he'd sold his half of the video production company and
decided to join with Manasseri to run Big Screen Michigan.
But
Sucker
is more than a locally shot low budget flick. Its entire concept is
hometown. A Pontiac resident who works at the Fermi plant loses his job,
has his car impounded, and suffers the indignities of unemployment most
Metro Detroiters know all too well. On the other hand, few have been
bitten by a mosquito during a nuclear incident. Soon, our hero morphs
into a giant radioactive mosquito bent on blood-sucking revenge.
Rather
than have its locations stand in for Anywheresville, USA, the film is
actually set in the places it was shot. Admittedly, it strains
credibility to have someone commute from Pontiac to Monroe, but artistic
license aside, Robertson says he thinks the movie could be a boon to
Pontiac.
Which was probably why the production received nothing
but cooperation from local leaders. "We met with the mayor and he basically turned the city
over to us," Robertson says. "We were able to film with real EMS and
police vehicles, and you see their names on the side."
Not
everyone on the crew was from Michigan, but all post-production work is
to be done here, Robertson explains.
Figures from the
Michigan
Film Office reflect the industry's growing impact on the state's
economy. In 2008, the first year of the incentive, 35 projects were
filmed in Michigan totaling about $124 million. By 2009, that had
increased to 52, with about $224 million spent.
Also in 2008,
2,763 jobs were created directly from film production, and in 2009,
4,000 jobs were created, as well as 4,000 slots for extras and
stand-ins.
That doesn't include jobs like hotel staffing to
serve the influx of out-of-staters, according to Ken Droz,
communications consultant for the Michigan Film Office, or auxiliary
jobs such as prop houses or costume shops.
When asked about some
of the common objections to the film incentive -- most notably, that it
benefits mainly people from elsewhere and doesn't contribute to the
state's tax base – Droz fairly bristles with irritation. "It gets
frustrating when it gets attacked based on no investigation," he says.
Indeed,
a February 2009 report by the
Center
for Economic Analysis at Michigan State University showed that the
amount of wages, salaries, location fees, lodging, and more that went
directly to Michigan residents totaled $65 million out of $124 million
spent here in 2008 alone.
Also, the total financial obligation
of the program adds up to only about $60 million, out of a state budget
of $54 billion – about 1/13,000 of the state budget, Droz adds.
Several
early projects did bring in film crews from out of town, he concedes,
but at the time there were few local people with the level of training
needed to work on films. As local residents' training and experience
improve, more locals are being hired, Droz says.
Small
productions like
Sucker are
generally more willing to hire someone new to the business than a big
studio production would be. Robertson says that's certainly been true
for his film.
"Most independent films are low budget, and don't
necessarily have to use unions," he explains. "Nothing wrong with
unions, but with a small budget that can help tremendously. It allows
for more opportunity and more experience for people coming out of film
schools."
Droz also points to the "brain drain"— the
decades-long problem of young, bright people leaving Michigan for
opportunities elsewhere. He says the film incentive is helping to change
that. "We're keeping graduates here -- 50 percent of graduates are
leaving. That's an astounding figure," he says. "No one I have talked to
has another alternative. This program is doing that with absolute
enthusiasm –we're bringing people back and keeping people here."
Beyond
dollars and cents, both Droz and Robertson agree there's a certain
intangible benefit to the flurry of film production here. Instead of
seeing ourselves as a down-and-out Rust Belt state, now there's some
glitter among the gloom.
"I don't know if you can put a price
tag on hope, and that's what happening," Droz says.
Someday
Hollywood will make a movie about Amy Kuras. It won't involve giant
blood-sucking insects. Amy Kuras is a
Detroit
freelance writer who loves working from home despite developing a
possibly unhealthy attachment to her laptop and cell phone. Her previous article for Metromode
was Metro Detroit's Homepreneurs.Send comments hereAll Photographs © Marvin
Shaouni Photography
Contact Marvin here
On the set of "Sucker" at Goldner Walsh green house - Pontiac
In
Make up
Woody Robertson, Co-founder of Big Screen Productions
Michael
Manasseri, Director and senior vice president of Big Screen
Entertainment
Scene 1. Take 2.
The Red Camera dolly