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L ANSING, MI — Thanks to some fairly aggressive tax incentives for produc- tions shooting in Michigan, as well as for those establishing businesses here, some are referring to the state as the "new Canada," which has been a popular choice for cost-efficient film production. But Michael Shore, communications manager at Michi- gan's Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), prefers the term "new Hollywood." While the state has had a film office op- erating since the late 1970s, it was about a year ago that the legislature passed, and Governor Jennifer Granholm signed, a new package of incentives for those doing pro- duction work in Michigan and additional in- centives for the establishment of location and film production facilities in the state — details can be found at: www.michiganfilm- production.com/michigan-film-incentives. Since this legislation, Michigan has seen an extraordinar y jump in business. Between April of last year and the end of 2008, 35 films did production work here.That's about $125 million in total business generated in Michigan compared to three films and $2 million spent in 2007. "What you are seeing is a 12-fold increase in the number of pro- ductions in the state and about a 60-fold in- crease in the number of expenditures in the state," repor ts Shore, saying this jump is di- rectly related to the incentives. L E T T H E G R OW T H B E G I N In addition, in Februar y of this year, he says, the Michigan Economic Growth Au- thority — the state entity that authorizes tax credits — awarded tax credits to three production companies to locate production facilities in Michigan. Motown Motion Pictures is opening soundstages and more in a former GM truck plant in Pontiac; Detroit Center Stu- dios, owned by LA's Wonderstruck, is taking over the old MGM Casino with a large visual effects and animation studio; and Stardock Systems, a small computer gaming company already doing business in Michigan, is ex- panding in Plymouth Township, just south- west of Detroit. All three companies expect to be up and running by the end of 2009. "In total, those three entities will invest about 156 million dollars in the state and create about 6,000 permanent, five-day-a- week jobs," says Shore, who describes the MEDC as an agency of the state overseen by an executive committee appointed by the governor, but independently operated. The state's film commission is housed within the MEDC (www.themedc.org). These new ventures join already estab- lished post and production companies in Michigan, such as Farmington Hills-based Grace & Wild, Oak Park's Ringside Creative and Southfield's Parallax Production Studios, which has announced a $60 million deal with New Castle Entertainment. "Our tax credits aren't cash in hand," ex- plains Shore. "They are a guarantee of dis- counts on their state taxes — they become part of the financing package. Someone start- ing a production facility here can go to in- vestors and say when we hit agreed-upon targets in terms of investment and employ- ment, we will see a significant reduction in state taxes over a number of years. It will be a valuable part of the cash flow going forward." But it's not just in the area of film produc- tion that Michigan is being aggressive. With the decline in the auto industr y here going back more than nine years, they have been well ahead of the rest of the country in terms of recessionary economics. "We need to di- versify our economy, we've known that for generations, and it got really obvious in the last 10 years," says Shore.The way to do that was in knowledge- and talent-based indus- tries, and film production is one piece of that." T R A I N I N G & R E T R A I N I N G With all these new jobs opening up in Michigan, the state knows it has to retrain people who have been laid off in other job sectors, like the automotive industr y. "It is absolutely par t of the plan," says Shore. "It's not just about providing incentives for film production or locating studios here, but to work it through our educational system so there is a workforce that is competent to do the work we hope to grow here." Currently, the Michigan Film Office is reaching out to people in training programs around the state, and Michigan State Univer- sity and Lansing Community College are working on a joint program. According to Charles Steinfield, profes- sor/chair, Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media at Michigan State University in East Lansing, the school has a number of courses that target the film industry. Most of these courses already ex- isted or were under development even be- fore the film incentive law was passed, but they "are involved in a certificate program to aid in retraining under or unemployed work- ers in cooperation with LCC and Capital Area Michigan Works," he says. "This is aimed at helping to fill the void for entry-level work- ers with enough familiarity with work on a Michigan takes film production seriously New tax incentives are bringing an influx of film production and post into the state. Michael Shore: Retraining the workforce is a large part of the state's plan to help beef up its film business. Detroit has a long history of film production, but these new incentives are geared to make shooting — and staying — in the city and state commonplace. 18 Post • May 2009 www.postmagazine.com S P E C I A L R E P O R T continued on page 51 By RANDI ALTMAN E D I T O R - I N - C H I E F raltman@postmagazine.com