Hollywood craft union seeking to destroy Michigan film industry

[FlyingJ]

The ironic thing is they couldn't pull this in Louisiana because it's a Right-To-Work State;
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/fd...es-its-unions/

[MotownSpartan]

Great post. Very enlightening, why don't we get any coverage on this in the local press?

Edit: Also, the article doesn't make it clear who this union is and/or any power the Michigan government may have over them. Is this something the Michigan government was involved in or can correct? This certainly appears to be bad news for Michigan's burgeoning film industry.

[MIRepublic]

I stopped reading after this:

You would think that after the UAW destroyed the auto industry and the tax base in Michiga

It shows a total ignorance of what happened, here, and an immature personal bias in which he has willfully decided to turn off his critical thinking skills and turn to simplistic and mostly debunked talking points.

[MotownSpartan]

Just because you don't agree with someone's subjective take on a situation doesn't make the objective facts they report wrong. The objective facts in this situation appear to be that whatever rule the blogger is discussing will cause Michigan to lose the value of its film credits in the 10 best counties for film production. It's very hard to discern what it exactly is the writer is talking about in his blog.

[cloud_wall]

Great post. Very enlightening, why don't we get any coverage on this in the local press?

Edit: Also, the article doesn't make it clear who this union is and/or any power the Michigan government may have over them. Is this something the Michigan government was involved in or can correct? This certainly appears to be bad news for Michigan's burgeoning film industry.

I can't tell if Spartan is making a serious post or a joke about the fact that virtually nothing can be discerned from this confusing article. I hope it's the latter. If it's true that the movie business is about to take a big hit, then that sucks. But I sure don't know much about it after reading the article.

Breitbart, btw, is a columnist for the conservative tabloid Washington Times and part-time editor of conservative tabloid website The Drudge Report. The comments to the article also give you a good idea of the website's objectivity.

Hopefully some people with actual information about the unions apparently involved can weigh in.

[FlyingJ]

MIRepublic, Well, the writer IS a producer...to disregard him entirely for that reason is like wondering why the Colorado Avalanche doesn't hold a "Steve Yzerman Night". But he's absolutely on the money that this move is designed as an "Industry Killer" & I don't know what can be done to stop it. A crewguy delves into the problem further in the comments here;
http://www.annarborbiznews.com/2009/...film-industry/

[oldredfordette]

Ridiculously stupid article. Typical anti worker right wing bullshit.

[jams]

Just another anti-union rant.

IATSE is one of the major unions of the industry and does a damn good job protecting its membership's concerns.

[MIRepublic]

I can't tell if Spartan is making a serious post or a joke about the fact that virtually nothing can be discerned from this confusing article. I hope it's the latter. If it's true that the movie business is about to take a big hit, then that sucks. But I sure don't know much about it after reading the article.

Breitbart, btw, is a columnist for the conservative tabloid Washington Times and part-time editor of conservative tabloid website The Drudge Report. The comments to the article also give you a good idea of the website's objectivity.

Hopefully some people with actual information about the unions apparently involved can weigh in.

The Washington Times is quite easily the biggest joke of a daily newspaper you'll find in the entirety of the United States. Even mainstream conservatives deride the "paper", and I quote paper because it's quite frankly a daily manifesto.

Yes, there are some things and people you should, absolutely, not give any credence to, nor entertain.

[FlyingJ]

Just another anti-union rant.
IATSE is one of the major unions of the industry and does a damn good job protecting its membership's concerns.

Funny that, when I was walking the WGA strike line we'd have a number of pick-up trucks bearing "IA" stickers slow down to hurl obscenities at us, since "our" refusing to accept a crap contract was costing "them" work. It's like when the George Meany & Walter Reuther had their dust-up, if one Union, Guild or even a Local thinks another is costing them money...they're not afraid to chuck solidarity & get ugly quick. There was a time when Detroit wasn't even allowed to play itself[[RoboCop 1-3, "Assault On Precinct 13", "Virgin Suicides", "The Crow", "Dreamgirls", Gridlock'd, Tucker, etc) now that it's portraying rather diverse, specific areas onscreen[[Northern California in "Youth In Revolt", Boston in "Betty Anne Waters") that's costing somebody somewhere money-who doesn't like it. And they're putting a stop to it. jams, judging by the 2nd link I posted the members of Locals 38 & 812 aren't happy with these developments.

[Sstashmoo]

The unions are the reason no businesses ever leave Michigan. These companies like nothing better than paying twice as much payroll as they would have to elsewhere. From a logical standpoint it's a no-brainer.

This guy has it right. A glimpse of the attitudes elsewhere. Why we aren't selling cars.

[artds]

Ridiculously stupid article. Typical anti worker right wing bullshit.

Indeed.

Also, it's hard to take the author's analysis seriously when he lacks an elementary school student's comprehension of the difference between "affect" and "effect".

"The change effects Ann Arbor and Detroit’s scenic and wealthier suburbs."

[Sstashmoo]

"Effect" can be used as a verb also.

[East Detroit]

"Effect" can be used as a verb also.

Not in this case, unless the sentence "The change accomplishes Ann Arbor and Detroit’s scenic and wealthier suburbs." makes sense.

[Fnemecek]

Ridiculously stupid article. Typical anti worker right wing bullshit.

No, it's just a guy who is really bad at math.

On a $20 million project, the difference between Michigan's tax credit [[40-42%) and that of many other states [[25 - 30%) is 10 - 17%. Even at the lower end of that spectrum, Michigan comes out ahead with a better deal worth approximately $2 million.

He then claims that a union contract adding $500,000 to a producers expenses cancels out a $2 million benefit.

Some people are just really bad a math.

[Patrick]

This is the problem with the Internet. Everyone thinks that this is an article when it is nothing more than a blog entry...and a thrid-rate piece at that. This is where the younger generations will be getting their "news" from in the future....from bloggers who can set up their online soapboxes and claim to know everything about a certain subject.

[Sstashmoo]

Quote: "bloggers who can set up their online soapboxes and claim to know everything about a certain subject."

I'll take that over major media outlets not only reporting the news but shaping it. Also, sources that do not intentionally hide things from the public.

[Paris_of_the_Midwest]

It's funny to see many of the typical responses... Person 1: Unions are evil and always destroy things.... Person 2: Unions are always good, etc.

Can't we just be real and acknowledge that sometimes unions can act to destroy jobs and economic growth and other times their actions provide very meaningful support to their constituencies and help to a ensure a level playing field? Ultimately, whether a particular union/management action is bad or good depends on circumstances of each situation, it's not always a clear cut black/white issue.

[R8RBOB]

There was a time when Detroit wasn't even allowed to play itself[[RoboCop 1-3, "Assault On Precinct 13", "Virgin Suicides", "The Crow", "Dreamgirls", Gridlock'd, Tucker, etc)

Though I enjoyed some of these movies, I hated how the movie industry would get another city to play Detroit.

I have to give props to movies like Zebrahead, Out of Sight, the Beverly Hills Cop series and a real old school film Collision Course with Jay Leno which were all filmed and BASED in Detroit.

[Sstashmoo]

Quote: "Can't we just be real and acknowledge that sometimes unions can act to destroy jobs and economic growth and other times their actions provide very meaningful support to their constituencies and help to a ensure a level playing field?"

Accurate and of course. The problem comes when organized labor although an effective bargaining tool, in the wrong hands that power can be abused. With the mantra of some union halls "Whatever they offer, it isn't enough" the failure of the host was inevitable.

[FlyingJ]

Though I enjoyed some of these movies, I hated how the movie industry would get another city to play Detroit.

Oh yeah, I forgot in "Whip It" SE Michigan is doubling Austin, TX! This one's critical, given that Austin, despite its modest size, is a VERY popular filming location;
http://www.imdb.com/List?endings=on&...20Texas,%20USA
in a right-to-work state, & cast & crews LOVE it. For Drew Barrymore to come HERE to double THERE is incredible[[remember the bad press from Barrymore's earlier movie "Firestarter", location scouts who visited Michigan during a previous recession were besieged by unemployed homeowners begging the production to buy their homes to blow up in the movie's climax?) esp when you read about the great time the "Whip It!" cast & crew had on the town.
Fnemecek-for IATSE to impose, we'll say, 500K isn't a small thing, that could mean the difference between going to Austin, TX-or Toronto to a producer. "Maryland Rules" means with these per diems, IATSE's looking to set up CARPETBAGGERS with the high-paying skilled jobs here from out-of-state Locals rather than growing a "local" film industry like Lansing's rebate program intended. That out-of-work autoworker won't feed his family with $40 from doing crosses behind George Clooney, IA & Granholm both know that. To label it "anti worker", well, that kinda mentality is what gave you the Lions winning streak.

[Detroitnerd]

You could argue that the super-rich in this country have decimated our industry by shipping it overseas, and creating a caste of perpetually unemployed people here. But that would be class warfare, right? Whereas a well-to-do person complaining about unions is just good straight shooting, yes?