4,730 jobs lost as Detroit 187 & other films leave state thanks to Rick

[Gsgeorge]

Since Rick Snyder's 'brilliant' plan to rehaul the state budget and eliminate the film incentive credits over the next five years, reducing them to a paltry $25 million this year, we have seen film after film leave this state.

Rumors are coming in the Detroit 187 is heading elsewhere to shoot Season 2 of the show -- despite the fact that film takes place here and the whole 1st season was shot here. This is painful.

The Detroit News today reports that a combined 4,730 jobs have been lost to other states because of the collapse of the incentives, not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity that would have been generated because of these films. This is probably a low estimate because it is only looking at 9 recently-denied applications out of over 50.

http://detnews.com/article/20110401/...mith--director

The Doug Liman movie is among nine of 54 applications that are no longer in the running for incentives, Jones said. The nine projects planned to spend a total of $155 million in the state and hire as many as 4,730 people, according to applications obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. In total, the nine projects sought $60.5 million in incentives.

=========

"They decided to move the project elsewhere," Carrie Jones, director of the Michigan Film Office, confirmed Thursday. She did not have a date when producers told the film office about their decision.

Paramount Picture Corp. had a different story.

"The application was not withdrawn," Paramount Pictures Corp. spokeswoman Virginia Lam said in an e-mail statement. "Rather, the application [[for) the state's film rebate program was denied."

Nice job Rick!

Now a personal note. I know a lot of you out there think the money is just going to Hollywood types, that this is a fly-by-night industry and that it does no good for the state except some nice publicity. Well, in 2008 I graduated from U of M with a degree in filmmaking. I was a heartbeat away from moving to LA, like thousands of Michigan grads do every year, just another brain-drain statistic, when suddenly the incentives were passed. I decided to take the risk and stay in the state, despite my contacts & prospects in LA. I moved to downtown Detroit and was working consistently, one movie after another, making a good living, paying city and state taxes, and absolutely loving it here in Detroit. Then, a few weeks ago, the rug was pulled out from under us. In two years, the burgeoning film industry exceeded all expectations, and it didn't even have time to mature. Now, I have been out of work since the day the budget announcement was made, and I am looking to move to LA or NYC in the coming months. This is absolutely heartbreaking to me, but it is necessary if I want to earn a living. I would love to stay in this state, but $25 million is not gonna cut it, and what does it matter if Rick wants to do away with the incentives all together in a few years. This will support maybe 4-10 films. That is nothing. That is not enough for the thousands of people like myself and my friends to find work. I can attest that the films I have worked on were composed of 80%-99% Michigan-based crew. The money is staying here, going to hard-working Michiganders, not to the elite in Hollywood. Keep the money here.

Please support the incentive. You will be supporting Michigan workers, and young people like myself will continue to be able to pursue their dreams here in their home state. Please call Rick's office and tell them you support the film industry in Michigan. It takes two seconds, and not that hard, please call them and voice your support! Tell them you want to be added to the list of film incentive supporters.
517-335-7858

Even better, call, write, or meet with your senators & representatives and do the same!

Please, I don't want to leave!