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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 09 February 2009 23:12 |
Michigan's bid to become a Midwest center of movie production is to get a huge boost today with the announcement of a Hollywood film production studio and talent agency opening shop in Pontiac.
Motown Motion Picture Studios, a new company, will open a $54-million, 600,000-square-foot studio and production facility at General Motor Corp’s former Centerpoint truck plant and office complex in Pontiac, said Gov. Jennifer Granholm's spokeswoman Liz Boyd.
The project is expected to generate more than 3,500 direct and 1,500 indirect jobs.
The governor plans to announce the deal tonight in her State of the State address.
The Hooywood production firm of Raleigh Studios is to operate the site. A major Hollywood talent agency, Endeavor Agency, helped broker the deal.
The announcement marks the breakthrough the state had hoped to get since the Legislature past the incentives to lure filmmakers to the state. Since then, 37 films have been made in Michigan, including Clint Eastwood's box-office hit, "Gran Torino."
Mall developer Al Taubman is backing the project financially, along with Oakland County investors, including real estate developers Gary Sakwa and Linden Nelson.
Nelson said Monday night that the new company would work with the Cranbrook Educational Community, Lawrence Technological University, College for Creative Studies in Detroit and other local schools to train students for the film industry.
"It means that your children have a new opportunity, have a new thing that they can stay right here in Michigan. It opens all sorts of opportunities. ... Let's put Michigan back to work," Nelson said.
Local film professionals were delighted with the news, said Jeff Spillman, managing partner at S3 Entertainment Group, a Ferndale production company involved in nine of the films produced in Michigan. "This will be the first studio to be formally announced for the state," Spillman said. "This will be great for business, because what else is happening in our state that's employing people?" |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 February 2009 22:23 |
Michigan Film News 
