Film is here now, but will it stay?

There's debate over the film incentive packages and whether or not it was too much. Additionally, other businesses felt slighted saying, "where are our incentives?" Regardless of the bickering, the incentives seem to be working. After the package was passed, 84 scripts were submitted for consideration within the week (there were seven all last year). Right now, an estimated $200 million from the film industry will make its way through the Michigan economy. But the question still remains: Will it form into Detroit's new sustaining industry?

Excerpt:

Rebate backers don't mind continuing to offer genuine Motown grittiness. But they believe that producers will press many other settings into use, including Michigan's quaint tourist towns, vast deciduous forests and lengthy shoreline. Johnny Depp reportedly has been scouting sites around one watery haven, Traverse City. The new law also includes breaks for digital moviemakers who can work -- inside -- anywhere.

"If you have five films shooting at the same time, with five full working crews, that's a small industry of people constantly working," says Mr. Albom. "And then you've built a creative force that can justify moving to, living in, and staying in Michigan."

Beyond that, however, lies the even bigger question of whether Michigan could ever harbor a critical mass of the creative class for the long term. Are screenwriters, make-up artists, movie agents and paparazzi ever going to haunt Woodward Avenue in Detroit the way they blanket Beverly Hills?

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