Michigan is changing and the film industry might be it's new business genre.
Excerpt:
While there is no illusion that Michigan's generous incentive to lure
film productions here will solve our financial woes, it is a small
effort intended to inject some energy and creativity in a sector that
has never been able to flourish in the Mitten State. Proponents say
that anything that creates so much buzz, entices young creatives to
stick around and opens Michigan to the rest of the country is a welcome
step in the right direction. They say that all discussions should look
beyond the immediate dollar in, dollar out impact of the program and
instead focus on the potential long range gains from the
incentive. After all, when was the last time you heard someone from
California complain that Michigan was stealing their jobs.
The
incentive also represents a tiny part of the state's enormous annual
budget (estimated to reach $40 billion). Still, there is little doubt
that it is emblematic of a new way of thinking about the transformation
of our industrial and creative centers.
Keep this simple fact
in mind: The only products the United States exports more of than it
imports is software and media. Michigan's film incentive has allowed us
to put a foot, well, more like a toe, in that door.
And through that toe-sized crack
Genre Film Partners has squeezed through to set up shop in Metro Detroit.
Read the entire article
here.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.