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    Youth in Revolt

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    Youth in Revolt
November 27, 2008

Region awaits movie spotlight

Northern Lower Michigan should get its share of Hollywood work

By VANESSA MCCRAY

TRAVERSE CITY -- Movie-making mania has hit Michigan.

It's been all lights, cameras and action since April, when the state offered alluring refundable tax credits to entice filmmakers. The Michigan Film Office lists about two dozen recently wrapped or upcoming productions that star the state.

Those titles include the Clint Eastwood-directed "Gran Torino," filmed in and around Detroit; Drew Barrymore's name-dropping cast (Ellen Page, Jimmy Fallon, Marcia Gay Harden) of "Whip It!", a movie about a roller derby team filmed in Ann Arbor and environs; and "The Steam Experiment," a Val Kilmer flick shot in Grand Rapids.

Thus far, northern Lower Michigan's taste of movie magic has mostly been a bite of "Youth in Revolt," starring the offbeat comedy of Michael Cera ("Juno") and Justin Long. Yes, Long is the "Mac Guy" from Apple's popular computer ad campaign, and ex-boyfriend of the aforementioned Barrymore. "Six Degrees of Michigan" is now a viable parlor game.

"Youth in Revolt" filmed this summer in Lake Leelanau. Online readers at themovieblog.com went wild with Cera sightings. Posters claimed to have spotted the awkward-in-a-cute-way actor at a Mexican restaurant in Traverse City, ordering a sandwich at a local coffee shop and the cast hanging around Frankfort.

Local filmmaker Rich Brauer ("Frozen Stupid," "Escanaba in da Moonlight") has been well aware of the area's potential for many years and feels almost "fatherly" about his desire to protect it. The incentives are a good thing, so long as movie makers are conscientious. He's wary some fickle filmmakers might take off for the next state that approves an even more generous incentive.

Southeast Michigan attracted many of the productions, but Brauer said the local region has much to offer including plenty of lodging and great locations. He heard a lot of chatter surrounding several films that were scouted in the Traverse City area for film time this fall. So far, none of them, including a Halle Berry project, have panned out. Brauer did meet Cera when the actor was filming locally and needed a place to do some audio work for the romantic comedy "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," released in October.

"We have a lot to offer here," Brauer said. "What Traverse City does not have is access to a crew."

Detroit's corner of the state has a bigger labor pool and more active unions with high qualifications, said Chuck Peterson, chair of the West Michigan Film Video Alliance. The alliance promotes production throughout the western side of the state and pushes for film-related training.

"If film projects come, people will be trained. We are trying to do education, especially on the entry-level positions," Peterson said.

Developer Ron Walters also sees the region's potential. He proposed and won zoning approval for a movie production facility in Elmwood Township, just outside Traverse City. The project is still a go but waiting on financing, he said. It would include soundstages with 30-foot-plus ceilings, loaded with technology and insulated to prevent sound and block light. Stage shooting as well as stunts would be possible in the facility.

It's the state's "generous tax rebate" that attracted Genre Film Partners, even though Michigan does not have "historically strong infrastructure," said Managing Member Julie Richardson. The Los Angeles company wants to produce as many as 10 or more films in Michigan, each with a budget between $2 million and $10 million. Locations in Detroit and Lansing have been considered, Richardson said.

"We are planning on shooting our first movie in Michigan when (the) snow melts," she said.

Anthony Wenson of the Michigan Film Office said filmmakers who already worked in Michigan said they will return again.

"They absolutely love it. We have not heard a negative word. They love the locations," he said.

Peterson expects the Traverse City region will get its share of the spotlight.

"Obviously, the stuff with the Traverse City Film Festival is really big..., just because the geography is so beautiful up there, there's going to be a lot of interest," he said. "We think that Michigan is really ripe for filmmaking, especially with these incentives."

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