Attack Of The Wasp Woman!
The Toxic Avenger!
...Sucker!
You know Michigan is coming into its movie-making own when it starts producing horror flicks as cheesy as anything that comes out of Hollywood (And we mean that in a good way).
While we're all familiar with the glitz and glamor of Michigan's new status as a hotbed for film production – Drew Barrymore sightings, bragging to your out-of-town friends that your street was in
Gran Torino, craning your neck to see what's shooting when you notice one of those cryptic yellow signs – splashy, big-budget, big-star productions are really only a B-plot in our movie-based storyline.
Instead, it's projects like
Sucker, a small, sci-fi horror comedy shot in and around Pontiac earlier this spring, that tell the true tale of the state's blossoming movie industry, and how it's attracting and inspiring local talent.
Michigan's film incentives allow filmmakers to deduct up to 42 percent of direct production costs incurred in-state from their Michigan Business tax return.
Sucker is being produced by
Big Screen Michigan, a subsidiary of
Big Screen Entertainment, which has produced independent horror films like
Babysitter Wanted and
Sodium Babies, along with other offbeat projects.
Woody Robertson, who ran a Southfield-based video production company for several years, and Michael Manasseri, senior vice president of Big Screen Entertainment, launched the production studio last year.
Sucker is their first project to film in the Mitten and it already has distribution lined up with Warner Brothers.
Manasseri had been working in LA as an actor, director, and producer much of his adult life. When the film incentive began in 2008, he decided to launch Big Screen Michigan as a way to help get people back to work and to be closer to his family, who live in Rochester Hills, Robertson explains.
As for Robertson, he'd sold his half of the video production company and decided to join with Manasseri to run Big Screen Michigan.
But
Sucker is more than a locally shot low budget flick. Its entire concept is hometown. A Pontiac resident who works at the Fermi plant loses his job, has his car impounded, and suffers the indignities of unemployment most Metro Detroiters know all too well. On the other hand, few have been bitten by a mosquito during a nuclear incident. Soon, our hero morphs into a giant radioactive mosquito bent on blood-sucking revenge.
Rather than have its locations stand in for Anywheresville, USA, the film is actually set in the places it was shot. Admittedly, it strains credibility to have someone commute from Pontiac to Monroe, but artistic license aside, Robertson says he thinks the movie could be a boon to Pontiac.
Which was probably why the production received nothing but cooperation from local leaders. "We met with the mayor and he basically turned the city over to us," Robertson says. "We were able to film with real EMS and police vehicles, and you see their names on the side."
Not everyone on the crew was from Michigan, but all post-production work is to be done here, Robertson explains.
Figures from the
Michigan
Film Office reflect the industry's growing impact on the state's economy. In 2008, the first year of the incentive, 35 projects were filmed in Michigan totaling about $124 million. By 2009, that had increased to 52, with about $224 million spent.
Also in 2008, 2,763 jobs were created directly from film production, and in 2009, 4,000 jobs were created, as well as 4,000 slots for extras and stand-ins.
That doesn't include jobs like hotel staffing to serve the influx of out-of-staters, according to Ken Droz, communications consultant for the Michigan Film Office, or auxiliary jobs such as prop houses or costume shops.
When asked about some of the common objections to the film incentive -- most notably, that it benefits mainly people from elsewhere and doesn't contribute to the state's tax base – Droz fairly bristles with irritation. "It gets frustrating when it gets attacked based on no investigation," he says.
Indeed, a February 2009 report by the
Center for Economic Analysis at Michigan State University showed that the amount of wages, salaries, location fees, lodging, and more that went directly to Michigan residents totaled $65 million out of $124 million spent here in 2008 alone.
Also, the total financial obligation of the program adds up to only about $60 million, out of a state budget of $54 billion – about 1/13,000 of the state budget, Droz adds.
Several early projects did bring in film crews from out of town, he concedes, but at the time there were few local people with the level of training needed to work on films. As local residents' training and experience improve, more locals are being hired, Droz says.
Small productions like
Sucker are generally more willing to hire someone new to the business than a big studio production would be. Robertson says that's certainly been true for his film.
"Most independent films are low budget, and don't necessarily have to use unions," he explains. "Nothing wrong with unions, but with a small budget that can help tremendously. It allows for more opportunity and more experience for people coming out of film schools."
Droz also points to the "brain drain"— the decades-long problem of young, bright people leaving Michigan for opportunities elsewhere. He says the film incentive is helping to change that. "We're keeping graduates here -- 50 percent of graduates are leaving. That's an astounding figure," he says. "No one I have talked to has another alternative. This program is doing that with absolute enthusiasm –we're bringing people back and keeping people here."
Beyond dollars and cents, both Droz and Robertson agree there's a certain intangible benefit to the flurry of film production here. Instead of seeing ourselves as a down-and-out Rust Belt state, now there's some glitter among the gloom.
"I don't know if you can put a price tag on hope, and that's what happening," Droz says.
Someday Hollywood will make a movie about Amy Kuras. It won't involve giant blood-sucking insects. Amy Kuras is a
Detroit
freelance writer who loves working from home despite developing a
possibly unhealthy attachment to her laptop and cell phone. Her previous article for Metromode
was Metro Detroit's Homepreneurs.Send comments hereAll Photographs © Marvin Shaouni Photography
Contact Marvin here
On the set of "Sucker" at Goldner Walsh green house - Pontiac
In Make up
Woody Robertson, Co-founder of Big Screen Productions
Michael Manasseri, Director and senior vice president of Big Screen Entertainment
Scene 1. Take 2.
The Red Camera dolly