Detroit continues to be known as the place that makes things. Add images to that list. It's been recasting itself as the go-to film set for the Hollywood crowd, and making national press of late.
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Across the street from a landscape of vacant houses and overgrown front yards, homicide detectives gather to investigate a murder. They analyze clues and debate how best to interrogate the key witnesses. Then, the director yells "Cut!" and everyone heads to a catered lunch of shrimp scampi and beef tenderloin.
The set of the gritty cop show "Detroit 1-8-7" is one of more than 100 film and television productions that have flocked to Michigan in the last two years, the result of generous tax rebates. Producers have spent nearly $350 million in the state so far, a figure expected to reach $650 million by year's end, up from $2 million in 2007, according to the Michigan Film Office. About 80% of these shoots take place in and around this iconic but much-maligned city, sprinkling a little stardust, optimism and controversy along the way.
Workers who used to build cars are learning to build sets. The entertainment sector is "a lifeboat as the auto industry adapts and restructures," says Wayne County Executive Robert A. Ficano.
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