The Trip Back to Michigan... and Thoughts on the Michigan Film Incentives Program

Flying into Michigan, the changing of the season is apparent. 

A few weeks ago, I finally had a chance to make a trip back to Michigan to see my Moms. Originally, I wanted to come home for her birthday, but as there was just too much going on at the time, I had to push the trip back to the first week of October (and cut it down to 7 days) instead. After my Pops passed, I'd been speaking to her on the phone regularly and she seemed fine, but even so, I thought it important to take the time out to go there and assess the general "state of things" for myself. Beyond that, I had also heard rumors that the Michigan film incentives program was making a comeback, (and recently I'd been hearing more from my agencies in Michigan as well) and thought this would be a good time to see what the deal is on that front as well.

One of the greatest dangers of going back to Michigan:
Hungry Howie's Butter Crust Pizza. 

One of the other great dietary challenges I face back in the states. 

Overall, it was a really nice trip, although I was shocked at how friggin cold it was. When I left Tokyo, I was in shorts and a tanktop. In Michigan, it was already down in the 30s at night. While this was great in that the fall leaves were beauuuuuutiful, it also meant that I wasn't really dressed for it and was cold most of the time. Between that and the fact that my laziness about sleep regulation on the flight over gave me wicked jet lag, I was in pretty rough shape. (Jetlag is always much worse going west to east than vice versa).

As for Mom, she genuinely seemed fine. I think having a ton of family support around for the first month after made her transition considerably easier, and although she still obviously really misses him (as do I) she also seemed generally uplifted by the fact that she doesn't have to worry about his health or losing him anymore. The fact that my older brother had a baby boy a few days after Dad's passing had to help as well. (Reincarnation perhaps?) While I was there, I also wanted to take some time to help out around the house, and I came to realize just how much my Dad did to maintain it. The fact that he did it all by himself is friggin incredible. Is no wonder he was so busy all the time.

My older brother Kyle's new baby boy, Xavier.
Sweetest kid in the world. 

As for the resurgence of the Michigan film incentives program, that was a bit on the disappointing side. Basically, what happened is that the program started off with tax incentives of around $120 million dollars, making it the most aggressive program in the country. As a function of that, Hollywood came calling with the quickness, and there were a ton of amazing films being cranked out. (Transformers, Real Steel, etc). Unfortunately though, as the program was new and the state was still figuring it out, a few shady producers moved in and took advantage of the state and the program, giving it a bad name early. Beyond that, as there was no experienced staff in the state, at the time, virtually everyone was flown in from other places which meant that local people weren't getting work either.

Within 2 years however, (around the time I came home last time) things were rockin'. Both of the talent agencies I joined and got work through and the photographer who took my headshots (which Im still using), were new businesses that had popped up to cater to the industry. Beyond that, new film studios were popping up and as locals had learned new job skills, they were also getting work both in front of and behind the camera. (In the last film I did before I left, SeTup, about 70% of the people involved in the project were local). At the same time though, by then the political machine to get rid of the Michigan film incentives program already had steam in it's engine, and once Governor Snyder was sworn in (who campaigned on getting rid of it) he made good on his campaign promises and cut the incentives down to $25 million. While I'm not trying to hate on the guy (as his other efforts to balance Michigan's budget did seem to have some positive effect) his cutting this program, more or less killed our new fledgling industry before it really got its feet off the ground. A lot of huge films that were supposed to be shot in Michigan (such as Avengers) lost their incentive for working with us as a state and promptly went elsewhere. I think this cut could have been manageable if 1) it wasn't so steep 2) there weren't a lot of others states doing film incentives programs or 3) if our local industry had grown to the point that we had great facilities and well trained local people. Unfortunately however, we still weren't quite there yet. As such, it just died out like a baby oak tree someone uprooted and left.

In any event while having dinner with one of the producers from Wolverine 2, he mentioned that he heard it was coming back full swing in the next year. I thought that if so, it could be a good time to come back to Michigan, help out with some of the causes my pops cherished, help Moms out with the house, start up a few programs and industry related businesses myself and work in an area with very little competition for experienced industry professionals. Unfortunately however, Governor Snyder is only bumping the incentives up to $50 million or so. Granted that isn't bad, but at the same time, it's still only 40% of what it originally was, and no where near as good as whats offered by a lot of other states (or even countries).

What this means for myself is that at present, I don't think a career in Michigan's film industry is sustainable just yet. If we did have a stronger industry, then not only could I get regular work, I could also start offering seminars and possibly regular programs teaching everything I know. Bringing Mari back, this also meant that she could run her businesses in Michigan as well and we could both be contributors to the Michigan economy. I'm also sure I wouldn't be the only one. Instead of our state's best talents having to do like I did and go elsewhere, they could stay where they are, and do great things in the place they were raised in. Without it though, I don't quite feel the market is strong enough for me to get something going well, and it would mean taking a serious hit in terms of the amount of regular work I am getting as well.

This doesn't in any way however, mean that I am "giving up" on Michigan. I still think there is a fair amount of potential for things that I can do there, and career aside, there were also a lot of things (and causes) that my Pops cared about that I would like to make sure remain taken care of. Regardless of whether my current career course continues to propel me forward here, or whether it takes me to LA, I think continuing on as a part of the community that I come from is going to be a must either way. The question to be answered however is how exactly Im going to make that happen.