November 7, 2023 • 31 mins
Current FVP senior, Jeff Staub, talks with Geoff George, a cinematographer and Education Outreach Chair with the Michigan Film Industry Association (MiFIA), about the Multimedia Jobs Act introduced in the Michigan legislature. Geoff explains how the film incentive worked in the past, how it’s different now, and why it’s so important to bring it to Michigan.
MIFIA: https://mifia.org/
Write Legislators: https://mifia.org/take-action
Join MIFIA: https://mifia.org/joinus
About the Multimedia Jobs Act: https://mifia.org/multimedia-jobs-act-details
About Geoff George: www.geoffgeorgedp.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreygeorge/
To learn about ways you can support GVSU film and video students:
MIFIA: https://mifia.org/
Write Legislators: https://mifia.org/take-action
Join MIFIA: https://mifia.org/joinus
About the Multimedia Jobs Act: https://mifia.org/multimedia-jobs-act-details
About Geoff George: www.geoffgeorgedp.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreygeorge/
To learn about ways you can support GVSU film and video students:
- The Dirk Koning Memorial Film and Video Scholarship
- The Chuck Peterson Memorial Fellowship
- Morse-Cuppy Film, Video, Animation Study Abroad Endowed Scholarship
- GVSU F/V Alumni: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gvsufilmvideoalumni
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Welcome to Alumni Live (00:03):
The Podcast.
These are conversations with GrandValley State University film and video
graduates about the industry, the filmand video major and alumni profiles.
Welcome back to Alumni Live.
I'm Jeff Staub, a senior in Grand Valley'sFilm and Video Production program.
Joining us to talk about the MichiganMultimedia Jobs Act is Geoff George.
(00:24):
Geoff is an Education OutreachChair for the Michigan Film Industry
Association and a talented Directorof Photography from Detroit, Michigan.
Today we'll explore the legislationcurrently under consideration in both
the Michigan House and Senate, whereit will soon undergo a crucial vote.
We'll learn about the far-reachingpositive impacts of the bill, understand
its implication for current Michiganfilmmakers, and learn some simple
(00:47):
ways that you can support this bill.
Hey Geoff, thanks forcoming on the podcast.
Thanks so much for having me, Jeff,and thanks so much to everyone
Grand Valley for being such greatpartners in this effort that we're
trying to do here in the state.
So I know that you're from Detroit,Michigan and a U of M alumni.
When did you graduate and did theprevious film incentive have any
(01:07):
positive implications in your career?
I grew up in Metro Detroit andI attended the University of
Michigan between 2004 and 2008.
And when I graduated in 2008,it was during the first Michigan
Film Incentive, which lastedfrom about 2008 to 2014 or 15.
And I was a perfect example ofsomeone that was, a young person in
(01:31):
the state graduating from universitywith a really amazing incentive
program here in the state that wasattracting productions to our doorstep.
So, I put my plans to move to Los Angeles,like many of us that were graduating
in film at that time were doing.
I put those plans on hold.
I decided to stay here in the stateand start working in camera department
(01:54):
on film and TV productions and wehad so many that were coming here and
they were large productions, smallproductions, medium sized productions.
And it was a pathway right away, rightout of graduation to start working in
film that would have otherwise been quitea hurdle if I was living in Los Angeles.
So that program was really career changingfor me, and now, at that time the previous
(02:19):
administration got rid of those credits.
There was a budget deficit in thestate and some other issues with
the program itself because of theway that it was pushed through.
And now we have this amazing opportunityto start fresh, really refine this
program into something that can benefitMichigan people and Michigan vendors,
create Michigan jobs, and provide anamazing, incredible opportunity for
(02:41):
our young people graduating in thecreative fields, not just film and TV,
but also because of the way that thisnew program is structured, but also
music production, post production,all of the related industries,
not to mention all of the vendors,caterers, hotels, equipment vendors
that would benefit from this as well.
(03:02):
I've been fortunate to work as acinematographer, both in Michigan and
in Los Angeles throughout my career.
But we really love shooting in Michigan.
When we had productions cominghere in the mid two thousands.
We had people buying homes and movingtheir families to the state of Michigan
because of our natural beauty, becauseof the West side of the state and the
amazing beaches, to the city centersin the southeast, and it's an amazing
(03:25):
location to shoot and to create film.
This is another opportunity for ourstudents with this new incentive.
You said it so well, Michigan has it all.
It has the beaches, it has cities, andeven up north, a lot of wooded areas, and
a lot of different landscapes that areperfect for filmmaking and photography.
I think those aspects really does makeMichigan just naturally attractive.
(03:46):
When you were graduating from the U ofM, you were brought on with below the
line jobs, and then kind of worked yourway up from production to production,
made your connections, and made aname for yourself within the state.
Yeah.
There is no established frameworkfor how to get into film.
This is the big challenge thateverybody who's graduating in the
(04:06):
creative arts has in front of themwhen they're a student of film or
they want to get into this industry.
And basically like every opportunity infilm, a door opened and I went through it.
I had just freshly graduatedfrom the University of Michigan.
A film production was in townthat had someone on the camera
team who was a U of M grad.
They reached out to the U of Mfilm department and said, we need a
(04:29):
camera trainee and a PA-type person.
And is anybody interestedin camera department?
Because that was my focus in filmschool was cinematography and
lighting, I was on the list of the fewstudents who were interested in that.
And then basically Iinterviewed and got the job.
Once you work one movie like that andyou do a good job and people like working
(04:49):
with you, regardless of your experiencelevel, you get pulled into the loop.
Maybe you're starting as PA andthen you work your way up to
the next position on the ladder.
That's a common way.
And that's the way that I got into this.
I worked as a Camera PA then Iworked as an Assistant Cameraman.
Then I was a Camera Operator andnow I'm a Cinematographer, but
it took years to build that up.
But basically that would happen againwith this new film incentive program,
(05:13):
which is, it's called the Multimedia JobsAct, and that's really what it's about.
It's about bringing money and productionsinto this state that wouldn't otherwise
be here, and provide amazing opportunitiesto our crew, and vendors, and all the
components of this massive film community,this army of people that's needed every
time that there's a film production.
I worked my way up throughthe camera department.
(05:34):
Everybody's journey isgoing to be different.
Mine was more traditional in that Iworked my way up through the camera
department as an AC and eventually aCinematographer, but there would be
opportunities in all the departments.
You have Art Department,Hair, Makeup, Sound.
You have the offices and theinfrastructure that is supporting these
productions on a large scale that therewould be, production office, PA jobs.
(05:55):
There would be set PA jobs, and thatcould lead to any number of departments.
I always tell people graduating in filmor starting their careers in film, " Pick
a department that you're interestedin and focus on that to get people
to hire you within that department,"because we all want to be directors.
We all want to write our own movie oneday and do great things, which is, a great
(06:15):
goal to have, but in the meantime, wehave a job to do and we have bills to pay.
And as artists and filmmakers, you have tofind a way to stay consistently working.
And with the film incentive programin the state, there's going to be
enough of a quantity of qualityproductions in the state, that you'll
be able to continue working within adepartment and make a career out of it.
(06:38):
And you don't need to go to oneof the coasts or to Chicago.
If you want to stay close tohome and raise a family here, the
cost of living is a lot lower.
The quality of life is a lot higher.
The only thing we're missingis the job opportunity.
This film incentive provides that jobopportunity, the infrastructure that will
need to be here to support those jobs.
(06:59):
And you'll be able to follow your careerpath with an incentive like this in place.
That was fantastic advice forthe young filmmakers listening.
I know personally, the peoplewithin my circle have large goals
and a vision for the future.
And you do have to pick up jobs thathelp support yourself and pay the
bills and one thing with this act thatafter doing some research, is it's
(07:21):
supportive of advertising and commercialprojects, the types of projects that
keep you afloat and keep you workingtowards those long term goals.
There's 37 other states with filmincentives and some do have advertising
and commercial benefits and incentives,but this one in particular is ahead
of the game with, their incentives.
(07:42):
It is absolutely.
And it's a really good point.
I'm glad you brought it up.
That number has already changed.
It's 41 other states that havesome kind of media incentive.
Missouri was just added to the list.
We're way behind as far asbeing on par with other States
that are open to this industry.
And you're correct.
One unique thing about this bill isthat it's not just for TV and film,
(08:05):
it includes a short form componentthat would allow short films, music
videos, commercials, corporate videos,industrial videos, all to qualify
through this tax credit program.
So, you would have not just the largeTV productions coming in and the
Netflix movies and things like that,but you would really have the bread and
(08:27):
butter of what keeps people like me.
That are, crew people and vendors,actively working, which is the
short form commercial content, thecorporate content, and the industrial.
We have a large manufacturing basein the state of Michigan and they
all need training videos and a lotof people don't consider that as
part of these film incentives becauseHollywood and all of that takes a
(08:49):
lot of the limelight as it were.
But really, the more everyday jobsin this industry are for commercial,
industrial, and corporate type work.
Because of this component being inthis incentive, you would see a huge
increase in that amount of productions.
You would have local companies andcorporations taking advantage of that.
They would be incentivized to hirelocally because they would only qualify
(09:12):
for the credit if they hire locally.
Importantly, it's a tax credit.
They're not getting a blank check.
It's a program that's been successfulin other states, which is that they
get a tax credit, which they can useagainst their Michigan tax liability.
And it doesn't really matter for thoseof us in crew and students graduating.
But importantly, the money that,is being given on the credit
is staying within the state.
(09:33):
It's not coming out of taxpayers dollarsand it's not a check being written
to a Hollywood production company.
It's basically a job creation program.
And because of these lower thresholdsand the short form component, you would
have a lot of these smaller shootsthat are the bread and butter of our
industry that really are what keep usconsistently working throughout the year.
(09:55):
You would have a bigincrease in that as well.
Jumping back to the previousfilm incentive I heard about
vendors and sound stages thatestablished themselves in the state.
Do you see some, permanent residencesfor these studios in the near
future with this bill passing?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
If this bill passes,inevitably, you would need the
infrastructure here to support it.
(10:16):
So it would probably take a little bit oftime to get up and running, but you would
definitely be seeing sound stages open.
You would perhaps be seeing LosAngeles and New York based production
companies opening offices here.
And importantly, we're anticipatingthat there would be 300 to 500
million dollars in direct spend inthe first year alone of this act.
(10:36):
That would be money coming into the statethat wouldn't otherwise be spent here.
And it would be a mix of theselarge studio productions, but
importantly, also a lot of thiscommercial and industrial work.
So yeah, you would definitely seesome permanent studios opening.
Which again is a lot morejob opportunities for
people working those stages.
(10:57):
And you would probably see thingsthat you wouldn't even consider,
like, back when we had the old filmincentive, we had the stage in Pontiac.
They were building sets for Oz and therewas a local lumber supplier who had to
grow their business by 200 percent and buynew property and open a new lumber yard
just to supply productions of these sizethat were coming in and building sets.
(11:20):
It's not just the sound people andthe camera guys and all of this, it's
the local coffee shop that was openedby a mother, daughter, those kinds of
stories that all of a sudden they'regetting a flood of crew that's coming
in and buying coffee because they'restaying or filming across the street.
So, trickles down in otherways that you don't consider.
I think you would probably seea lot of people moving back to
(11:41):
Michigan that left at one time forAtlanta, or Los Angeles, or New York.
And you would probably see some of thosepeople that grew up or have worked many
years in their career there that arelooking to move somewhere with an easier
lifestyle, higher quality of life.
And you would see some ofthem moving to the state.
All of this sounds super fantastic,big Hollywood budgets coming in
(12:03):
industrial commercial work coming in.
Getting down to like the specificsof some of these qualifications.
You have a minimum spend of 300,000dollars for 20 minute or longer
projects, so that can includeindependent shorts, feature length
films, films that don't requirethat Hollywood studio to support it.
I think that you can get somereally unique perspectives from
(12:25):
the state and from the creativepeople who will move back.
And you also have the minimumspend of 50,000 dollars per
project for under 20 minutes.
So that can support the same thingwith short form content, short films,
really getting that perspective ofthe Michigander out into the public.
Yeah, you're absolutely right.
This is a great point because the programwas structured in such a way that we don't
(12:46):
necessarily want a giant movie comingin and using the entire budget that's
allocated for this on one production.
We want a variety of differentsizes of productions.
And in particular, lookingfor those small, medium, and
medium large size productions.
They provide jobs for all of usthat are already fortunate enough
(13:08):
to be working in this business.
So the experienced crew that's been doingit for 10, 15, 20 years, and there'll be
productions that'll hire those people.
And then you have these smallerproductions, when you're talking
about a feature film, that's a300-750,000 dollar budget, that's
an extremely small indie movie.
(13:28):
That is exactly the kind of project thatpeople just graduating from Grand Valley
or other universities in the state aregoing to get jobs on because, for one
thing, the larger productions are goingto take some of the more experienced
crew, and these smaller productions aregoing to have openings and opportunities
for people just starting their careers.
That was a key component of this thatmakes it really different from the
(13:51):
last time around and allows independentproductions, short films, music videos
to be a part of this new incentiveprogram and the excitement and the
jobs that will be generated through it.
That's where our opportunities arefor young people in this state, are on
these medium and small productions whenthey're just graduating from school.
We want to make sure that that'spart of this program and that those
(14:13):
productions are coming here too.
You'll probably see a lot of homegrownfilmmakers, raising through friends and
family and donors, 3 to 500, 000 to doan indie feature or, you might see people
raising 50 or 60,000 to do a short film ora short documentary about their hometown.
We have a lot of great filmfestivals in this state as well.
(14:35):
Traverse City, FreshCoast, and other ones.
This is the kind of homegrown communitythat we're trying to nurture here.
And not just the big namesand the big productions.
This episode is brought to you by theChuck Peterson Memorial fellowship.
The fellowship was established by ChuckPeterson's family and friends to assist
the upper-level students in the film andvideo program at GVSU who were working
(14:57):
on creative projects that support thenonprofit sector in their community.
Kyle Macciome, the 2020 recipient,of that fellowship describes the
benefits of the support he received
When going through this fellowship,there are three separate parts
of yourself that I think get toexperience a lot of development.
The first is as a student, becausethis is a learning process.
You get to learn how to work witha client on your own independently,
(15:19):
out in the world, away from theclassroom, like you would in
something like producing for clients.
And the second one would be as a videomaker, as a video producer, as someone
who has respect for the work thatthey're doing and wants to improve on
themselves and produce a final productthat can be used out in the real world.
And then the third onewould be as a citizen.
You know, you're not making video foran entertainment value or for some
(15:40):
kind of commercial purpose, it's for anon-profit it's for a direct benefit in
your community and being a citizen ofthat community, understanding how you
can directly impact and improve it, um,is a really valuable experience that
I think the fellowship teaches you tobe as, as a student, as a filmmaker
and as a citizen, all three of thosethings are directly a part of this
(16:00):
process that you get to learn and askyourself, how do I want to be seen?
And how do I want to actas these three roles?
for more information and to donateto the scholarship, visit the link in
the description now back to the show.
So it's my understanding thatthis bill is currently going
through the House and the Senate.
Do you have a date whenthey'll vote on the bill?
And if it is passed, whenwill it come into action?
(16:24):
Currently the bill has been introducedin the House and Senate, both.
The bill is a two part bill in eachchamber and right now they're going
through the various committees thatlook at all the bills together and
they bring them up for a hearing.
So right now it's in committee and we havea hearing coming up at the end of October.
(16:44):
That's tentatively scheduled for the 31st.
We'll need a big showing in Lansing toshow how much support and excitement
there is behind this bill when wedo have that hearing date right now
it's looking like the end of October,but basically they bring it up for
hearing and then they go on and vote.
For it within their respectivechambers, and then it goes to
(17:05):
the governor to get signed.
The goal is that this is all happeningbefore the end of the year, and if
it does happen before the end of theyear would be part of essentially
next year's budget, and it wouldtake place immediately next year.
So right now is really thefinish line for us in some
ways, but we're not over it yet.
This has been an effort that MiFIAin general has been spearheading
(17:27):
for the last 2 years, and evena little longer prior to that.
This is when it's in thehands of the legislators.
MiFIA has supported this bill throughoutand is doing some of the organizing
and meetings with legislators andadvocating on behalf of filmmakers
and crew and vendors in the state,but it's in the legislators hands and
that's why we need people, if theysupport this new program, write your
(17:49):
legislators, join MIFIA, and help us out.
On volunteer side, wehave events coming up.
We have other things that afterthis bill is passed, we're going
to need to continue to function toassist filmmakers with this program.
There's a special, studentmembership rate to join MiFIA.
I think it's 25 bucks or so.
It's a great way to stay informed andstay in the loop on what's happening
(18:11):
in the film industry in our state.
Write your legislators.
Cause now's the time.
On MiFIA's website under action,it's super easy to send out an
email to your local representative.
You fill in your address and theyautomatically find your representative,
draft the email for you with acustomized message supporting the bill.
I've sent one, I've sent actuallytwo now, because today I got
(18:33):
another email about taking action.
It took me five minutes.
Yeah.
Thanks for mentioning that.
And thanks for writing too.
The legislators need to hear fromtheir constituents to see how much
excitement there is behind a bill.
This is a great tool on our website.
It's mifia.org/take-action.
Just like Jeff said, you can fillout your address and information
(18:53):
automatically, drafts an email.
You can share your story.
It can just be a couple of sentencesor you can write a page if you
want, but it automatically drafts anemail to your local representatives.
There's one form for the house.
There's another form for the Senate.
So make sure you follow through onboth because the bills, as I said,
are introduced in both chambers.
So yeah, we try to make it really easyfor people to reach their representatives.
(19:16):
That's a great way to doit on the website, sign up.
Become a MiFIA member and sign upfor a mailing list to stay updated
on when these hearing dates are goingto happen, because that's the next
big step for us is making our voicesheard at the Capitol in Lansing.
We've had a lot of reallygreat events already.
There was one in Grand Rapids,Traverse City, Metro Detroit, and I'm
sure there'll be some planned in thefuture that everyone can take part in.
(19:39):
Check out the MiFIA.org websitebecause that's the best way right now
to get a hold of your legislators.
As you've been bringing this bill toMichigan filmmakers, you've been doing
a lot of outreach with the community.
What challenges have you facedin bringing this to the public?
So non-filmmakers, making them aware ofthe positive impacts and really getting
them on the same page as filmmakers.
(20:03):
Filmmakers are definitely aware of allthe benefits that film productions and
having creative industries in the statebring, but people that aren't in our
industry, it's not their fault, it's adifficult industry to understand at times.
The jobs in our industry are multi weekjobs that are not year long salary jobs.
So you're working manydifferent productions for many
(20:24):
different production companies.
And then of course, as we mentionedearlier, you have all the caterers,
the vendors, the hotels, and other.
Aspects that aren't directly relatedto film, but that benefit from these
productions being around their local area.
Some of the challenges have beenjust educating people on what
it means when there is a filmincentive in a state and what that
(20:45):
kind of local spending looks like.
The other one that we've had a challengewith is that the old program, because
it was coming out of the recession in2008, and it was a program that was
meant to really jumpstart jobs, therewas some shortcomings of that incentive.
It was perceived as a bit of a handout toHollywood and this is definitely not that.
(21:06):
This is keeping tax dollars in the state.
This is bringing extra money into thestate that wouldn't otherwise be spent
and there's no money leaving the state.
We're not writing checks toWarner brothers on this one.
Unfortunately, as beneficial as thatlast incentive was for people like me
that were working crew on all of theseincredible projects, the state itself
had a bad experience, and it's beena little bit of a hurdle to educate
(21:29):
people and let them know that thisincentive program is very different.
It's based on the success of otherstates like New Mexico and Atlanta.
It just takes time to let people knowwhat's in the new bill and how it benefits
Michigan people, and that it's notthe handout that the last program was.
I'll just say, we can talk all day aboutthe bill, but when I was graduating
(21:50):
from the University of Michigan in2008, with the prospect of potentially
leaving everything that I knew behind,starting a new life in a very expensive
market like Los Angeles with noconnections, it was pretty daunting.
And if that film incentive had notbeen in place, I would have not had
nearly the same opportunity that Idid in 2008 when I decided to stay in
(22:13):
Michigan and pursue a film career here.
In Los Angeles, it would have taken memany more years to make the connections
that I did and to get onto productionsthat I did right out of college.
That's what I'm the most excited about.
I was in the shoes of the freshlygraduated film student with a
big question mark in front of me.
And when that film incentivehappened, it was bringing
(22:33):
everything right to our doorstep.
It certainly abbreviated the amountof time that I needed to work my
way into this industry, which attimes can be hard to work into.
So that's what I'm excited about.
If this film incentive program is inour state, people that are going to
our colleges and universities havesome kind of avenue to get into this
industry in an entry level way, in away that brings them a lot of experience
(22:57):
right here in their own backyard,where they don't have to make a major
career move and a major move across thecountry that costs 10-20,000 dollars.
You can stay here andstart your career here.
Build it up here and we're going tohave the same jobs that they have
in Los Angeles with this incentive.
It's going to be the same type of workyou'd be doing in another market, but it's
(23:18):
going to be right here in your backyard.
If you've listened to some of the otherpodcast episodes, you've heard from
Grand Valley alumni who have moved to LosAngeles, to Atlanta, to New York City,
and they've talked about the challengesbreaking into the industry, and the
challenges moving with the cost ofliving, with rent, finding an apartment,
it's difficult, it's really difficult.
But staying in Michigan with thesame opportunities, it could happen.
(23:42):
I agree.
it's not easy to move across thecountry, put a down payment on a
new apartment in a really expensivecity and an expensive market.
And then, get into a wholenew community out there.
There's nothing wrong with going tothese places and pursuing your career.
But Michigan, at the veryleast, would be very competitive
against these other markets.
(24:03):
And if I was a young graduate with thisprogram in place in the state that I
went to school in or grew up in, it wouldcertainly make me reevaluate whether
moving to Los Angeles would be worth it.
If it's going to be the same types ofproductions and opportunities here, and
I'm already, as a film student, in theloop on your peer group of film community,
and, that's how you grow in this industry.
(24:25):
There's always opportunities to reachhigher and work with people with more
experience and big directors and so forth.
But the more day to day jobs in thefilm industry are with your peers
and colleagues that you went to filmschool with, that you made a short
film with, that you made a music videowith, and you're growing together.
And this would allow you guys to growtogether, right here in the state.
So, I'm a Michigander, andI was born and raised here.
(24:48):
I know that the state itself has notbeen growing recently in population size.
How will this bill in particular helpkeep young people in Michigan, and what
will that do for the state as a whole?
I was just looking the other day.
There's been a couple of studiesrecently on the numbers of young
people that leave our state.
I think it's something like, 25 percent ofpeople between 18 and 29 in general leave
(25:12):
the state, and of our college graduatesin the creative fields, it's much higher.
It's something like 60 percentthat leave for other opportunities.
This would make us competitiveagain in these areas.
They're not leaving becausethey don't like it here.
Everyone that leaves this stateeither grew up in Michigan or went to
school here, and they love and see thepotential behind this amazing state.
(25:34):
They're leaving because there'sopportunities elsewhere.
That's why we're one of ninestates in this country that
doesn't have a media incentive.
They're going to everywhere else.
So, we really have to stemthe brain drain in this state.
This is our future.
The ingenuity and the strength of ouryoung people are the future of this state,
and this gives them another reason tostay beyond just my family's here and
(25:56):
it's a beautiful state and it's a greatplace to have a great quality of life.
Now, you can also have allthat and do your job here.
There are creative opportunitiesin this state right now, but
they're limited and this wouldcertainly be unlimited opportunity.
It would be an overnightgame changer, basically.
Ideally, people in these creativeindustries and again, not just
(26:17):
TV and film, but marketing,communications, you're going
to be seeing virtual productionbecome a big part of our industry.
You need computer engineers, you needcomputer scientists, software developers.
This is all under theumbrella of multimedia.
And those are the jobs of the future.
Wow, that was very well said, andI'm sure that touched a lot of
(26:37):
young people listening right now.
So Jeff, you're based inDetroit, is that right?
Yeah.
What are the opportunities likein Detroit right now, and how
would that change with this bill?
Is Detroit a large enoughmarket to support a filmmaker?
And how does that compare to marketslike Grand Rapids or Traverse City?
The state of Michigan has twomain film markets right now.
(27:00):
One is focused in Grand Rapidsand the industries and companies
around the Grand Rapids area.
And the other is in SoutheastMichigan around Metro Detroit.
There are opportunities in film currentlywithout an incentive in the state.
Michigan has always been astrong producer of commercials.
So you have the automobile industry here.
(27:21):
You have Amway and other industries thatproduce a lot of television commercials
and online, social media content,things like that for those big companies.
So Detroit has historically alwayshad a very strong commercial
industry, and there are opportunitiesto work in commercial filmmaking,
in both Detroit and Grand Rapids.
Detroit and maybe not so much GrandRapids, but occasionally Grand Rapids,
(27:44):
but the state in general does get oneor two large narrative productions
per year that come in for a specificreason, because scenes take place
here, or they need footage of Holland,Michigan, or they want to film "Beverly
Hills Cop 4" in downtown Detroit.
And they usually do a majority of theirfilming outside of the state and then
(28:05):
come into the state just for what theyneed, because there is no incentive here.
For them to do their whole productionin this state, because 20 percent of
the scenes take place in Michigan orDetroit or Grand Rapids, it doesn't
make sense from a financial standpoint.
So they come for a very limitedamount of time to get only the
shots and scenes that they needwith our state, and then they leave.
(28:26):
You would see two thingshappen with this new incentive.
The first thing that would happen isyou would get major film productions
coming to each of these markets.
So you'd see a lot in Detroit area.
You'd see a lot in Grand Rapids.
You have a handful going up toTraverse City and some of our
beaches and things like that.
And then you would have thecommercial industry, which
is already very strong here.
(28:47):
That would be increased evenmore and become very robust.
And basically we would be one ofthe major commercial producing
markets in the United States.
It would strengthen our existingcommercial industry and it would bring
many more large narrative projects to bothof these markets that wouldn't otherwise
be here, that normally, they have 20percent of their scenes taking place
(29:09):
in Michigan, with a film incentive inplace, they might say, "okay, well, let's
just do the whole shoot in Michigan."
And even for the handful of scenes thatdon't take place in Michigan, we'll
make the airport look like somewhereelse And then you would have, many more
commercial productions coming as well.
For filmmakers who don't know thereach of commercial projects, what
are some examples of commercialprojects that you've worked on?
(29:31):
I've done a lot of work forthe automobile industry.
I've shot Chevy, I've shotCadillac and Mustang, and all
of the associated car brands.
I've worked a lot for GrandRapids companies, Merrill.
During my career in Los Angeles, Iwas working for Under Armor, for Nike.
It was many, many different brands.
And it was not just majorTV commercials either.
(29:53):
A lot of these productions, theyput the same amount of resources
and time into projects thatgo to smaller screens as well.
So you have a lot of social media content.
That's what you would see with thefilm incentive in place, you'd get
not just the Michigan companies andthe ones related to the auto industry.
They would certainly betaking advantage of it.
But you might see Under Armour and Nikeand those kinds of companies coming in
(30:17):
and doing commercial work here as well.
Geoff, thank you so much for joiningus on the Alumni Live podcast.
I'm sure that we're all eager to witnessthe positive impacts of this bill.
For those of us listening, make sure toreach out to your local representatives,
vocalize your support, and justcontribute to this revolutionary
change in Michigan's film industry.
Again, thank you for joining, Geoff.
Do you have any closingstatements you'd like to say?
(30:39):
Thank you so much for having me on.
And I really appreciate the opportunityto share with your listeners about
the Multimedia Jobs Act and MiFIA.
We want to see the filmindustry grow in this state.
Our young people are our future.
We need your talents and we needyou guys here to be doing awesome
stuff in this state in film.
Thank you for joining us for thisepisode of Alumni Live: The Podcast.
(31:02):
Subscribe to our podcast, to hear morefrom our alumni across the industry.
Check out Alumni Live onFacebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
For more conversations and networking.
Let us know what topics you wantto hear our alumni talk about the
Grand Valley State University FilmVideo Alumni Network is here for
you, and we're glad that you're here.
Thank you for listening.
The Podcast.
These are conversations with GrandValley State University film and video
graduates about the industry, the filmand video major and alumni profiles.
Welcome back to Alumni Live.
I'm Jeff Staub, a senior in Grand Valley'sFilm and Video Production program.
Joining us to talk about the MichiganMultimedia Jobs Act is Geoff George.
(00:24):
Geoff is an Education OutreachChair for the Michigan Film Industry
Association and a talented Directorof Photography from Detroit, Michigan.
Today we'll explore the legislationcurrently under consideration in both
the Michigan House and Senate, whereit will soon undergo a crucial vote.
We'll learn about the far-reachingpositive impacts of the bill, understand
its implication for current Michiganfilmmakers, and learn some simple
(00:47):
ways that you can support this bill.
Hey Geoff, thanks forcoming on the podcast.
Thanks so much for having me, Jeff,and thanks so much to everyone
Grand Valley for being such greatpartners in this effort that we're
trying to do here in the state.
So I know that you're from Detroit,Michigan and a U of M alumni.
When did you graduate and did theprevious film incentive have any
(01:07):
positive implications in your career?
I grew up in Metro Detroit andI attended the University of
Michigan between 2004 and 2008.
And when I graduated in 2008,it was during the first Michigan
Film Incentive, which lastedfrom about 2008 to 2014 or 15.
And I was a perfect example ofsomeone that was, a young person in
(01:31):
the state graduating from universitywith a really amazing incentive
program here in the state that wasattracting productions to our doorstep.
So, I put my plans to move to Los Angeles,like many of us that were graduating
in film at that time were doing.
I put those plans on hold.
I decided to stay here in the stateand start working in camera department
(01:54):
on film and TV productions and wehad so many that were coming here and
they were large productions, smallproductions, medium sized productions.
And it was a pathway right away, rightout of graduation to start working in
film that would have otherwise been quitea hurdle if I was living in Los Angeles.
So that program was really career changingfor me, and now, at that time the previous
(02:19):
administration got rid of those credits.
There was a budget deficit in thestate and some other issues with
the program itself because of theway that it was pushed through.
And now we have this amazing opportunityto start fresh, really refine this
program into something that can benefitMichigan people and Michigan vendors,
create Michigan jobs, and provide anamazing, incredible opportunity for
(02:41):
our young people graduating in thecreative fields, not just film and TV,
but also because of the way that thisnew program is structured, but also
music production, post production,all of the related industries,
not to mention all of the vendors,caterers, hotels, equipment vendors
that would benefit from this as well.
(03:02):
I've been fortunate to work as acinematographer, both in Michigan and
in Los Angeles throughout my career.
But we really love shooting in Michigan.
When we had productions cominghere in the mid two thousands.
We had people buying homes and movingtheir families to the state of Michigan
because of our natural beauty, becauseof the West side of the state and the
amazing beaches, to the city centersin the southeast, and it's an amazing
(03:25):
location to shoot and to create film.
This is another opportunity for ourstudents with this new incentive.
You said it so well, Michigan has it all.
It has the beaches, it has cities, andeven up north, a lot of wooded areas, and
a lot of different landscapes that areperfect for filmmaking and photography.
I think those aspects really does makeMichigan just naturally attractive.
(03:46):
When you were graduating from the U ofM, you were brought on with below the
line jobs, and then kind of worked yourway up from production to production,
made your connections, and made aname for yourself within the state.
Yeah.
There is no established frameworkfor how to get into film.
This is the big challenge thateverybody who's graduating in the
(04:06):
creative arts has in front of themwhen they're a student of film or
they want to get into this industry.
And basically like every opportunity infilm, a door opened and I went through it.
I had just freshly graduatedfrom the University of Michigan.
A film production was in townthat had someone on the camera
team who was a U of M grad.
They reached out to the U of Mfilm department and said, we need a
(04:29):
camera trainee and a PA-type person.
And is anybody interestedin camera department?
Because that was my focus in filmschool was cinematography and
lighting, I was on the list of the fewstudents who were interested in that.
And then basically Iinterviewed and got the job.
Once you work one movie like that andyou do a good job and people like working
(04:49):
with you, regardless of your experiencelevel, you get pulled into the loop.
Maybe you're starting as PA andthen you work your way up to
the next position on the ladder.
That's a common way.
And that's the way that I got into this.
I worked as a Camera PA then Iworked as an Assistant Cameraman.
Then I was a Camera Operator andnow I'm a Cinematographer, but
it took years to build that up.
But basically that would happen againwith this new film incentive program,
(05:13):
which is, it's called the Multimedia JobsAct, and that's really what it's about.
It's about bringing money and productionsinto this state that wouldn't otherwise
be here, and provide amazing opportunitiesto our crew, and vendors, and all the
components of this massive film community,this army of people that's needed every
time that there's a film production.
I worked my way up throughthe camera department.
(05:34):
Everybody's journey isgoing to be different.
Mine was more traditional in that Iworked my way up through the camera
department as an AC and eventually aCinematographer, but there would be
opportunities in all the departments.
You have Art Department,Hair, Makeup, Sound.
You have the offices and theinfrastructure that is supporting these
productions on a large scale that therewould be, production office, PA jobs.
(05:55):
There would be set PA jobs, and thatcould lead to any number of departments.
I always tell people graduating in filmor starting their careers in film, " Pick
a department that you're interestedin and focus on that to get people
to hire you within that department,"because we all want to be directors.
We all want to write our own movie oneday and do great things, which is, a great
(06:15):
goal to have, but in the meantime, wehave a job to do and we have bills to pay.
And as artists and filmmakers, you have tofind a way to stay consistently working.
And with the film incentive programin the state, there's going to be
enough of a quantity of qualityproductions in the state, that you'll
be able to continue working within adepartment and make a career out of it.
(06:38):
And you don't need to go to oneof the coasts or to Chicago.
If you want to stay close tohome and raise a family here, the
cost of living is a lot lower.
The quality of life is a lot higher.
The only thing we're missingis the job opportunity.
This film incentive provides that jobopportunity, the infrastructure that will
need to be here to support those jobs.
(06:59):
And you'll be able to follow your careerpath with an incentive like this in place.
That was fantastic advice forthe young filmmakers listening.
I know personally, the peoplewithin my circle have large goals
and a vision for the future.
And you do have to pick up jobs thathelp support yourself and pay the
bills and one thing with this act thatafter doing some research, is it's
(07:21):
supportive of advertising and commercialprojects, the types of projects that
keep you afloat and keep you workingtowards those long term goals.
There's 37 other states with filmincentives and some do have advertising
and commercial benefits and incentives,but this one in particular is ahead
of the game with, their incentives.
(07:42):
It is absolutely.
And it's a really good point.
I'm glad you brought it up.
That number has already changed.
It's 41 other states that havesome kind of media incentive.
Missouri was just added to the list.
We're way behind as far asbeing on par with other States
that are open to this industry.
And you're correct.
One unique thing about this bill isthat it's not just for TV and film,
(08:05):
it includes a short form componentthat would allow short films, music
videos, commercials, corporate videos,industrial videos, all to qualify
through this tax credit program.
So, you would have not just the largeTV productions coming in and the
Netflix movies and things like that,but you would really have the bread and
(08:27):
butter of what keeps people like me.
That are, crew people and vendors,actively working, which is the
short form commercial content, thecorporate content, and the industrial.
We have a large manufacturing basein the state of Michigan and they
all need training videos and a lotof people don't consider that as
part of these film incentives becauseHollywood and all of that takes a
(08:49):
lot of the limelight as it were.
But really, the more everyday jobsin this industry are for commercial,
industrial, and corporate type work.
Because of this component being inthis incentive, you would see a huge
increase in that amount of productions.
You would have local companies andcorporations taking advantage of that.
They would be incentivized to hirelocally because they would only qualify
(09:12):
for the credit if they hire locally.
Importantly, it's a tax credit.
They're not getting a blank check.
It's a program that's been successfulin other states, which is that they
get a tax credit, which they can useagainst their Michigan tax liability.
And it doesn't really matter for thoseof us in crew and students graduating.
But importantly, the money that,is being given on the credit
is staying within the state.
(09:33):
It's not coming out of taxpayers dollarsand it's not a check being written
to a Hollywood production company.
It's basically a job creation program.
And because of these lower thresholdsand the short form component, you would
have a lot of these smaller shootsthat are the bread and butter of our
industry that really are what keep usconsistently working throughout the year.
(09:55):
You would have a bigincrease in that as well.
Jumping back to the previousfilm incentive I heard about
vendors and sound stages thatestablished themselves in the state.
Do you see some, permanent residencesfor these studios in the near
future with this bill passing?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
If this bill passes,inevitably, you would need the
infrastructure here to support it.
(10:16):
So it would probably take a little bit oftime to get up and running, but you would
definitely be seeing sound stages open.
You would perhaps be seeing LosAngeles and New York based production
companies opening offices here.
And importantly, we're anticipatingthat there would be 300 to 500
million dollars in direct spend inthe first year alone of this act.
(10:36):
That would be money coming into the statethat wouldn't otherwise be spent here.
And it would be a mix of theselarge studio productions, but
importantly, also a lot of thiscommercial and industrial work.
So yeah, you would definitely seesome permanent studios opening.
Which again is a lot morejob opportunities for
people working those stages.
(10:57):
And you would probably see thingsthat you wouldn't even consider,
like, back when we had the old filmincentive, we had the stage in Pontiac.
They were building sets for Oz and therewas a local lumber supplier who had to
grow their business by 200 percent and buynew property and open a new lumber yard
just to supply productions of these sizethat were coming in and building sets.
(11:20):
It's not just the sound people andthe camera guys and all of this, it's
the local coffee shop that was openedby a mother, daughter, those kinds of
stories that all of a sudden they'regetting a flood of crew that's coming
in and buying coffee because they'restaying or filming across the street.
So, trickles down in otherways that you don't consider.
I think you would probably seea lot of people moving back to
(11:41):
Michigan that left at one time forAtlanta, or Los Angeles, or New York.
And you would probably see some of thosepeople that grew up or have worked many
years in their career there that arelooking to move somewhere with an easier
lifestyle, higher quality of life.
And you would see some ofthem moving to the state.
All of this sounds super fantastic,big Hollywood budgets coming in
(12:03):
industrial commercial work coming in.
Getting down to like the specificsof some of these qualifications.
You have a minimum spend of 300,000dollars for 20 minute or longer
projects, so that can includeindependent shorts, feature length
films, films that don't requirethat Hollywood studio to support it.
I think that you can get somereally unique perspectives from
(12:25):
the state and from the creativepeople who will move back.
And you also have the minimumspend of 50,000 dollars per
project for under 20 minutes.
So that can support the same thingwith short form content, short films,
really getting that perspective ofthe Michigander out into the public.
Yeah, you're absolutely right.
This is a great point because the programwas structured in such a way that we don't
(12:46):
necessarily want a giant movie comingin and using the entire budget that's
allocated for this on one production.
We want a variety of differentsizes of productions.
And in particular, lookingfor those small, medium, and
medium large size productions.
They provide jobs for all of usthat are already fortunate enough
(13:08):
to be working in this business.
So the experienced crew that's been doingit for 10, 15, 20 years, and there'll be
productions that'll hire those people.
And then you have these smallerproductions, when you're talking
about a feature film, that's a300-750,000 dollar budget, that's
an extremely small indie movie.
(13:28):
That is exactly the kind of project thatpeople just graduating from Grand Valley
or other universities in the state aregoing to get jobs on because, for one
thing, the larger productions are goingto take some of the more experienced
crew, and these smaller productions aregoing to have openings and opportunities
for people just starting their careers.
That was a key component of this thatmakes it really different from the
(13:51):
last time around and allows independentproductions, short films, music videos
to be a part of this new incentiveprogram and the excitement and the
jobs that will be generated through it.
That's where our opportunities arefor young people in this state, are on
these medium and small productions whenthey're just graduating from school.
We want to make sure that that'spart of this program and that those
(14:13):
productions are coming here too.
You'll probably see a lot of homegrownfilmmakers, raising through friends and
family and donors, 3 to 500, 000 to doan indie feature or, you might see people
raising 50 or 60,000 to do a short film ora short documentary about their hometown.
We have a lot of great filmfestivals in this state as well.
(14:35):
Traverse City, FreshCoast, and other ones.
This is the kind of homegrown communitythat we're trying to nurture here.
And not just the big namesand the big productions.
This episode is brought to you by theChuck Peterson Memorial fellowship.
The fellowship was established by ChuckPeterson's family and friends to assist
the upper-level students in the film andvideo program at GVSU who were working
(14:57):
on creative projects that support thenonprofit sector in their community.
Kyle Macciome, the 2020 recipient,of that fellowship describes the
benefits of the support he received
When going through this fellowship,there are three separate parts
of yourself that I think get toexperience a lot of development.
The first is as a student, becausethis is a learning process.
You get to learn how to work witha client on your own independently,
(15:19):
out in the world, away from theclassroom, like you would in
something like producing for clients.
And the second one would be as a videomaker, as a video producer, as someone
who has respect for the work thatthey're doing and wants to improve on
themselves and produce a final productthat can be used out in the real world.
And then the third onewould be as a citizen.
You know, you're not making video foran entertainment value or for some
(15:40):
kind of commercial purpose, it's for anon-profit it's for a direct benefit in
your community and being a citizen ofthat community, understanding how you
can directly impact and improve it, um,is a really valuable experience that
I think the fellowship teaches you tobe as, as a student, as a filmmaker
and as a citizen, all three of thosethings are directly a part of this
(16:00):
process that you get to learn and askyourself, how do I want to be seen?
And how do I want to actas these three roles?
for more information and to donateto the scholarship, visit the link in
the description now back to the show.
So it's my understanding thatthis bill is currently going
through the House and the Senate.
Do you have a date whenthey'll vote on the bill?
And if it is passed, whenwill it come into action?
(16:24):
Currently the bill has been introducedin the House and Senate, both.
The bill is a two part bill in eachchamber and right now they're going
through the various committees thatlook at all the bills together and
they bring them up for a hearing.
So right now it's in committee and we havea hearing coming up at the end of October.
(16:44):
That's tentatively scheduled for the 31st.
We'll need a big showing in Lansing toshow how much support and excitement
there is behind this bill when wedo have that hearing date right now
it's looking like the end of October,but basically they bring it up for
hearing and then they go on and vote.
For it within their respectivechambers, and then it goes to
(17:05):
the governor to get signed.
The goal is that this is all happeningbefore the end of the year, and if
it does happen before the end of theyear would be part of essentially
next year's budget, and it wouldtake place immediately next year.
So right now is really thefinish line for us in some
ways, but we're not over it yet.
This has been an effort that MiFIAin general has been spearheading
(17:27):
for the last 2 years, and evena little longer prior to that.
This is when it's in thehands of the legislators.
MiFIA has supported this bill throughoutand is doing some of the organizing
and meetings with legislators andadvocating on behalf of filmmakers
and crew and vendors in the state,but it's in the legislators hands and
that's why we need people, if theysupport this new program, write your
(17:49):
legislators, join MIFIA, and help us out.
On volunteer side, wehave events coming up.
We have other things that afterthis bill is passed, we're going
to need to continue to function toassist filmmakers with this program.
There's a special, studentmembership rate to join MiFIA.
I think it's 25 bucks or so.
It's a great way to stay informed andstay in the loop on what's happening
(18:11):
in the film industry in our state.
Write your legislators.
Cause now's the time.
On MiFIA's website under action,it's super easy to send out an
email to your local representative.
You fill in your address and theyautomatically find your representative,
draft the email for you with acustomized message supporting the bill.
I've sent one, I've sent actuallytwo now, because today I got
(18:33):
another email about taking action.
It took me five minutes.
Yeah.
Thanks for mentioning that.
And thanks for writing too.
The legislators need to hear fromtheir constituents to see how much
excitement there is behind a bill.
This is a great tool on our website.
It's mifia.org/take-action.
Just like Jeff said, you can fillout your address and information
(18:53):
automatically, drafts an email.
You can share your story.
It can just be a couple of sentencesor you can write a page if you
want, but it automatically drafts anemail to your local representatives.
There's one form for the house.
There's another form for the Senate.
So make sure you follow through onboth because the bills, as I said,
are introduced in both chambers.
So yeah, we try to make it really easyfor people to reach their representatives.
(19:16):
That's a great way to doit on the website, sign up.
Become a MiFIA member and sign upfor a mailing list to stay updated
on when these hearing dates are goingto happen, because that's the next
big step for us is making our voicesheard at the Capitol in Lansing.
We've had a lot of reallygreat events already.
There was one in Grand Rapids,Traverse City, Metro Detroit, and I'm
sure there'll be some planned in thefuture that everyone can take part in.
(19:39):
Check out the MiFIA.org websitebecause that's the best way right now
to get a hold of your legislators.
As you've been bringing this bill toMichigan filmmakers, you've been doing
a lot of outreach with the community.
What challenges have you facedin bringing this to the public?
So non-filmmakers, making them aware ofthe positive impacts and really getting
them on the same page as filmmakers.
(20:03):
Filmmakers are definitely aware of allthe benefits that film productions and
having creative industries in the statebring, but people that aren't in our
industry, it's not their fault, it's adifficult industry to understand at times.
The jobs in our industry are multi weekjobs that are not year long salary jobs.
So you're working manydifferent productions for many
(20:24):
different production companies.
And then of course, as we mentionedearlier, you have all the caterers,
the vendors, the hotels, and other.
Aspects that aren't directly relatedto film, but that benefit from these
productions being around their local area.
Some of the challenges have beenjust educating people on what
it means when there is a filmincentive in a state and what that
(20:45):
kind of local spending looks like.
The other one that we've had a challengewith is that the old program, because
it was coming out of the recession in2008, and it was a program that was
meant to really jumpstart jobs, therewas some shortcomings of that incentive.
It was perceived as a bit of a handout toHollywood and this is definitely not that.
(21:06):
This is keeping tax dollars in the state.
This is bringing extra money into thestate that wouldn't otherwise be spent
and there's no money leaving the state.
We're not writing checks toWarner brothers on this one.
Unfortunately, as beneficial as thatlast incentive was for people like me
that were working crew on all of theseincredible projects, the state itself
had a bad experience, and it's beena little bit of a hurdle to educate
(21:29):
people and let them know that thisincentive program is very different.
It's based on the success of otherstates like New Mexico and Atlanta.
It just takes time to let people knowwhat's in the new bill and how it benefits
Michigan people, and that it's notthe handout that the last program was.
I'll just say, we can talk all day aboutthe bill, but when I was graduating
(21:50):
from the University of Michigan in2008, with the prospect of potentially
leaving everything that I knew behind,starting a new life in a very expensive
market like Los Angeles with noconnections, it was pretty daunting.
And if that film incentive had notbeen in place, I would have not had
nearly the same opportunity that Idid in 2008 when I decided to stay in
(22:13):
Michigan and pursue a film career here.
In Los Angeles, it would have taken memany more years to make the connections
that I did and to get onto productionsthat I did right out of college.
That's what I'm the most excited about.
I was in the shoes of the freshlygraduated film student with a
big question mark in front of me.
And when that film incentivehappened, it was bringing
(22:33):
everything right to our doorstep.
It certainly abbreviated the amountof time that I needed to work my
way into this industry, which attimes can be hard to work into.
So that's what I'm excited about.
If this film incentive program is inour state, people that are going to
our colleges and universities havesome kind of avenue to get into this
industry in an entry level way, in away that brings them a lot of experience
(22:57):
right here in their own backyard,where they don't have to make a major
career move and a major move across thecountry that costs 10-20,000 dollars.
You can stay here andstart your career here.
Build it up here and we're going tohave the same jobs that they have
in Los Angeles with this incentive.
It's going to be the same type of workyou'd be doing in another market, but it's
(23:18):
going to be right here in your backyard.
If you've listened to some of the otherpodcast episodes, you've heard from
Grand Valley alumni who have moved to LosAngeles, to Atlanta, to New York City,
and they've talked about the challengesbreaking into the industry, and the
challenges moving with the cost ofliving, with rent, finding an apartment,
it's difficult, it's really difficult.
But staying in Michigan with thesame opportunities, it could happen.
(23:42):
I agree.
it's not easy to move across thecountry, put a down payment on a
new apartment in a really expensivecity and an expensive market.
And then, get into a wholenew community out there.
There's nothing wrong with going tothese places and pursuing your career.
But Michigan, at the veryleast, would be very competitive
against these other markets.
(24:03):
And if I was a young graduate with thisprogram in place in the state that I
went to school in or grew up in, it wouldcertainly make me reevaluate whether
moving to Los Angeles would be worth it.
If it's going to be the same types ofproductions and opportunities here, and
I'm already, as a film student, in theloop on your peer group of film community,
and, that's how you grow in this industry.
(24:25):
There's always opportunities to reachhigher and work with people with more
experience and big directors and so forth.
But the more day to day jobs in thefilm industry are with your peers
and colleagues that you went to filmschool with, that you made a short
film with, that you made a music videowith, and you're growing together.
And this would allow you guys to growtogether, right here in the state.
So, I'm a Michigander, andI was born and raised here.
(24:48):
I know that the state itself has notbeen growing recently in population size.
How will this bill in particular helpkeep young people in Michigan, and what
will that do for the state as a whole?
I was just looking the other day.
There's been a couple of studiesrecently on the numbers of young
people that leave our state.
I think it's something like, 25 percent ofpeople between 18 and 29 in general leave
(25:12):
the state, and of our college graduatesin the creative fields, it's much higher.
It's something like 60 percentthat leave for other opportunities.
This would make us competitiveagain in these areas.
They're not leaving becausethey don't like it here.
Everyone that leaves this stateeither grew up in Michigan or went to
school here, and they love and see thepotential behind this amazing state.
(25:34):
They're leaving because there'sopportunities elsewhere.
That's why we're one of ninestates in this country that
doesn't have a media incentive.
They're going to everywhere else.
So, we really have to stemthe brain drain in this state.
This is our future.
The ingenuity and the strength of ouryoung people are the future of this state,
and this gives them another reason tostay beyond just my family's here and
(25:56):
it's a beautiful state and it's a greatplace to have a great quality of life.
Now, you can also have allthat and do your job here.
There are creative opportunitiesin this state right now, but
they're limited and this wouldcertainly be unlimited opportunity.
It would be an overnightgame changer, basically.
Ideally, people in these creativeindustries and again, not just
(26:17):
TV and film, but marketing,communications, you're going
to be seeing virtual productionbecome a big part of our industry.
You need computer engineers, you needcomputer scientists, software developers.
This is all under theumbrella of multimedia.
And those are the jobs of the future.
Wow, that was very well said, andI'm sure that touched a lot of
(26:37):
young people listening right now.
So Jeff, you're based inDetroit, is that right?
Yeah.
What are the opportunities likein Detroit right now, and how
would that change with this bill?
Is Detroit a large enoughmarket to support a filmmaker?
And how does that compare to marketslike Grand Rapids or Traverse City?
The state of Michigan has twomain film markets right now.
(27:00):
One is focused in Grand Rapidsand the industries and companies
around the Grand Rapids area.
And the other is in SoutheastMichigan around Metro Detroit.
There are opportunities in film currentlywithout an incentive in the state.
Michigan has always been astrong producer of commercials.
So you have the automobile industry here.
(27:21):
You have Amway and other industries thatproduce a lot of television commercials
and online, social media content,things like that for those big companies.
So Detroit has historically alwayshad a very strong commercial
industry, and there are opportunitiesto work in commercial filmmaking,
in both Detroit and Grand Rapids.
Detroit and maybe not so much GrandRapids, but occasionally Grand Rapids,
(27:44):
but the state in general does get oneor two large narrative productions
per year that come in for a specificreason, because scenes take place
here, or they need footage of Holland,Michigan, or they want to film "Beverly
Hills Cop 4" in downtown Detroit.
And they usually do a majority of theirfilming outside of the state and then
(28:05):
come into the state just for what theyneed, because there is no incentive here.
For them to do their whole productionin this state, because 20 percent of
the scenes take place in Michigan orDetroit or Grand Rapids, it doesn't
make sense from a financial standpoint.
So they come for a very limitedamount of time to get only the
shots and scenes that they needwith our state, and then they leave.
(28:26):
You would see two thingshappen with this new incentive.
The first thing that would happen isyou would get major film productions
coming to each of these markets.
So you'd see a lot in Detroit area.
You'd see a lot in Grand Rapids.
You have a handful going up toTraverse City and some of our
beaches and things like that.
And then you would have thecommercial industry, which
is already very strong here.
(28:47):
That would be increased evenmore and become very robust.
And basically we would be one ofthe major commercial producing
markets in the United States.
It would strengthen our existingcommercial industry and it would bring
many more large narrative projects to bothof these markets that wouldn't otherwise
be here, that normally, they have 20percent of their scenes taking place
(29:09):
in Michigan, with a film incentive inplace, they might say, "okay, well, let's
just do the whole shoot in Michigan."
And even for the handful of scenes thatdon't take place in Michigan, we'll
make the airport look like somewhereelse And then you would have, many more
commercial productions coming as well.
For filmmakers who don't know thereach of commercial projects, what
are some examples of commercialprojects that you've worked on?
(29:31):
I've done a lot of work forthe automobile industry.
I've shot Chevy, I've shotCadillac and Mustang, and all
of the associated car brands.
I've worked a lot for GrandRapids companies, Merrill.
During my career in Los Angeles, Iwas working for Under Armor, for Nike.
It was many, many different brands.
And it was not just majorTV commercials either.
(29:53):
A lot of these productions, theyput the same amount of resources
and time into projects thatgo to smaller screens as well.
So you have a lot of social media content.
That's what you would see with thefilm incentive in place, you'd get
not just the Michigan companies andthe ones related to the auto industry.
They would certainly betaking advantage of it.
But you might see Under Armour and Nikeand those kinds of companies coming in
(30:17):
and doing commercial work here as well.
Geoff, thank you so much for joiningus on the Alumni Live podcast.
I'm sure that we're all eager to witnessthe positive impacts of this bill.
For those of us listening, make sure toreach out to your local representatives,
vocalize your support, and justcontribute to this revolutionary
change in Michigan's film industry.
Again, thank you for joining, Geoff.
Do you have any closingstatements you'd like to say?
(30:39):
Thank you so much for having me on.
And I really appreciate the opportunityto share with your listeners about
the Multimedia Jobs Act and MiFIA.
We want to see the filmindustry grow in this state.
Our young people are our future.
We need your talents and we needyou guys here to be doing awesome
stuff in this state in film.
Thank you for joining us for thisepisode of Alumni Live: The Podcast.
(31:02):
Subscribe to our podcast, to hear morefrom our alumni across the industry.
Check out Alumni Live onFacebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
For more conversations and networking.
Let us know what topics you wantto hear our alumni talk about the
Grand Valley State University FilmVideo Alumni Network is here for
you, and we're glad that you're here.
Thank you for listening.
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