February 27, 2024 • 26 mins
GVSU film student Marin Roth talks with her dad, Representative John Roth (R), co-author of the Multi-Media Jobs Act. They talk about the positive impact the bill will have on the Michigan economy and film students in particular while offering advice about what everyone can do to help the bill pass.
Relevant Links
About the Multimedia Jobs Act: https://mifia.org/multimedia-jobs-act-details
About Representative John Roth
The House bill package can be found here (HB 4907, 4908)
The Senate bill is here
If you want to find out who your Representative is so you can write them, click here.
Find your Senator here.
To learn about ways you can support GVSU film and video students:
Relevant Links
About the Multimedia Jobs Act: https://mifia.org/multimedia-jobs-act-details
About Representative John Roth
The House bill package can be found here (HB 4907, 4908)
The Senate bill is here
If you want to find out who your Representative is so you can write them, click here.
Find your Senator here.
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, thefilm, video, major and alumni profiles.
Welcome back to Alumni Live the podcast.
My name is Marin Roth and I'm asenior film and video student at
Grand Valley State University.
Today we're gonna be talking about theMichigan Film Credits Incentive Bill.
(00:24):
Which , in layman's terms is justsubsidizing films being made in Michigan.
Today I'm talking with representativeJohn Roth, who represents the 104th
district of the Michigan House.
John has a history in marinamanagement where he has a history
of hosting independent filmmakers.
Also, he's my dad.
Thanks for joining us representative dad.
Well, thank you very much for theinvitation to be on the podcast.
(00:45):
We're happy to have you.
.So, can you tell me a little bitabout this Michigan film credits
incentive bill that's coming through?
Absolutely.
So the big emphasis on this one is tochange for the better what we missed
out in 2008 So the first credits were in2008 they happened for about six years
approximately And then we're phased outone of the things we missed in that first
(01:09):
bill package was production and keepingthat production in the state of Michigan.
I think we missed the goal a little bit.
We wanted people to come inand film in Michigan and see
how beautiful the state was.
But at the time we thought, wellthey would just stay then if they
saw how beautiful the state was.
Well, I don't think theincentives were set up that way.
The incentives should have beenproduce the movie in Michigan, then
(01:32):
get your film credit at that point.
We are focusing the new bill on productionusing Michigan talent, Michigan products.
Michigan facilities where the moviesand commercials and documentaries,
miniseries, you name it, areactually produced in Michigan.
That's the end part of it where it'sediting and those kind of things.
(01:52):
Once you get that, then you canrealize a tax incentive for doing that.
Can you just kind of outline againin layman's terms what's in the bill?
What is this?
Tell us all about it.
So the bill this time around wantto make sure that , we're producing,
editing, and giving that Michiganstamp on the, film or commercial,
whatever else is being filmed here inMichigan, then you realize a credit.
(02:15):
So there's no money guaranteeduntil actually that product
is finished in Michigan.
That's the real differencefrom the old bill.
Can you tell us little bitabout the mechanics of the bill?
What does it look like ifyou're going to be making a
film, applying for this credit?
If I were a filmmaker and Iwanted to make a film, what would
that process look like for me?
How would I be able to benefit from that?
Well, you come into Michigan,you do your filming, no
(02:37):
different than you would today.
But, at the end of the project, Ifyou produce that movie in Michigan,
so you actually do the editing andthose kind of finished parts to
it, you can realize a tax credit.
So, up to 30 percent of a tax credityou're able to get after the fact.
So, you have to finishthe product in Michigan.
(02:58):
And then you couldrealize this tax credit.
There is a little caveat toit, and that is we are offering
a transferable tax credit.
So, if you are a very small companythat comes in and does, let's say, a
documentary, and you spend a milliondollars doing that documentary, at the
end, produce that in Michigan, you dohave a 30 percent credit available to you.
(03:20):
But maybe you are so small thatyou want to get some cash infusion.
So you can do a studioor some other project.
You can actually sell thatcredit to a Michigan company.
So let's say just one ofthe major auto companies.
Let's say it's one of them.
They come in and say, you know what?
I'll buy that tax credit from you.
I'm not going to give youthe 300, 000 that you're due,
but I'll give you 250, 000.
(03:42):
And you as a filmmaker or adocumentary maker can take that cash
and put it towards another projectin Michigan or doing a studio.
And then the auto company is going toreceive that tax credit at the year.
Could be an interesting thingfor those small companies really
trying to get up and running.
It's the gift that keeps on giving.
Yes it would.
so, why do you care?
(04:03):
You're a representative from , midMichigan, but from northern
Michigan for the past 30 years.
you used to work in marina management, youused to be a blue collar worker, why now?
Why does it matter to you?
It's a real good part.
so it was brought to my attentionwhether or not I would even consider
being part of this package, and Iremembered back to when this movie,
this independent movie, was filmedat the marina that I run still today.
(04:25):
They came to me, they droppedoff a film card and said, this
was I think right around 2008or 2009, I believe it was 2008.
I got a card on my desk that saidthe West Michigan Film Industry.
I didn't know what that was.
I didn't have a clue what was going on.
So for a month, I let it sit on my desk.
Finally, I talked to one of mystaff, what, what's this card about?
And they said, well, there wasa guy that came by, said they
(04:47):
might want to film a movie here.
Okay, I actually calledthe office and they said.
Yeah, that's not a joke.
We have a company that would like to filma movie at your marina, and they'll be
here in August to take a look and seeif that's really what they want to do.
And I said, that's great, butwhen do they want to film?
And they actually said November.
And I said, November in northern Michigan?
(05:10):
Are you crazy?
You know what the weatheris going to be like?
Snow, rain, blowing, miserable.
Yeah, I hope you have a parka.
Hope you have a parka.
Hope you got a lot of warmclothes for the actors.
but they were serious about doing it.
The tenor of the film was kind ofa little bit of doom and gloom and
a little bit of a depressive nature.
We filmed the movie, got it done in thefirst week in December when the snow did
(05:32):
hit, with boats still in the water, butwe got it done and then I talked to them
about what, what's your future plans here?
We're going 40 percent tax creditin a form of a check from the state
of Michigan and taking it to NewMexico to actually produce the
film and edit the film out there.
At that time I kind of was thinkingthis is not a sustainable way to go.
(05:55):
This is not doing anything for Michigan.
So I was actually againstthese film credits.
I said, this is not good.
So when they came to me and said wewant to attack it a different way.
And that is actually trying tobuild a industry in Michigan by
incentivizing the production in Michigan.
I said, let's take a look at that.
there was economic benefit toNorthern Michigan right around the
(06:15):
Traverse City area with this filmbeing made two and a half million
dollars were spent around the area.
for this last, this movie to be there.
But, we didn't see the end product.
And that's what I wanted to seeand that's what these new bills do.
I think about when I graduate, Iwant to work in camera, I really like
cinematography, so I can see myselfbeing able to get a job in Michigan.
But for my friends who are audio studentsor post production students, they're
(06:39):
all planning on moving out of the state.
, New York, Los Angeles, Georgia.
I'm not sure that they're particularlykeen on moving out of the state,
it's just, that's where the jobs are.
That's where the production studios are.
It's funny that you say that becauseactually being interviewed by a local
TV station oh, about a month ago.
At the end of the interview,the reporter said, Rep, can I
talk to you about something?
(07:00):
Sure, let it rip.
She said, all the people inthe news station were wanting
to be in film production andphotography, all around films.
And they had to, settle, thoughthey're happy with their jobs, but
had to settle for being in a newsroominstead of being in movie studios.
So, there's a lot of that.
And I've also said that you wouldconsider South Carolina because
(07:22):
your grandpa and grandma live there.
It makes some sense You know that bigdeep blue state does this kind of credit.
What are we doing, 40 states offer them.
Michigan does not so it's not even anopportunity for many of our kids to
even stay There was a huge article justthis weekend about the droves of Gen
Z moving out of the state of Michigan.
(07:44):
I don't say this is a silver bullet thatwill keep all of them home, least it's
an opportunity to keep some of them home.
And we are losing that populationhuge out of the state of Michigan.
And some people have said tome, well whatever, they'll
come back when they get older.
Well, that's a problem because as we losethese young people out of the state, and
this state gets older by age every tenyears, who's going to do those services
(08:09):
that the older folks in our state need?
It won't be the young peoplebecause they're not here, and when
they come back as an older person,they're gonna need the services.
So we're losing all those youngpeople, and this is an opportunity
to keep some of them home.
Yeah and I think a lot of peoplemy age do like to do freelancing.
They like to kind of do their own thing.
And I think, nobody my age is reallylooking to well, I won't say nobody,
(08:31):
but none of us are looking to be rich.
None of us want to be like thatreally big filmmaker, you know,
a Taika Waititi, for example.
and having something like a filmcredit would just make it so
that you could pay the bills.
So you could actually do what youlove and at least get by and be
able to have it be sustainable.
And there's two parts to that.
One thing we have to be very sureto receive, production credit.
Because really that's where we're at.
(08:52):
Yes, we'll do films, but we'realso going to do commercials.
We're going to do documentaries.
You know, the big three automakers don'tfilm their commercials in Michigan.
They go where it's cheaper.
That's why you see a Chevy whatever,or a Ford whatever, by the mountains.
Yeah, parked at the edge of the cliff.
At the edge of the cliff.
Or even a ocean, for God's sake, right?
(09:14):
Yeah.
When you have beautiful LakeMichigan and Lake Huron, you could
photograph these vehicles there.
It just doesn't happen becausethey have to do it where
they can be more affordable.
Now, I say that there'sother things to this too.
we just got to think ahead and be real,curious about, how this is going to work.
And, I think we're on the right path.
You mentioned South Carolina, youmentioned that it was, a blue state,, a
(09:37):
film credit like this, is it politicized?
What's the kind of pushbackyou've gotten from who?
What's the kind of feedbackthat you're getting?
overall, positive, I will say thatprobably, My Republican side of the
aisle is going to be the one thatpushed back the most, unfortunately.
there is some real lazy journalismgoing out there that want to
equate this to 2008's film credits.
(09:58):
This is different.
And if you have read thebill, you know it's different.
It's not even close to the same.
But there are some organizationsthat just keep throwing out
this 2008, it's going to fail.
2008, it's going to fail.
If it was 2008, it will fail becausewe saw that this isn't what it is.
This is a new version of thesebills that actually go for the in
(10:20):
state credit and in state services.
We need to look at it totally different.
I've already gotten somecriticism for doing this.
I don't care.
because it's important to me thatwe look at all options to keep youth
here and, economic development.
And this one is, if nobodycomes in and does a film here,
(10:40):
there's no monies put out.
If, it doesn't work for them, theydon't come in, there's nothing lost.
If somebody does come in and wantsto produce a small movie or a
commercial, documentary, whatever,then they can realize the credit.
This is not a situation where we have abundle of money that we want to throw at
people as soon as they come in the state.
That's not the case.
They have to earn this credit.
(11:02):
. And that's the key to this wholeprogram, is that they have to earn
this by doing things in Michigan.
They gotta commit.
They have to commit.
there's been some, conversation thatsays this is only gonna bring in
Hollywood elites, , Hollywood elites aregonna fly into Michigan and take over.
No, it's not
41 states, if we do this, theyget to choose from all 40 states.
(11:25):
That isn't what we're aiming for.
Sure, there might be a big budgetmovie that gets filmed in Michigan.
And yes, an actor's going tomake a lot of money for that.
But what about everybody underneaththat,, the production staff, camera
people, you know, you name it.
Those people don't make huge money, butthey can make a nice career in Michigan.
It just relayed to me back in aboutthat same time in 2008, maybe a
(11:48):
little bit before that, we had anational conversation whether or
not you should belong to a countryclub or should you buy a yacht and
should you buy an expensive car?
No one talked about whomakes those products work.
Who are the greens keepers?
Who are the staff and the conferenceservices in the golf course?
The pro shop people that work there.
They'd be the same in a boat makerin Cadillac We have a great boat
(12:12):
maker there when those thingshappened Cadillac was shut down.
People are no longer making boats.
No one's doing the fiberglasswork, the upholstery.
When we get into those kind ofconversations, they don't make sense.
Because everybody forgets aboutthe people actually doing the work.
and the same here, when somebody saysHollywood elites, it drives me nuts.
Because that is a very smallportion of anything that happens
(12:35):
when you look at all the peoplesurrounding the actual industry.
0.
001 percent Josh Lucas, 99percent Marin from Traverse City.
That is correct.
Or any other.
And that was another one that we talkedabout that at a economic conference
about three weeks ago on a Friday.
And a young man stood up and said,what are you doing for young people?
And there wasn't a lot ofgood conversation there.
(12:57):
There weren't a lot of goodthings that people said.
So I mentioned that I was working onfilm production and actually afterwards
there were multiple parents that cameup and said My daughter is going to be
at Michigan State next year with filmproduction My daughter is a sophomore
at Grand Valley right now My son isgoing to Lawrence Tech and then I had
many other that said, you know I have adaughter that's in LA right now working.
(13:20):
I God to have a chance at having her comehome and work in the state there are so
many people that are not talked about thatare out of the state now that would come
back and work if they had an opportunity.
Shifting gears a little bit.
Why do you think it's importantfor film students like me and my
classmates to pay attention to thisbill, and other government policies?
Oh, it affects you more thanit's going to affect me.
(13:41):
Look, I'm making the laws right now,but how long are they going to help me?
And how long are they going to affect you?
I think our youth need to start payingattention to politics a lot more.
You guys need to know what'sgoing on and pay attention now.
I know you're busy in college andall that kind of stuff, but once you
get into a career or starting yourlife into a business of any kind,
(14:03):
you need to start paying attentionto what we're doing in Lansing.
But, you need to know, we needyour support There are going to be
people that are going to push backon these bills because they just
refuse to listen or read the bill.
And they generalize itto something it's not.
The more people we have that willsay this will help me or my child
or my friend compared to thosepushing back against it, I think
(14:25):
it's very important to have that.
So then, follow up, what can youngpeople do, like myself, to help you?
Well, talk to your friends,send letters to the legislature.
I'd say, not just you, but your parents,everybody, needs to start sending notes
and letters to their representatives.
I had a call just yesterday that waschastising me for doing this, that
(14:47):
had a conflict of interest becausemy daughter's in this industry.
Well, yeah, that's kindof, that's the point.
Hard to, hard to get around that.
But it's not just my daughter.
It's so many other daughters andsons out there in this industry too.
It's not a small industry andwe need to make sure people know
it's not just one or two people.
This is going to affect thousands.
(15:08):
And that's what we need to know.
So we need your advocacy to every repin the state needs to hear from their
constituents saying It's not just oneor two people, it's in every single
county in the state of Michigan.
We're taking a short break totell you about the Dirk Koning
Memorial Film and Video scholarship.
Here's Gretchen Vinnedgeremembering Dirk Koning.
The Koning Scholarship enables studentsto get that kind of an education, to be
(15:31):
a good filmmaker, to be able to expresstheir voice and to continue Dirk's dream.
For more information, and todonate to the scholarship, visit
the link in the description.
Now, back to the show.
As a college student who's already kindof mystified by that sort of thing, can
you break down for me what the processof, writing to your legislator should be?
(15:51):
Like, is it email?
Is it over letter?
What's the kind of, like,stuff that we should be saying?
Should we keep it short?
Yeah.
Should we just show up at theoffice and request a meeting?
Nothing wrong with showingup at the office any time.
It may be harder depending howactive the legislator is.
Yeah.
You know, the senators the number ofcommittees the senators have is, is crazy.
I mean, they have some of them,eight and seven committees.
(16:12):
I have four committees, so it'snot quite as, complex, but I would
say letters, but not form letters.
I get forum letters all the time thatsay, vote for this, don't vote for that.
And it's, I'm a constituent..
Oh, okay.
I want to hear that it's from TraverseCity, Grawn, Kingsley, Interlochen,
Meeseck all my, you'reall called to action.
(16:34):
That's right.
I want to know where you'refrom and are you in my district.
And give just why it affects you.
Why does it make a difference?
I want to hear a specific thing from youthat's different than everybody else.
Yeah, so you don't want to hear, Oh,here's a statistic on Michigan.
you want to hear, I'm a person.
I'm a person who lives in Michigan.
(16:54):
specifically a young person who'skind of scared about the future.
Right.
Because, I won't lie, we all are.
Absolutely.
Yeah, and hearing that, like, itdoes humanize the issue, doesn't it?
It's easy to say, Josh Lucas,George Lucas, both people that
have probably been to Michigan.
are gonna come over and do the film.
It's so easy to say that.
But if you can pull up a letter and say, Iam Maren, I'm from Interlochen, Michigan.
I love cameras, and I love Michigan.
(17:16):
But boy am I afraid tofind a job after this.
Absolutely, and just personalize it.
It doesn't have to be a long letter.
I'd rather see a one page.
Two paragraph thing that says why you'reconcerned or why you're active in this
what you're potentially doing And thatyou're from my district I want to hear
from those people And we need to be verygood voice on this Like I said, there
(17:37):
are people be lazy and say this is justlike the last one that's what I hear
from unfortunately a handful of people.
So far it's been more positive thannegative, but there are groups that
could get active on the negativeside that push it out there too.
so far I don't think, I don't see that.
I see a lot more positive itseems to affect everybody,
including the UP of Michigan.
(17:59):
they have some great areas up therethat could really benefit from this too.
I just had a thought about, theidea that it'll be a bunch of,
Hollywood people coming in herethat'll only benefit the elite.
I think about, how many yearsago was it that Batman vs.
Superman was filmed in Lansing?
Right.
People weren't comingin droves to Lansing.
Well, it was Detroit more, more in theindustrial area of Detroit, actually.
again, they came in and out, and fast.
(18:20):
Yeah.
And that's the difference between.
What we're trying to do today whereyou would stay here and be a long term
Production facilities that stay hereactive through many years to come If
Georgia can do it, Michigan can do it.
Georgia is another one of thoseblue states Georgia's a red state,
South Carolina's a red state,North Carolina Indiana, Ohio.
(18:40):
So that like pushback that you'regetting from that side of the aisle.
In this.
Committee, there were actually somepushback by a couple Democrats in there
They didn't like the transferable taxcredit or wanted to know more about that
and another person was really concernedthat these aren't all union jobs Which
kind of bothered me it's going to beboth union and non union everybody's a
little bit different and like you saida lot of people like to move around.
(19:04):
They want to be free to dowhatever they want to do.
They don't want to be lockedinto a situation where they
have to do certain things.
it's going to invite alltypes of jobs to this.
like you said, there's documentary,there's commercial, independent films.
The streaming services that areout there could be doing movies
or videos or whatever up here.
Now, there is a limit
(19:24):
I was gonna say, what is like,what exactly does it support?
if you're doing apodcast, could you apply?
No, more likely that's notgoing to be big enough.
It's going to have to be something,a little bigger than that.
And it's defined in the bill.
I Because it does say the limits andhow big they need to be to even qualify.
It's not all big stuff, though.
I would guarantee that.
Somebody that's doing an indie movie.
(19:45):
Or if Tim Allen decides he wants todo a mini series or, a weekly show in
Michigan, he can certainly do that.
I would pay to see that.
I actually want Tim Allen todo a weekly Michigan series.
Certainly anybody that's in thatindustry could stay home and do it.
So then I have a fun littlequirky question for you.
Here's a little interlude.
lots of things are made inGeorgia, and then you have that
(20:06):
end card, the Georgia peach.
Correct.
If you could choose an end card forMichigan, what are you thinking?
Are we gonna do the bridge?
You know, probably.
I mean, the Mackinac Bridge makesthe most sense, and it's the most
common symbol that we have inMichigan, Could be different things.
A barn.
A car.
Could be a boat.
(20:27):
A snowmobile for that matter in Michigan.
That's funny.
And that way we know we're doing,we're connecting both Upper Peninsula
and Lower Peninsula to this.
Yeah.
If the bill gets passed, when the billgets passed, if we're being optimistic.
how long before it goes into effect?
What's that going to look like?
Depends on how it's passed.
So there is, just to take youthrough the whole process,
so starts out in a committee.
(20:49):
We did an Economic DevelopmentSmall Business Committee.
We probably will pass that out or take avote on it here in the next couple weeks.
the Senate is also doing the same thing.
So the Senate has two billssimilar that they're going to run
through their committee there.
So once we get it passed committee,then usually it takes one or two
weeks to get to the house floor.
I suspect potentially April where a votewould take place on the house floor.
(21:13):
And then the Senate woulddo something very similar.
Now these bills being from the House andSenate being, I wouldn't say slightly
different, but just maybe a little bit,but the way they're written will go
to a conference committee where theywill decide who will get the actual
PA and are the Senate bills betterthan the House bills or vice versa.
And then once they get that done, whenthey both pass the House and Senate, if it
(21:35):
goes through the Senate first, it has tocome back to the House for a concurrence
vote, and then it goes to the Governor.
So, once the Governor gets it in herhands, if it's passed immediately,
with immediate effect from the Senate,then it usually takes place about
90 days after it's signed into law.
if no action's taken Thatdidn't get immediate effect.
It would take almost a year beforeit goes actually into effect.
(21:58):
So were hoping very much that the Senatewould pass it with immediate effect.
That way we're potentially within 90 days.
To actually get in the hands of anyproducer of any kind probably would
take a year or two, but the money willbe there in the tax credit part of it.
Within that year, as soon as somebodyearns the credit, but I'd say it's going
to take, on average, takes about a yearto get it to where we're at that point.
(22:22):
So write those letters kids.
sooner we can pass it, the better.
That's right, and get the Senateto give it an immediate effect.
That's a big one.
Can you name some of the peoplethat are involved in this bill, who
have been some big contributors?
Absolutely, reallyit's been wide ranging.
Interlochen Arts Academy hasshowed a lot of support many
high schools would have ISDs, theISDs do a ton of film production.
(22:44):
Our local career tech center.
They're very supportive., IBEW, the Unionfor the Electricians, very supportive.
You're getting it from economic,centers like, Chambers of
Commerce are very up in it.
Tourism.
I didn't know that we would get theCVBs, which is the Tourism Bureaus.
They are very active in this.
(23:04):
the DDAs that potentially could seesome of the action in their cities.
counties even haveexpressed interest in this.
it's wide ranging in the support.
I think that's fantastic and thatlends us to a better chance of getting
this through, because of the verydiverse and wide ranging support that
we've gotten from all over the state.
(23:25):
The U.
P.
has got some producers of movies that aresmall by nature, but Would like to see
more economic development up there anddoing movies and, films and commercials.
the UP has been very active in that.
so far it's been amazing to see thenumber of supporters from different
backgrounds that are actually supportive.
Alright, so sort of wrapping up here, doyou have any last thoughts on the bill?
(23:48):
we need to have people consistentlyadvocating for it, because the House
of Representatives right now are a50 50 tie, not a ton of legislation
is going to go through until April.
So every couple weeks, I'd loveto have people write again,
write to your legislators again.
Get new involvement from differentgroups that might be interested in this.
(24:08):
If it's another arts academyfrom southwest Michigan, get
them involved writing letters.
we gotta keep it in the forefront.
And, make sure people are aware of this.
Now, I don't like to see a letterevery single day, but getting people
involved and understand that this isgoing to be voted on, it's going to
happen, and just getting more and morepeople engaged of what's going on.
(24:32):
So, any groups that you might be.
impacted by these bills, get them involvedbecause you never know if you just start
talking to people about what could happen,they get involved and they, and we've had
a great engagement with a lot of peoplethat we never thought we would see.
Be encouraged.
Understand this is an opportunity tokeep a lot of this activity in the state
(24:53):
of Michigan, and we need to do that.
And we've got a real opportunity here.
just be positive.
This is a new day and we got a chance.
we have a real good chanceof getting this through.
And I think it could be justreally, really a great thing for
the youth in our communities.
that really have an opportunity tokeep some of our families home here.
(25:13):
I think on my end too.
This is an encouragement for us to kind ofband together as film students, especially
because COVID lockdown is over.
We can come together again.
We can meet up outside of school.
We can, get groups of people togetherto advocate for this sort of a thing.
Advocating for all our kidsin the state of Michigan
Thank you so much fortalking with me today.
and, fighting for this bill.
Especially on behalf of myselfand all of my fellow film friends.
(25:37):
Thank you so much.
This will be super helpfulfor filmmakers my age and for
other filmmakers in Michigan.
And for listeners, there will belinks in the description if you want
to follow up on more information andstay connected with this bill as it
goes on in the next couple of monthsand as it kind of grows and changes.
And thank you for listening.
Thank you for joining us for thisepisode of Alumni Live: The Podcast.
(25:59):
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, thefilm, video, major and alumni profiles.
Welcome back to Alumni Live the podcast.
My name is Marin Roth and I'm asenior film and video student at
Grand Valley State University.
Today we're gonna be talking about theMichigan Film Credits Incentive Bill.
(00:24):
Which , in layman's terms is justsubsidizing films being made in Michigan.
Today I'm talking with representativeJohn Roth, who represents the 104th
district of the Michigan House.
John has a history in marinamanagement where he has a history
of hosting independent filmmakers.
Also, he's my dad.
Thanks for joining us representative dad.
Well, thank you very much for theinvitation to be on the podcast.
(00:45):
We're happy to have you.
.So, can you tell me a little bitabout this Michigan film credits
incentive bill that's coming through?
Absolutely.
So the big emphasis on this one is tochange for the better what we missed
out in 2008 So the first credits were in2008 they happened for about six years
approximately And then we're phased outone of the things we missed in that first
(01:09):
bill package was production and keepingthat production in the state of Michigan.
I think we missed the goal a little bit.
We wanted people to come inand film in Michigan and see
how beautiful the state was.
But at the time we thought, wellthey would just stay then if they
saw how beautiful the state was.
Well, I don't think theincentives were set up that way.
The incentives should have beenproduce the movie in Michigan, then
(01:32):
get your film credit at that point.
We are focusing the new bill on productionusing Michigan talent, Michigan products.
Michigan facilities where the moviesand commercials and documentaries,
miniseries, you name it, areactually produced in Michigan.
That's the end part of it where it'sediting and those kind of things.
(01:52):
Once you get that, then you canrealize a tax incentive for doing that.
Can you just kind of outline againin layman's terms what's in the bill?
What is this?
Tell us all about it.
So the bill this time around wantto make sure that , we're producing,
editing, and giving that Michiganstamp on the, film or commercial,
whatever else is being filmed here inMichigan, then you realize a credit.
(02:15):
So there's no money guaranteeduntil actually that product
is finished in Michigan.
That's the real differencefrom the old bill.
Can you tell us little bitabout the mechanics of the bill?
What does it look like ifyou're going to be making a
film, applying for this credit?
If I were a filmmaker and Iwanted to make a film, what would
that process look like for me?
How would I be able to benefit from that?
Well, you come into Michigan,you do your filming, no
(02:37):
different than you would today.
But, at the end of the project, Ifyou produce that movie in Michigan,
so you actually do the editing andthose kind of finished parts to
it, you can realize a tax credit.
So, up to 30 percent of a tax credityou're able to get after the fact.
So, you have to finishthe product in Michigan.
(02:58):
And then you couldrealize this tax credit.
There is a little caveat toit, and that is we are offering
a transferable tax credit.
So, if you are a very small companythat comes in and does, let's say, a
documentary, and you spend a milliondollars doing that documentary, at the
end, produce that in Michigan, you dohave a 30 percent credit available to you.
(03:20):
But maybe you are so small thatyou want to get some cash infusion.
So you can do a studioor some other project.
You can actually sell thatcredit to a Michigan company.
So let's say just one ofthe major auto companies.
Let's say it's one of them.
They come in and say, you know what?
I'll buy that tax credit from you.
I'm not going to give youthe 300, 000 that you're due,
but I'll give you 250, 000.
(03:42):
And you as a filmmaker or adocumentary maker can take that cash
and put it towards another projectin Michigan or doing a studio.
And then the auto company is going toreceive that tax credit at the year.
Could be an interesting thingfor those small companies really
trying to get up and running.
It's the gift that keeps on giving.
Yes it would.
so, why do you care?
(04:03):
You're a representative from , midMichigan, but from northern
Michigan for the past 30 years.
you used to work in marina management, youused to be a blue collar worker, why now?
Why does it matter to you?
It's a real good part.
so it was brought to my attentionwhether or not I would even consider
being part of this package, and Iremembered back to when this movie,
this independent movie, was filmedat the marina that I run still today.
(04:25):
They came to me, they droppedoff a film card and said, this
was I think right around 2008or 2009, I believe it was 2008.
I got a card on my desk that saidthe West Michigan Film Industry.
I didn't know what that was.
I didn't have a clue what was going on.
So for a month, I let it sit on my desk.
Finally, I talked to one of mystaff, what, what's this card about?
And they said, well, there wasa guy that came by, said they
(04:47):
might want to film a movie here.
Okay, I actually calledthe office and they said.
Yeah, that's not a joke.
We have a company that would like to filma movie at your marina, and they'll be
here in August to take a look and seeif that's really what they want to do.
And I said, that's great, butwhen do they want to film?
And they actually said November.
And I said, November in northern Michigan?
(05:10):
Are you crazy?
You know what the weatheris going to be like?
Snow, rain, blowing, miserable.
Yeah, I hope you have a parka.
Hope you have a parka.
Hope you got a lot of warmclothes for the actors.
but they were serious about doing it.
The tenor of the film was kind ofa little bit of doom and gloom and
a little bit of a depressive nature.
We filmed the movie, got it done in thefirst week in December when the snow did
(05:32):
hit, with boats still in the water, butwe got it done and then I talked to them
about what, what's your future plans here?
We're going 40 percent tax creditin a form of a check from the state
of Michigan and taking it to NewMexico to actually produce the
film and edit the film out there.
At that time I kind of was thinkingthis is not a sustainable way to go.
(05:55):
This is not doing anything for Michigan.
So I was actually againstthese film credits.
I said, this is not good.
So when they came to me and said wewant to attack it a different way.
And that is actually trying tobuild a industry in Michigan by
incentivizing the production in Michigan.
I said, let's take a look at that.
there was economic benefit toNorthern Michigan right around the
(06:15):
Traverse City area with this filmbeing made two and a half million
dollars were spent around the area.
for this last, this movie to be there.
But, we didn't see the end product.
And that's what I wanted to seeand that's what these new bills do.
I think about when I graduate, Iwant to work in camera, I really like
cinematography, so I can see myselfbeing able to get a job in Michigan.
But for my friends who are audio studentsor post production students, they're
(06:39):
all planning on moving out of the state.
, New York, Los Angeles, Georgia.
I'm not sure that they're particularlykeen on moving out of the state,
it's just, that's where the jobs are.
That's where the production studios are.
It's funny that you say that becauseactually being interviewed by a local
TV station oh, about a month ago.
At the end of the interview,the reporter said, Rep, can I
talk to you about something?
(07:00):
Sure, let it rip.
She said, all the people inthe news station were wanting
to be in film production andphotography, all around films.
And they had to, settle, thoughthey're happy with their jobs, but
had to settle for being in a newsroominstead of being in movie studios.
So, there's a lot of that.
And I've also said that you wouldconsider South Carolina because
(07:22):
your grandpa and grandma live there.
It makes some sense You know that bigdeep blue state does this kind of credit.
What are we doing, 40 states offer them.
Michigan does not so it's not even anopportunity for many of our kids to
even stay There was a huge article justthis weekend about the droves of Gen
Z moving out of the state of Michigan.
(07:44):
I don't say this is a silver bullet thatwill keep all of them home, least it's
an opportunity to keep some of them home.
And we are losing that populationhuge out of the state of Michigan.
And some people have said tome, well whatever, they'll
come back when they get older.
Well, that's a problem because as we losethese young people out of the state, and
this state gets older by age every tenyears, who's going to do those services
(08:09):
that the older folks in our state need?
It won't be the young peoplebecause they're not here, and when
they come back as an older person,they're gonna need the services.
So we're losing all those youngpeople, and this is an opportunity
to keep some of them home.
Yeah and I think a lot of peoplemy age do like to do freelancing.
They like to kind of do their own thing.
And I think, nobody my age is reallylooking to well, I won't say nobody,
(08:31):
but none of us are looking to be rich.
None of us want to be like thatreally big filmmaker, you know,
a Taika Waititi, for example.
and having something like a filmcredit would just make it so
that you could pay the bills.
So you could actually do what youlove and at least get by and be
able to have it be sustainable.
And there's two parts to that.
One thing we have to be very sureto receive, production credit.
Because really that's where we're at.
(08:52):
Yes, we'll do films, but we'realso going to do commercials.
We're going to do documentaries.
You know, the big three automakers don'tfilm their commercials in Michigan.
They go where it's cheaper.
That's why you see a Chevy whatever,or a Ford whatever, by the mountains.
Yeah, parked at the edge of the cliff.
At the edge of the cliff.
Or even a ocean, for God's sake, right?
(09:14):
Yeah.
When you have beautiful LakeMichigan and Lake Huron, you could
photograph these vehicles there.
It just doesn't happen becausethey have to do it where
they can be more affordable.
Now, I say that there'sother things to this too.
we just got to think ahead and be real,curious about, how this is going to work.
And, I think we're on the right path.
You mentioned South Carolina, youmentioned that it was, a blue state,, a
(09:37):
film credit like this, is it politicized?
What's the kind of pushbackyou've gotten from who?
What's the kind of feedbackthat you're getting?
overall, positive, I will say thatprobably, My Republican side of the
aisle is going to be the one thatpushed back the most, unfortunately.
there is some real lazy journalismgoing out there that want to
equate this to 2008's film credits.
(09:58):
This is different.
And if you have read thebill, you know it's different.
It's not even close to the same.
But there are some organizationsthat just keep throwing out
this 2008, it's going to fail.
2008, it's going to fail.
If it was 2008, it will fail becausewe saw that this isn't what it is.
This is a new version of thesebills that actually go for the in
(10:20):
state credit and in state services.
We need to look at it totally different.
I've already gotten somecriticism for doing this.
I don't care.
because it's important to me thatwe look at all options to keep youth
here and, economic development.
And this one is, if nobodycomes in and does a film here,
(10:40):
there's no monies put out.
If, it doesn't work for them, theydon't come in, there's nothing lost.
If somebody does come in and wantsto produce a small movie or a
commercial, documentary, whatever,then they can realize the credit.
This is not a situation where we have abundle of money that we want to throw at
people as soon as they come in the state.
That's not the case.
They have to earn this credit.
(11:02):
. And that's the key to this wholeprogram, is that they have to earn
this by doing things in Michigan.
They gotta commit.
They have to commit.
there's been some, conversation thatsays this is only gonna bring in
Hollywood elites, , Hollywood elites aregonna fly into Michigan and take over.
No, it's not
41 states, if we do this, theyget to choose from all 40 states.
(11:25):
That isn't what we're aiming for.
Sure, there might be a big budgetmovie that gets filmed in Michigan.
And yes, an actor's going tomake a lot of money for that.
But what about everybody underneaththat,, the production staff, camera
people, you know, you name it.
Those people don't make huge money, butthey can make a nice career in Michigan.
It just relayed to me back in aboutthat same time in 2008, maybe a
(11:48):
little bit before that, we had anational conversation whether or
not you should belong to a countryclub or should you buy a yacht and
should you buy an expensive car?
No one talked about whomakes those products work.
Who are the greens keepers?
Who are the staff and the conferenceservices in the golf course?
The pro shop people that work there.
They'd be the same in a boat makerin Cadillac We have a great boat
(12:12):
maker there when those thingshappened Cadillac was shut down.
People are no longer making boats.
No one's doing the fiberglasswork, the upholstery.
When we get into those kind ofconversations, they don't make sense.
Because everybody forgets aboutthe people actually doing the work.
and the same here, when somebody saysHollywood elites, it drives me nuts.
Because that is a very smallportion of anything that happens
(12:35):
when you look at all the peoplesurrounding the actual industry.
0.
001 percent Josh Lucas, 99percent Marin from Traverse City.
That is correct.
Or any other.
And that was another one that we talkedabout that at a economic conference
about three weeks ago on a Friday.
And a young man stood up and said,what are you doing for young people?
And there wasn't a lot ofgood conversation there.
(12:57):
There weren't a lot of goodthings that people said.
So I mentioned that I was working onfilm production and actually afterwards
there were multiple parents that cameup and said My daughter is going to be
at Michigan State next year with filmproduction My daughter is a sophomore
at Grand Valley right now My son isgoing to Lawrence Tech and then I had
many other that said, you know I have adaughter that's in LA right now working.
(13:20):
I God to have a chance at having her comehome and work in the state there are so
many people that are not talked about thatare out of the state now that would come
back and work if they had an opportunity.
Shifting gears a little bit.
Why do you think it's importantfor film students like me and my
classmates to pay attention to thisbill, and other government policies?
Oh, it affects you more thanit's going to affect me.
(13:41):
Look, I'm making the laws right now,but how long are they going to help me?
And how long are they going to affect you?
I think our youth need to start payingattention to politics a lot more.
You guys need to know what'sgoing on and pay attention now.
I know you're busy in college andall that kind of stuff, but once you
get into a career or starting yourlife into a business of any kind,
(14:03):
you need to start paying attentionto what we're doing in Lansing.
But, you need to know, we needyour support There are going to be
people that are going to push backon these bills because they just
refuse to listen or read the bill.
And they generalize itto something it's not.
The more people we have that willsay this will help me or my child
or my friend compared to thosepushing back against it, I think
(14:25):
it's very important to have that.
So then, follow up, what can youngpeople do, like myself, to help you?
Well, talk to your friends,send letters to the legislature.
I'd say, not just you, but your parents,everybody, needs to start sending notes
and letters to their representatives.
I had a call just yesterday that waschastising me for doing this, that
(14:47):
had a conflict of interest becausemy daughter's in this industry.
Well, yeah, that's kindof, that's the point.
Hard to, hard to get around that.
But it's not just my daughter.
It's so many other daughters andsons out there in this industry too.
It's not a small industry andwe need to make sure people know
it's not just one or two people.
This is going to affect thousands.
(15:08):
And that's what we need to know.
So we need your advocacy to every repin the state needs to hear from their
constituents saying It's not just oneor two people, it's in every single
county in the state of Michigan.
We're taking a short break totell you about the Dirk Koning
Memorial Film and Video scholarship.
Here's Gretchen Vinnedgeremembering Dirk Koning.
The Koning Scholarship enables studentsto get that kind of an education, to be
(15:31):
a good filmmaker, to be able to expresstheir voice and to continue Dirk's dream.
For more information, and todonate to the scholarship, visit
the link in the description.
Now, back to the show.
As a college student who's already kindof mystified by that sort of thing, can
you break down for me what the processof, writing to your legislator should be?
(15:51):
Like, is it email?
Is it over letter?
What's the kind of, like,stuff that we should be saying?
Should we keep it short?
Yeah.
Should we just show up at theoffice and request a meeting?
Nothing wrong with showingup at the office any time.
It may be harder depending howactive the legislator is.
Yeah.
You know, the senators the number ofcommittees the senators have is, is crazy.
I mean, they have some of them,eight and seven committees.
(16:12):
I have four committees, so it'snot quite as, complex, but I would
say letters, but not form letters.
I get forum letters all the time thatsay, vote for this, don't vote for that.
And it's, I'm a constituent..
Oh, okay.
I want to hear that it's from TraverseCity, Grawn, Kingsley, Interlochen,
Meeseck all my, you'reall called to action.
(16:34):
That's right.
I want to know where you'refrom and are you in my district.
And give just why it affects you.
Why does it make a difference?
I want to hear a specific thing from youthat's different than everybody else.
Yeah, so you don't want to hear, Oh,here's a statistic on Michigan.
you want to hear, I'm a person.
I'm a person who lives in Michigan.
(16:54):
specifically a young person who'skind of scared about the future.
Right.
Because, I won't lie, we all are.
Absolutely.
Yeah, and hearing that, like, itdoes humanize the issue, doesn't it?
It's easy to say, Josh Lucas,George Lucas, both people that
have probably been to Michigan.
are gonna come over and do the film.
It's so easy to say that.
But if you can pull up a letter and say, Iam Maren, I'm from Interlochen, Michigan.
I love cameras, and I love Michigan.
(17:16):
But boy am I afraid tofind a job after this.
Absolutely, and just personalize it.
It doesn't have to be a long letter.
I'd rather see a one page.
Two paragraph thing that says why you'reconcerned or why you're active in this
what you're potentially doing And thatyou're from my district I want to hear
from those people And we need to be verygood voice on this Like I said, there
(17:37):
are people be lazy and say this is justlike the last one that's what I hear
from unfortunately a handful of people.
So far it's been more positive thannegative, but there are groups that
could get active on the negativeside that push it out there too.
so far I don't think, I don't see that.
I see a lot more positive itseems to affect everybody,
including the UP of Michigan.
(17:59):
they have some great areas up therethat could really benefit from this too.
I just had a thought about, theidea that it'll be a bunch of,
Hollywood people coming in herethat'll only benefit the elite.
I think about, how many yearsago was it that Batman vs.
Superman was filmed in Lansing?
Right.
People weren't comingin droves to Lansing.
Well, it was Detroit more, more in theindustrial area of Detroit, actually.
again, they came in and out, and fast.
(18:20):
Yeah.
And that's the difference between.
What we're trying to do today whereyou would stay here and be a long term
Production facilities that stay hereactive through many years to come If
Georgia can do it, Michigan can do it.
Georgia is another one of thoseblue states Georgia's a red state,
South Carolina's a red state,North Carolina Indiana, Ohio.
(18:40):
So that like pushback that you'regetting from that side of the aisle.
In this.
Committee, there were actually somepushback by a couple Democrats in there
They didn't like the transferable taxcredit or wanted to know more about that
and another person was really concernedthat these aren't all union jobs Which
kind of bothered me it's going to beboth union and non union everybody's a
little bit different and like you saida lot of people like to move around.
(19:04):
They want to be free to dowhatever they want to do.
They don't want to be lockedinto a situation where they
have to do certain things.
it's going to invite alltypes of jobs to this.
like you said, there's documentary,there's commercial, independent films.
The streaming services that areout there could be doing movies
or videos or whatever up here.
Now, there is a limit
(19:24):
I was gonna say, what is like,what exactly does it support?
if you're doing apodcast, could you apply?
No, more likely that's notgoing to be big enough.
It's going to have to be something,a little bigger than that.
And it's defined in the bill.
I Because it does say the limits andhow big they need to be to even qualify.
It's not all big stuff, though.
I would guarantee that.
Somebody that's doing an indie movie.
(19:45):
Or if Tim Allen decides he wants todo a mini series or, a weekly show in
Michigan, he can certainly do that.
I would pay to see that.
I actually want Tim Allen todo a weekly Michigan series.
Certainly anybody that's in thatindustry could stay home and do it.
So then I have a fun littlequirky question for you.
Here's a little interlude.
lots of things are made inGeorgia, and then you have that
(20:06):
end card, the Georgia peach.
Correct.
If you could choose an end card forMichigan, what are you thinking?
Are we gonna do the bridge?
You know, probably.
I mean, the Mackinac Bridge makesthe most sense, and it's the most
common symbol that we have inMichigan, Could be different things.
A barn.
A car.
Could be a boat.
(20:27):
A snowmobile for that matter in Michigan.
That's funny.
And that way we know we're doing,we're connecting both Upper Peninsula
and Lower Peninsula to this.
Yeah.
If the bill gets passed, when the billgets passed, if we're being optimistic.
how long before it goes into effect?
What's that going to look like?
Depends on how it's passed.
So there is, just to take youthrough the whole process,
so starts out in a committee.
(20:49):
We did an Economic DevelopmentSmall Business Committee.
We probably will pass that out or take avote on it here in the next couple weeks.
the Senate is also doing the same thing.
So the Senate has two billssimilar that they're going to run
through their committee there.
So once we get it passed committee,then usually it takes one or two
weeks to get to the house floor.
I suspect potentially April where a votewould take place on the house floor.
(21:13):
And then the Senate woulddo something very similar.
Now these bills being from the House andSenate being, I wouldn't say slightly
different, but just maybe a little bit,but the way they're written will go
to a conference committee where theywill decide who will get the actual
PA and are the Senate bills betterthan the House bills or vice versa.
And then once they get that done, whenthey both pass the House and Senate, if it
(21:35):
goes through the Senate first, it has tocome back to the House for a concurrence
vote, and then it goes to the Governor.
So, once the Governor gets it in herhands, if it's passed immediately,
with immediate effect from the Senate,then it usually takes place about
90 days after it's signed into law.
if no action's taken Thatdidn't get immediate effect.
It would take almost a year beforeit goes actually into effect.
(21:58):
So were hoping very much that the Senatewould pass it with immediate effect.
That way we're potentially within 90 days.
To actually get in the hands of anyproducer of any kind probably would
take a year or two, but the money willbe there in the tax credit part of it.
Within that year, as soon as somebodyearns the credit, but I'd say it's going
to take, on average, takes about a yearto get it to where we're at that point.
(22:22):
So write those letters kids.
sooner we can pass it, the better.
That's right, and get the Senateto give it an immediate effect.
That's a big one.
Can you name some of the peoplethat are involved in this bill, who
have been some big contributors?
Absolutely, reallyit's been wide ranging.
Interlochen Arts Academy hasshowed a lot of support many
high schools would have ISDs, theISDs do a ton of film production.
(22:44):
Our local career tech center.
They're very supportive., IBEW, the Unionfor the Electricians, very supportive.
You're getting it from economic,centers like, Chambers of
Commerce are very up in it.
Tourism.
I didn't know that we would get theCVBs, which is the Tourism Bureaus.
They are very active in this.
(23:04):
the DDAs that potentially could seesome of the action in their cities.
counties even haveexpressed interest in this.
it's wide ranging in the support.
I think that's fantastic and thatlends us to a better chance of getting
this through, because of the verydiverse and wide ranging support that
we've gotten from all over the state.
(23:25):
The U.
P.
has got some producers of movies that aresmall by nature, but Would like to see
more economic development up there anddoing movies and, films and commercials.
the UP has been very active in that.
so far it's been amazing to see thenumber of supporters from different
backgrounds that are actually supportive.
Alright, so sort of wrapping up here, doyou have any last thoughts on the bill?
(23:48):
we need to have people consistentlyadvocating for it, because the House
of Representatives right now are a50 50 tie, not a ton of legislation
is going to go through until April.
So every couple weeks, I'd loveto have people write again,
write to your legislators again.
Get new involvement from differentgroups that might be interested in this.
(24:08):
If it's another arts academyfrom southwest Michigan, get
them involved writing letters.
we gotta keep it in the forefront.
And, make sure people are aware of this.
Now, I don't like to see a letterevery single day, but getting people
involved and understand that this isgoing to be voted on, it's going to
happen, and just getting more and morepeople engaged of what's going on.
(24:32):
So, any groups that you might be.
impacted by these bills, get them involvedbecause you never know if you just start
talking to people about what could happen,they get involved and they, and we've had
a great engagement with a lot of peoplethat we never thought we would see.
Be encouraged.
Understand this is an opportunity tokeep a lot of this activity in the state
(24:53):
of Michigan, and we need to do that.
And we've got a real opportunity here.
just be positive.
This is a new day and we got a chance.
we have a real good chanceof getting this through.
And I think it could be justreally, really a great thing for
the youth in our communities.
that really have an opportunity tokeep some of our families home here.
(25:13):
I think on my end too.
This is an encouragement for us to kind ofband together as film students, especially
because COVID lockdown is over.
We can come together again.
We can meet up outside of school.
We can, get groups of people togetherto advocate for this sort of a thing.
Advocating for all our kidsin the state of Michigan
Thank you so much fortalking with me today.
and, fighting for this bill.
Especially on behalf of myselfand all of my fellow film friends.
(25:37):
Thank you so much.
This will be super helpfulfor filmmakers my age and for
other filmmakers in Michigan.
And for listeners, there will belinks in the description if you want
to follow up on more information andstay connected with this bill as it
goes on in the next couple of monthsand as it kind of grows and changes.
And thank you for listening.
Thank you for joining us for thisepisode of Alumni Live: The Podcast.
(25:59):
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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