Michigan's burgeoning film industry has brought more than Hollywood glitz and glamour to Detroit; it's also brought a wave of film industry training programs and "boot camps," to help supply homegrown talent to a growing list of production sets.
But not all training programs are created equal, insiders say, and film industry hopefuls should take some time figuring out which programs are best suited to their needs and the facts of the industry.
"The most important thing a producer is looking for when he comes here is crew," explains Jeff Spilman, managing partner of Ferndale-based S3 Entertainment Group, which has provided support and services to such productions as
Gran Torino,
Whip It! and
Youth in Revolt.
But in an industry that is overwhelmingly project-based, crew members need to be equipped with the passion, guts, and networking savvy of a determined entrepreneur. "It's not only who you know," Spilman observes, "but who knows you."
It's a fact of the business that many industry insiders believe needs to be said more often. An additional caveat, they add, is that students should take time to figure out which programs will provide the best foot in the door to the industry before diving in feet first and money in hand. The programs can be costly and not all qualify for state or federal financial aid.
S3 Entertainment offers its Film Industry Training or FIT, in connection with Oakland Community College. The six, two-week training programs are aimed at giving students a fast, deep dive into specific crew or "below the line" positions in the industry, followed by hands-on training with an internship on a working production.
S3's FIT training costs about $1,800. Other industry training programs span from weeks to more than one year, and can range from nearly $1,000 to more than $10,000. Some qualify for state dollars under the Michigan Works! program, but others don't and require hefty down payments for entry.
Not every program in metro Detroit is new. Programs at universities such as Wayne State University, University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Oakland University and Livonia-based Madonna University offer degreed or continuing education programs in everything from acting to filmmaking to producing the score for a film.
Community colleges such as Wayne County Community College District, Henry Ford Community College, and Washtenaw and Macomb Community Colleges have also added programs in film set training, digital animation and video game design to keep up with the demand.
Michigan's Film Office provides a list of education programs as well as production job opportunities at its Web site. That office is also looking to coordinate efforts with area colleges and universities, industry unions and producers to create an industry pipeline of well-educated talent in Michigan.
It's about creating alliances to discover the best ways to train workers for a new industry paradigm and attract new jobs, says Richard Jewell, the state's film office workforce development director. "The post-industrial, monolithic employer model no longer works," he says, referring to the need to train workers for new industries in new and creative ways.
The state is now working to establish curriculum criteria for film training programs. That will help set the bar for what a student should know in each discipline upon graduation, and ensure Hollywood that Michigan has a pool of qualified workers at the ready, Jewell says.
It may also help those looking at the range of vocational programs to decide which one is best for them. Currently, there are about seven programs to choose from, with even more workshops and seminars on topics from clinching the role at an audition to breaking into set construction.
Duration of the program shouldn't be the deal breaker, says Kameron Preston Hinton, director of communications and marketing and enrollment director for the
Motion Picture Institute of Michigan.
"There's nothing wrong with class-by-class instruction," Hinton says, adding that she regularly refers people to programs that aren't a good fit for MPIP's one-year immersion program.
The MPIP's program has been around for more than 10 years and offers training for aspiring screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, editors, and nearly every role in between. The program costs about $10,500 and qualifies for federal student loan programs, if not federal and state financial aid.
Graduates of the program have worked on big-budget movies such as
Batman: The Dark Knight or
Avatar, directed by James Cameron, and many more are producing their own projects, Hinton says. But despite these success stories, employment is hardly guaranteed.
"The film industry is looked at as a place for displaced automakers," she says, "but film is a passion-based industry."
Mort Meisner, president and executive director of Madison Heights-based
Center for Film Studies agrees. The school's six- and 12-week programs target those who have skill sets learned as carpenters, electricians, or autoworkers, among others. But to really succeed, graduates "need to be their own mini-marketing machine," he states.
Meisner, who has more than 30 years working in news talent management and broadcast TV, said that the school not only focuses on producing well-trained crew workers, but also on providing good opportunities for them to network with producers and other decision makers in the industry. A majority of the school's graduates have landed jobs in film and TV projects, Meisner notes, including films like
Red Dawn and ABC TV's
Crash Course.
Courses at the Center cost about $750 to $1,650, depending on equipment needs.
Meisner sees the film industry creating between 25,000 and 30,000 jobs in Michigan, at the pace things are going. And even if it's not the type of job where workers punch in, take-home pay ranges anywhere from $9 to $45 an hour, depending on experience and position.
And despite recent anxiety about legislation that would roll back state film industry incentives that spurred Hollywood's keen interest in Michigan, many feel that for the time being, there's plenty of work to go around.
"We're stretched to the wire in trying to get personnel for all the films that are being shot here," says Tim Magee, business agent for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 38. IATSE is the union for film and television crew.
"Used to be we'd have two or three projects going; now we've got eight, between features, movies of the week and TV series. And every one takes a large crew. It's specialized work."
IATSE has its own apprenticeship program, with a hefty waiting list. But Magee says the explosion of interest has the union looking to work with colleges and universities to develop training programs that will make people work ready.
Producers looking to hire in Michigan, he adds, "expect that when you show up on the job, you'll contribute."
Michelle Martinez is a freelance writer and editor who has reported on
Metro Detroit businesses and issues for five years. Her previous article
was Building An Economy From The Ground Up: Community Enterprise.
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