Governor Jennifer Granholm signed a tempting tax incentive bill to encourage filmmaking in Michigan. It is, in fact, the most lucrative package for filmmakers in the nation. (See Editorial )
The result is that offers are now pouring into Michigan and there is hope that this will create a new industry for the state.
In my little corner of Michigan, the result is that Clint Eastwood has set up shop for the making of "Gran Torino", a quiet drama about a Korean War veteran who attempts to reform a Hmong teenager who covets his prized car. One scene was shot in a medical center half a block away from my house, during our Saturday farmer's market. (It wouldn't surprise me to see some candid shots of the crowd somewhere in the movie.) Other scenes are being filmed in other locales in and around my neighborhood.
This is attention to which we are unaccustomed. Grosse Pointers have traditionally desired privacy more than film fame. But bad economic times have changed a lot of minds about this, and as it turns out, it's really a lot of fun.
