How would you like to work on the set of “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” “Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon,” or a commercial for the new Ford Fiesta?

Well, a group of talented students at Center for Film Studies was lucky enough to do just that.

On the campus of Grace and Wild Studios in Farmington Hills, CFS opened in spring 2009, and has launched many ambitious students into interview slots for the opportunity to work on real film projects of all sizes.

CFS has been approved to offer financial assistance through both the Michigan Works! program No Worker Left Behind and the Department of Labor & Economic Growth’s Trade Adjustment Assistance program.

A full diploma program at the school takes six weeks to complete, allowing those in need of jobs to quickly begin the process of applying. There also is a longer 12-week program. All students receive a state-certified diploma after they complete training.

Read full story on The Oakland Press website

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October 21, 2010

Prop Til You Drop

by: Jeff Meyers

And then there’s Michigan’s aggressive film incentive. The more money the producers of This Must Be The Place spend in the Mitten on local businesses and talent, the better their tax rebate. Over the last two years the state has seen nearly $600 million in film-related business. Hollywood has come calling and they are hungry for resources and talent.

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September 17. 2010

Motown Becomes Movietown

Hollywood has a new favorite location. The Motor City is luring films and TV shows with tax breaks and red-carpet treatment.
Was that Demi and Ashton at the Tigers game?

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Carpenter test skills in DIY Dominator
Observer & Eccentric

May 27, 2010

Matt Sysol will matter-of-factly tell you that he grew up in a family of carpenters, and that it was his grandfather, who ran a residential company, who inspired him to start a career in carpentry. When he passed away, he left Sysol with the responsibility of turning his family owned properties into developments. [...]

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Class studies special effects molds needed for Michigan’s growing film industry

Shawn D. Lewis / The Detroit News

Royal Oak — Michael Jackson of Pontiac has had zombies on the brain lately.

Jackson, 18, was one of nine students who participated in a pilot program at Oakland Schools Technical Campuses Northeast and Southeast to develop skills in prop building and stage construction — skills that could come in handy with Michigan’s burgeoning film industry.
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Published: Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Scenic Prop and Design of Fraser, formerly Scenic Design — a company making props for film, TV and other venues within the entertainment industry — plans to hire 200-300 people over the next 12 to 18 months.
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Posted: Feb. 6, 2010

Fraser firm aims for tops in props

Hundreds expected to be hired

Former TV news director Mort Meisner and his business partner Jack Grushko have become minority owners of Scenic Design Group in Fraser and hope to transform the company into the state’s largest builder of props for movies and TV shows.

The business, now called Scenic Prop and Design, anticipates hiring several hundred workers over the next year, mostly graduates of Meisner and Grushko’s year-old Center for Film Studies in Madison Heights. “The movies continue to truck props in from California,” Meisner said. “We can help stop that.”
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As employment prospects in the area dwindle, a new industry offers hope for job seekers like Neal Garron.

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ANDY KOZLOWSKI, C & G Staff Writer

MADISON HEIGHTS – From various cities they came, people of all trades looking to tap into Michigan’s burgeoning film industry by landing a job working on the set of a new reality show during a crew call Sept. 11 at the Center for Film Studies (CFS). The reality show, “Rollin’On,” is the brainchild of producer Ed Gardiner, who has been making films and TV shows in Detroit at what he calls the “do-it-yourself indie level” for roughly five years. [...]

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Real Detroit Weekly

By Ryan Patrick Hooper

In April of ’08, the cinematic floodgates were sent flying open, slamming against the pillars of job opportunity with thundering force. Thanks to the legislative savviness of (now former) Representative Andy Meisner (D), who wrote and introduced the bill to the House and Senate, film directors and production companies are now offered a tax credit for up to 42 percent “of a film studio’s expenses for shooting a film or television show in Michigan,” according to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Within a year of the film tax incentive bill being passed, over 25 productions have been successfully filmed in Michigan, including Gran Torino staring Clint Eastwood, Youth In Revolt staring Michael Cera and Steve Buscemi, and Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, a made-for-TV movie starring Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Cue Mort Meisner and Jack B. Grushko — two successful businessmen who formed a bond working out at the local health club; Meisner, a three time Emmy award-winner with over 32 years of experience in television, and Grushko, who owns and manages a “meals-on-wheels business” that services over 1,000 seniors a day in Oakland County. Together, they (along with Kim Haveraneck) were quick to spot a need for “workforce development” as metro-Detroit attracted Hollywood. [...]

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