Film industry needs stages, talent – and a fast pace

Carol Marshall: Film industry needs stages, talent – and a fast pace
by Carol Marshall | Oakland Business Review
Thursday June 05, 2008, 11:06 AM

If you meet Jeff Spilman, you must remember one thing: His business moves at the speed of light. That’s probably why he talks so fast. He’s not trying to rush. He just has to talk to a lot of people.
As an entertainment attorney, Spilman is used to doing business in a rapid-fire fashion. And he’s trying to get Michiganders on the same track.

He is partnering with Michigan insurance and travel companies, with caterers and with educators, in hopes of making his mark on – and his fortune in – Michigan’s film industry.

Spilman is the managing partner of S3 Entertainment Group LLC. He announced last week his intention to build a $10 million to $15 million sound stage in Michigan. But he’s also trying to create momentum and build relationships with others interested in cashing in on film-related growth.

He and his business partners launched S3EG a few years ago, as Mississippi law makers were revamping that state’s film industry incentives. Spilman began researching incentives around the country, and he and his partners even made recommendations to Mississippi, regarding the state’s incentives and industry infrastructure.

“Fast forward two years, when Gov. Granholm signed into law the most comprehensive and generous film incentives program in the country,” Spilman said. “The thing is, the incentives will bring the film industry here, but the lure of the money won’t keep it here.”

The money he’s talking about is the state’s Michigan Filming Incentives package, which offers a tax credit for 40 percent of the costs of movie and television program productions.

So, having grown up in Michigan, he opened an office in Troy, where he now spends half his time (the other half is in Los Angeles).

“What we need is sound stages, equipment, cameras and lighting, natural locations and talent,” Spilman said. Some of those things we have – like locations. But what Michigan doesn’t have is sound stages and homegrown talent – creative and technical – with experience in feature films.

The pay-off will start to add up quickly, if Michigan businesses invest now in serving the film industry, he said.

“We have landed six clients in the last six weeks, and those production companies will use 3,500 hotel nights in the next year. They’ll eat in restaurants and buy shoes and get haircuts and go to Starbucks,” Spilman said. “That’s just us and our clients. That’s not counting anyone else who’s doing the same thing we are.”

One of the quirks of setting up these relationships, and doing so quickly, is that the speed of business is well outside the comfort zone for most Midwesterners.

“Everything needs to be done yesterday and I just got a call saying, ‘We’re not used to working that way,’” Spilman said. “But we have to get used to it, or the business will go to New York or to Mexico or to Louisiana or to Arizona.”

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Carol Marshall covers real estate. She can be reached at (248) 374-4920 or carolm@mbusinessreview.com.