LANSING – Fostering a
positive perception of Michigan as a place of unparalleled innovation in design
and the arts while increasing jobs in the state’s creative industries are top
priorities for the Michigan Film Office.
Creative industries
employment represents approximately 74,000 employees in 9,800 businesses,
including advertising, publishing, design, film/audiovisual, broadcasting,
architecture, cultural/heritage, art schools, music, visual arts and performing
arts. Counties with top creative industries employment including Oakland,
Wayne, Kent, Washtenaw and Macomb.
The key focus areas
are revealed in the newly published Michigan Film Office Strategic Plan, a
series of action steps drawn from an extensive three-month survey of
policymakers, industry partners along with film and creative industry
stakeholders on the state and national level.
“We are addressing
challenges to the sustainability of our mission, and forging a new path that
will transform the Michigan Film Office as a catalyst in the evolution of the
state’s creative industries,” Jenell Leonard, MFO commissioner, who began her
tenure in February.
The recommendations
for transforming MFO place emphasis on further building a positive perception
of the state for its creativity/innovation legacy, and strengthening regional
partnerships with the private sector, cultural institutions, arts groups and
philanthropic community.
In addition, the plan
calls for improving collaborations with the state’s educational community,
including high schools, colleges, and arts programs as part of a broader
job-retention strategy.
In recent years, MFO’s
annual appropriated budget has been intensely debated. Part of the impact from
the uncertainty regarding long-term funding has created ambiguity about the sustainability
of the incentive program. The newly crafted strategic plan aims to chart a
long-term course largely unaffected by budgetary changes, while building
partnerships with private-sector entrepreneurs and strengthening alliances with
the state�s educational community.
“We are
committed to providing services to the Michigan film community and further
developing opportunities for the diverse range of creative services,” said
Leonard.
Currently, in addition
to administering the film incentive program, MFO assists production companies
working in film and digital media, provides scouting services and serves as
liaison to obtain permits and licenses for productions. MFO’s industry
directory provides a comprehensive list of more than 5,800 site locations throughout
the state along with contact information per county for vendors and production
crews.
“The MFO will continue
administering the film incentive program, per statute, but considering the wide
range of creative industries in Michigan, we are also committed to pursuing
additional areas to help cultivate an exciting environment where talented,
creative people thrive, businesses flourish and the state is in the
international vanguard of inspiring places to live, work and play,” said
Leonard.
During fiscal year
2011, Michigan’s creative industries generated $3.6 billion in wages (3.1 percent of
total state wages), according to Creative
Industries report coordinated by Creative Many, a statewide advocacy and
public policy organization.
