Michigan’s pool of skilled and unskilled labor along with the state’s attractive tax incentives for moviemakers have helped lure a $146 million film and television production complex to the Detroit area.
That’s very good news for the region, which has one of the country’s highest unemployment rates.
The complex will be built on 105 acres (42 hectares) in Allen Park, just outside Detroit, officials said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.
Its eight sound stages will be housed in a 750,000-square-foot (69,677-square-meter) production and post-production facility. Equipment rentals, sound and music recording facilities and animation design also will be housed in the facility.
Allen Park beat out a location in Louisiana for the complex, said Unity Studios Inc. President Jimmy Lifton, a former Detroit area native.
Groundbreaking is expected to take place within 60 days with the studio going operational in October, Lifton told reporters, union members and Allen Park residents in city council chambers.
Michigan has been drawing more moviemakers since the tax incentives went into effect last year. The refundable movie tax credit of up to 42 percent on production expenses in the state is the most lucrative in the country.
Officials in February announced planned production studios in Detroit and Pontiac that are expected to bring thousands of jobs
Hwang Dong-hyuk On Season 2 of “Squid Game,” Wrapping Production on Season 3; What’s Next?
Viewers may gasp, cringe or cry out watching characters die on Netflix's "Squid Game," but those simulated deaths have a different effect on its creator, writer and director. Instead, Hwang Dong-hyuk feels happiness seeing them go.
The show has a huge cast and Hwang says it was "really difficult" to manage everyone on set.
As characters would die, Hwang recalls saying to the actors on their last day, "'Oh no! How sad! I won't see you tomorrow,' but I was always smiling inside."
"Squid Game" season two premieres Thursday. It once again stars Lee Jung-jae and centers around a secret competition in South Korea that targets people in debt and the winner gets a big cash prize. What they don't know is that losing the game is deadly.
Hwang originally conceived of the show 15 years ago as a two-hour film but it failed to gain traction with financiers or even interested actors. He put it aside and worked on other films instead. He then had the idea to make it a TV series instead and took the project to Netflix. There, it could reach a wide audience.
"I never in my wildest dream thought it was going to be this huge," said Hwang, who spoke about the show and what comes next. Answers have been edited for clarity and length.
Q: What have you learned from "Squid Game"?
HWANG: I learned that I shouldn't give up. If you love something and if you want to create something, it might not work now, but the time might come later. Or that idea could be the source of inspiration for something else.
Q: You've already finished filming season three of "Squid Game." Have you thought about what your next project will be?
HWANG: I'm afraid to talk... Read More