To say Janet Lockwood, director of the Michigan Film Office, is thrilled is an understatement. Earlier this month, the Michigan film production incentive package was signed into law by Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-Mich.). The bill, sponsored by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland), chair of the state’s House Commerce Committee, passed in the Senate and in the House in December.
“After having worked toward this end for nearly four years, I am somewhat over the moon. I have Rep. Bill Huizenga, the governor and several other key legislators to thank for the final push, along with great support from Michigan crew people. It’s very cool,” says Lockwood.
In a nutshell, commercials, TV series and films are eligible if they spend at least $200,000 in Michigan. (It can be cumulative over the course of a year.) Companies must submit applications to the film office and treasury and be pre-approved before becoming eligible. The bill includes a graduated scale depending on how much a company spends in Michigan. Between $200,000 and $1 million, a company receives up to a 12 percent refund; between $1 million and $5 million, a company receives up to a 16 percent refund; between $5 million to $10 million, a company receives up to a 20 percent refund; and anything more than $10 million only receives 20 percent on the first $10 million. There is a total of $7 million available per year for four years.
Lockwood hopes to have the measure up and running by Feb. 1. and says she is already getting calls on it even though it has yet to be widely publicized.
Huizenga is confident this bill will help bring Michigan to the forefront within the film industry. “By offering these incentives, filmmakers will be more likely to shoot commercials, TV series or full feature films in Michigan and in turn contribute greatly to our economy,” he said when the bill was passed. “This action says to the industry, Michigan is open for business.”
House Calls Via TV and Streamers: A Rundown of The Season’s Doctor Dramas
No matter your ailment, there are plenty of TV doctors waiting to treat you right now on a selection of channels and streamers.
Whether it's Noah Wyle putting on his stethoscope for the first time since "ER," Morris Chestnut graduating to head doctor, Molly Parker making her debut in scrubs or Joshua Jackson trading death for life on a luxury cruise, new American hospital dramas have something for everyone.
There's also an outsider trying to make a difference in "Berlin ER," as Haley Louise Jones plays the new boss of a struggling German hospital's emergency department. The show's doors slide open to patients Wednesday on Apple TV+.
These shows all contain the DNA of classic hospital dramas โ and this guide will help you get the TV treatment you need.
"Berlin ER"
Dr. Suzanna "Zanna" Parker has been sent to run the Krank, which is only just being held together by hardened โ and authority-resistant โ medical staff and supplies from a sex shop. The result is an unflinching drama set in an underfunded, underappreciated and understaffed emergency department, where the staff is as traumatized as the patients, but hide it much better.
From former real-life ER doc Samuel Jefferson and also starring Slavko Popadiฤ, ลafak ลengรผl, Aram Tafreshian and Samirah Breuer, the German-language show is not for the faint of heart.
Jones says she eventually got used to the blood and gore on the set.
"It's gruesome in the beginning, highly unnerving. And then at some point, it's just the most normal thing in the world," she explains. "That's flesh. That's the rest of someone's leg, you know, let's just move on and have coffee or whatever."
As it's set in the German clubbing capital, the whole city... Read More