The Detroit area is shaping up as the biggest movie center between coasts, with a $150 million investment in two film studios to be completed this year that will create about 5,800 new jobs.
The $86 million Detroit Center Studios will locate in the defunct MGM Casino and the $70 million Motown Motion Picture Studio will be built in a former auto plant.
Detroit’s new studio “makes us a 12-months-a-year film center,” said Chris Baum, SVP/sales and marketing at the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau and Film Detroit.
“It makes us a legitimate contender ? the studios on the ground and best incentives in the country.”
Detroit Center Studios (DCS) will be “everything a filmmaker needs to come to Michigan and be well taken care of,” said Michelle Richards, owner of Wonderstruck Studios, a digital animation and effects company.
She added that project expects to use “every square inch” of the 75,000-sq. ft. MGM site for states, editing, screening rooms, offices, a commissary and other amenities.
