Michigan’s film industry took a giant step forward with Los Angeles-based Unity Studios launching a $146-million state-of-the-art production studio in Allen Park, a Detroit suburb.
When completed, the eight sound stages will be housed in a 750,000-sq. ft. full-service production/post facility on 104 acres, along with a full-time training institute and residential/retail Unity village.
Heading Allen Park will be 30-year entertainment industry veteran Jimmy Lifton, a Southfield, Michigan native, who owns Oracle Post in Santa Monica. The studio will be majority owned and operated by a group of investors from L.A. and Michigan.
“My goal was to help bring a new industry to my home state,” said Lifton at a conference when studio plns were announced by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
“I like to think of Unity Studios as a factory in the tradition of Henry Ford’s Rouge factory model – all aspects of production occurring in one location – workforce training, production, post-production, distribution and marketing,” Lifton said.
The first phase of the project will be built on 630,000-sq. ft. office and engineering center, at a cost of $55 million, next to Allen Park’s City Hall.
The project is expected to initially create up to 121 new jobs, including 83 directly by the company. At full operation and factoring in related business and film and television productions, Unity Studios expects to employ up to 3,000, the governor stated.
“We will be constantly creating product on the lot, utilizing the Detroit area’s best asset – the creativity of its people,” Lifton added.
The project includes a $40 million investment from the City of Allen Park for land purchase and redeveloping the acreage for economic development purposes.
In addition, Unity Studios will receive a state tax credit worth $2.8 million over 12 years.
Skills training institute a major studio component
The site will include the Lifton Institute for Media Skills to implement one of the largest retraining programs in Michigan’s history, in everything from building sets to editing video and sound.
Out-of-work skilled and unskilled labor will receive on-the-set training and production experience, giving students production credits.
Enrollment and tuition details were being finalized, and a Web site address for the training program and job opportunities will be created when construction begins, possibly as early as next month.
The Michigan Film Office is considering Infrastructure Development Film and Digital Media incentives and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has approved up to $83,000 in economic development job training funding.
