Lansing — Ken Droz, communications consultant for the Michigan Film Office, who has been the public face of Michigan’s explosive film production since the incentives were passed in 2008, will leave the position the end of August.
His replacement, Michelle Begnoche, comes from the state house, where she served as press secretary to State Representative Bart Stupak (D-Menominee).
Since being hired in 2008, Droz, who has a strong background in marketing for major Los Angeles film studios and entertainment outlets, has responded to hundreds of press queries from media outlets worldwide that track the state’s success while filmmakers take advantage of what’s been called the best incentive program in the nation.
Droz leaves with a firm belief in the people who drive the business. “We are in the beginning stages of what is really a wonderful thing for the state. It’s been like a giant cloud of possibility over the whole state that people really needed,” he says.
“It’s been an explosion, basically,” he says of the state’s recent growth. “To have $300 million in productions this year is a great testament to the program.”
Droz managed Michigan marketing activities for several major film studios for more than a dozen years before moving to Los Angeles in 2000 to operate his own public relations firm.
His clients included the Writers Guild Foundation, Paramount Pictures, Revolution Studios, Farmers Almanac TV and Creative Screenwriting Magazine.
The Michigan Film Office is located at 300 N. Washington Square 4th Floor, Lansing; phone 800/477-3456. See www.michiganfilmoffice.org
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