First Michigan became a tax-break production mecca. Now it’s rolling out the red carpet for guests and celebs on Oscar night, Feb. 22, at a transformed “movie studio” in Grand Rapids.
The Waterfront Film Festival will host the Official Oscar Night Party – one of only three Academy sanctioned parties in the Midwest, and the first-ever in Western Michigan.
“We’d heard about the Oscar night program but never had applied before,” says Dori DePree, co-founder the Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck and operations head of TicTock Studios in Holland.
Levitation Studios, a staging and event company in downtown Grand Rapids, will be transformed into a Hollywood movie set backdrop for the black-tie optional gala event.
“We’re hoping to raise between $25,000 and $50,000, which will go directly towards producing the festival,” says DePree.
“Oscar night is a natural fit with the festival since many of the films we’ve shown have gone onto to be nominated or win Oscars. We hosted the Midwest premiere of ?Man on Wire,’ which is nominated for best documentary this year.”
Among the expected guests will be Oscar-winning sound editor and former DePaul Digital Cinema professor David Stone, 2008 Student Academy Award-Winner Eric Yang, former “ER” actress Kristin Minter and other Oscar-winners that are still to be confirmed.
Grand Rapids’ native Brian Vander Ark, leader singer of The Verve Pipe and actor (“Rock Star,” “Unearthed”), is the gala’s honorary chair.
The Waterfront Festival was one of only 50 non-profits selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from more than 600 applications.
The official status comes complete with a recorded welcome message from the Academy president and official ballots and programs for the Grand Rapids’ audience.
“During the commercial breaks the local ABC affiliate will run a live-feed tied into the main broadcast,” says DePree. “So hopefully we’ll get some national exposure.”
The West Michigan Film Video Alliance created the Oscar event several years ago as a fundraiser, acording to former board member Ken Robinson.
DePree’s brother, Hopwood, is the founder and CEO of TicTock, which has been at the forefront of Michigan’s production surge. With a nation-leading 40% tax incentive, production in Michigan has boomed in 2008.
DePree estimates that $100 million worth of production came into the state from April, when the rebate bill was signed, until the end of 2008 – up from just $4 million in 2007.
TicTock Studios runs a training program in conjunction with Grand Rapids Community College to teach unemployed manufacturing workers and students essential below-the-line production skills.
The studio produced and co-financed a comedy feature, “Tug,” directed by Abram Makowa, which is now in postproduction. Another feature is being prepped for principal photography in spring.
Levitation Studios is located at 2749 29th St., SE, Grand Rapids. Red carpet arrivals at 6:30 p.m., 81st annual Academy Awards? telecast, 8:30 p.m.
Tickets are $125 per person, $1,000 for a table of eight. For tickets, see www.waterfrontfilm.org and
