Film / Video

Farmington music firm scores Super Bowl ads

By Newsroom

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February 9, 2012

It used to be a bait shop. Now, it's home to Yessian music, a firm that's created soundtracks for Budweiser and Hyundai commercials. At this year's Super Bowl their musical efforts could be heard in five different commercials. Excerpt: "Generally, Yessian will compete with several other companies to produce the best music for a particular commercial. For the Budweiser "Eternal Optimism" commercial, they wowed ad agency Anomaly with a mash-up of "She Sells Sanctuary" by The Cult and "Good Feeling" by Flo Rida that matches a visual movement through time, from the early 1940s to today. Rapper Flo Rida's 2011 hit doesn't readily evoke a 1950s aesthetic, but Emmy Award-winning composer Dan Zank, who works out of the New York office, was able to make the sound fit a different time period." Read the full story here.

Latest in Film / Video

Wedding videos inspire metro Detroit startup Wedit

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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January 26, 2012

According to entrepreneur Brett deMarrais, you don't need to hire a budding Martin Scorcese to shoot your wedding. Save money and get your family and friends to do it. His startup, Wedit, helps. Excerpt: "DeMarrais’ company offers a DIY wedding videography service that, for $199, sends couples a package containing five HD video cameras at least three days before their wedding. The bride and groom then pass the cameras out to guests with the idea that the footage they capture will be full of those candid, heartfelt moments that loved ones may have a better ability to recognize. (While your videographer, a stranger hired out of the Yellow Pages, might not understand the significance of your estranged father pulling you to the side for an emotional hug and pep talk, your best friend would, and she would presumably dive for the camera to capture it on film.)" Read the rest here.

Michigan lands in top 10 for film production

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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January 19, 2012

Though the impact of Michigan's revisions and shrinking of the film incentive haven't yet been felt, the Mitten squeezed into the top 10, besting 36 other states with incentives. That's significant when you consider that television, movie and video production revenues topped $60 billion in 2010. Excerpt: "The Wolverine State has been working hard to build up the infrastructure needed to increase production. Perhaps the best example of the changes taking place is Raleigh Michigan Studios. Located on the grounds of the former GM Centerpoint truck plant and office complex in Pontiac, the new $80 million film studio is comprised of seven crisp soundstages and over 360,000 square feet of office space. The studio is already hosting the preproduction of Disney’s The Wizard of Oz prequel Oz: The Great and Powerful, which will receive approximately $40 million in incentives and is set to be one of the largest features to ever shoot in the state." Read the rest of the story here.

Metro Detroit’s Monthly Moviemakers Club

By NICOLE RUPERSBURG

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General

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January 12, 2012

Musicians have bars and nightclubs. Writers have salons and workshops. Poets have readings and slams. Where do local filmmakers go to show their work? The Mitten Movie Project. Since 2005 this monthly event has been bringing together movie makers of every stripe, showcasing their work at Royal Oak's Main Art and providing an informal networking scene.

Metro Detroit becomes Mileyville

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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January 12, 2012

Last year Miley Cyrus (and Demi Moore and Marlo Thomas) Metro Detroit stood in for Chicago while shooting the movie LOL. The teen comedy's trailer is now live on the interwebs. Blink and you'll miss Grosse Pointe and Greektown. Though we love that Hollywood has discovered SE Michigan it'd sure be nice if movies shot in Detroit were set in Detroit? Here's the trailer.

Farmington Hills’ Grace & Wild makes vid for Etch A Sketch company

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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November 3, 2011

Teaming up with Team Detroit, Grace & Wild produced a series of five stop-action promos for The Ohio Art Company. Excerpt: "Grace & Wild's team worked in collaboration with Team Detroit Pulse to create a series of five stop motion character monologues titled "Small Spiels" and a full CGI spot. The Small Spiels were shot as "audition reels" to show each product's unique personality and answer the question, "why should you put me on your desk?" Each "spiel" included a CGI product build, an artful cascade of hundreds of colorful micro-sized blocks raining down to form the completed nanoblock character. In the full CGI spot, titled "How big are you?," the magnitude of moving nanoblocks was over 100,000. " Read the rest here.

Denis Leary to produce documentary about Detroit firefighters

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 27, 2011

Even Denis Leary is using Kickstarter to fund a film. The documentary, about Detroit firefighters working to protect a city so many wrote off (until recently, of course), sounds really promising. Excerpt: "Leary and Serpico are trying to finish financing the movie through the crowd-funding website Kickstarter and “are offering products and experiences to entice Kickstarter donors, including a Boardwalk Empire set visit and an autographed helmet signed by the Rescue Me cast.” Read the rest of the story here.

Royal Oak’s Bruce Campbell comes home, hangs with Sam Raimi

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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September 29, 2011

Metro Detroit's most famous chin, Bruce Campbell, returned to his old stomping grounds for this past weekend's FanFare convention. He then dropped in with director Sam Raimi, who is filming Oz: The Great and Powerful in Pontiac at Raleigh Michigan Studios. He took a few minutes to answer five questions from the Freep. Excerpt: "We always hold out hope to film in Michigan, but there are other places, other countries, that make it very appealing. We've done so much work in New Zealand, that's where we may end up doing it, ironically. Michigan and the film business and the incentives -- that's been interesting. Seems like that big welcome mat has been taken away. It's been fun to see that resurgence of the industry there -- with people like Clint Eastwood and Drew Barrymore and now Sam working there. We'll see what happens when the dust settles. The thing is, I think Detroit -- and Michigan -- is a viable place to shoot for other reasons than the money. But it's also hard to justify why one industry is getting such a big break." Read the rest here.

Yessian Music scores film incentive for work on ‘Northern Light’

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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September 22, 2011

Yessian Music has been around a while, 40 years to be exact. During that time it has ebbed and flowed with Metro Detroit's creative-based economy, making music for commercials and working with local musicians. Now it's moving into Michigan's 21st Century creative economy, taking on music work for films and television. "TV commercials mostly," says Brian Yessian, chief creative officer of Yessian Music. "We have been getting more and more into film and TV." That has allowed the Farmington Hills-based firm to expand its staff to 22 people, hiring two in the last year. It recently opened an office in Germany and expects to add another 1-2 jobs over the next year. Yessian Music is also benefiting from a recent film tax credit awarded for Northern Light. The film showcases the history of Edmonton, Alberta from 12,000 years ago through 1928. The firm will handle the music composition and voice-over work on the film. Northern Light recently received a $40,000 tax credit for the $100,000 it plans to spend on working in Michigan. So far this year, Michigan has approved 16 projects worth $55.7 million of film spending in-state. Those projects have received $23.2 million in incentives. Source: Brian Yessian, chief creative officer of Yessian Music Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Eminem, gospel style

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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August 4, 2011

Listen. Watch. Wait for the goosebumps to subside.Grosse Pointe's The Selected of God Choir does up Eminem's Lose Yourself. Wow.Proceeds from iTunes sales of the single will benefit local charities.Watch the video here.