The domestic auto industry may be on life support, but Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm isn’t waiting for the federal bailout to turn her state’s economy around. In her annual State of the State address, she made clear she will continue to fight for auto workers, but she is actively expanding the state’s economy through encouragement of creativity:

Since enacting the nation’s most aggressive film incentives in April, we have seen more than 70 film and TV projects slated for production in Michigan, bringing some $430 million in economic
activity here…

Tonight, I’m pleased to make three major announcements: Wonderstruck Animation Studios will invest $86 million to build a new studio in Detroit; Stardock Systems, a digital gaming manufacturer, will build its production facilities in Plymouth; and Motown Motion Pictures will invest $54 million to build their new film studios at a former GM plant in Pontiac.

Motown Motion Pictures alone, spurred by the leadership of Michigan’s own Al Taubman, here tonight, will create 3,600 jobs, including many for those young creative workers we want to keep in Michigan.

It is a fact of life in this country that video game and motion picture production is now employing workers across the United States, and statistics to that effect can be found on our web site (click on the U.S. map for economic statistics from copyright industries for every state). Since April, twenty-five films have been made in Michigan, according to the Michigan Film Office. This resulted in $100 million in revenue, but note that more than three times that amount was generated by local businesses as a result of the productions.

Among the results? Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino.

The new Motown Motion Pictures studio, according to National Journal’s Congress Daily, is being built in a former General Motors plant in Pontiac, Michigan. The animation and visual effects studio is to be housed in downtown Detroit in a former casino. These facilities will ensure that the motion picture industry in Detroit can operate year-round, regardless of weather, ensuring more stability on the employment front.

Note that Governor Granholm made a point of emphasizing the importance of encouraging creative people to stay in Michigan. In the latest State New Economy Index by Robert Atkinson and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, data field after data field make clear how important it is in the new economy to keep creative workers at home; economic growth in the 21st Century is driven by creative thinking and IP-based industries.

We’ve known this for some time, and it’s articulated clearly by George Mason University Professor Richard Florida in “The Rise of the Creative Class.” He found that “creative sectors” of the economy, including copyright and patent industries, produced $1.7 trillion in wage and salary income alone, equal to the manufacturing and service sectors combined. His primary thesis? Cities that retain and attract creative workers grow, cities that lose and fail to attract creative workers decline.

It didn’t take much for Michigan’s governor and state legislature to spur this economic boost, just a modest tax cut and a bit of elbow-twisting. Other states have been pursuing this as well. The fact is, this should be a pie that can provide slices for every state, assuming the economic underpinnings of the motion picture industry remain solid. Regular readers know where I’m going with this.

The rights of filmmakers such as Clint Eastwood need to be preserved so there is sufficient capital investment to produce these very expensive films and generate ancillary income around their production. Then, we need to encourage their experimentation with licensed digital transmission and use by embracing new licensed technologies and services. Demonstrating frustration with current licensing models by infringing on a filmmaker’s rights only make it more difficult for him or her to embrace new models. We as consumers can always withhold our dollars — we need to eat but we don’t need to see any motion picture or play any video game — but engaging in unauthorized file-sharing retards the development of a legal market.

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2009 at 10:45 am by Patrick Ross and is filed under creators, economy, licensing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.