Detroit sound meet and greet - - slightly OT

Noiz2

Noiz2

Sound Ninja
The T part, If anyone is working in that area how is it? I buzzed through around labor day but I didn't get a chance to really investigate. There should be a bunch of production work (40+ features a year), unless they are all bringing their own people in, but post?

The OT part...
I'm heading to Detroit the week or so before Christmas and was wondering if there is anybody on this list in that area? If so I would love to buy you a beer and talk about the local scene vis-a-vie sound work.

You can contact me off list about that.

Cheers
SK

Scott Koue
(415) 786-9401
www.scottkouesound.com
http://imdb.com/name/nm0468138/
 
I just got back from Detroit from a 5 month job. There's definitely a whole lot going out there right now, I think there were about 5-6 movies and 2 TV shows in production during the short time I was there.

I definitely would never live there though. It's a pretty dreadful place, honestly. There's no place like California. Haha.
 
It's looking like a move is a strong possibility. I've spent all of a week or so there but I actually though it was far better than what I expected. But a week isn't much. The ironic thing about "there's no place like California" is that California is SO different from place to place. LA and the SF bay area could almost be different countries and go north to Humbolt or east into the Sierra's, south east into the desert. I think the biggest shock is going to be the lack of variety. I may well be going back and forth for work, or not. I can't remember a time when I had so little confidence in what things would be five years out. Not that I was right all that often but I usually thought I knew where things were heading. Five years out we could all be going "whew don't want to do that again", or "when will this ever end". Right now I wouldn't lay bets either way. I'm pretty certain I will be doing film and theatre, but whether I'm comfortable or wondering if I can pull any more out of my retirement is ??? I always figured I would be working in my 80's but I didn't plan on having to work in my 80's. Thankfully there are a few years to go before that ;~)
 
And a thing to keep in mind as well is one of the main reasons there is so much work out there right now is because they have a huge tax incentive for film/tv show productions but apparently there is only so much budget... So once it "runs out" that's it, as far as from what I've heard/understood.

I could be wrong because they've been building some studios on Pontiac I believe that were supposedly very expensive to build. Who knows..
 
Ric Viers (writer of the Sound Effects Bible) does post in the Detroit area if I'm not mistaken. He may be worth contacting if you haven't already.
 
Teddy Danh said:
And a thing to keep in mind as well is one of the main reasons there is so much work out there right now is because they have a huge tax incentive for film/tv show productions but apparently there is only so much budget... So once it "runs out" that's it, as far as from what I've heard/understood.

I could be wrong because they've been building some studios on Pontiac I believe that were supposedly very expensive to build. Who knows..
Click to expand...

You are right. The film work is there because of the tax incentives, and the ease of filming. The incentives don't cost anything, they just limit the money the films have to pay to the state. So there is no "budget" to run out, but I do believe that there is now a cap on the incentives that translates to around 45 features a year. I got mixed info on the sound stages. There is a lot of talk about them but it's unclear if any actual construction has happened. So???

To answer your other Question, Boston Eddison, the "towns" down town, pretty much down town out through the various Grosse Points. Also many of the "villages" and the Eastern Market area. I also went out and around much of the doughnut of suburbs in my post sound investigation. It wasn't just a skim through the better areas.
But I grew up in Oakland so....
 
Gohanto said:
Ric Viers (writer of the Sound Effects Bible) does post in the Detroit area if I'm not mistaken. He may be worth contacting if you haven't already.
Click to expand...

Yes he is and we missed each other last time. This pass is close to Christmas so I don't know if we will get a chance this time either.
 
Noiz2 said:
You are right. The film work is there because of the tax incentives, and the ease of filming. The incentives don't cost anything, they just limit the money the films have to pay to the state. So there is no "budget" to run out, but I do believe that there is now a cap on the incentives that translates to around 45 features a year. I got mixed info on the sound stages. There is a lot of talk about them but it's unclear if any actual construction has happened. So???

To answer your other Question, Boston Eddison, the "towns" down town, pretty much down town out through the various Grosse Points. Also many of the "villages" and the Eastern Market area. I also went out and around much of the doughnut of suburbs in my post sound investigation. It wasn't just a skim through the better areas.
But I grew up in Oakland so....
Click to expand...

Ah yes, you are right. That's what I meant when I said "budget". My mistake.


The Grosse Point areas are extremely nice and rather wealthy. We shot in a mansion there for a few days. I had a great time there while I was working, I worked with some of the coolest and nicest people ever. The actual days that I dreaded were the weekends because there really wasn't much of anything to do. Royal Oak (where I lived) is supposed to be the "animated" and "hip" place of Michigan, but I didn't experience much fun there. Haha.

In the end though, who cares? You're going out there to work, not play (well if your passion is film then really you're playing for 5/6 days a week and being bored for 1 or 2).
 
Thought I would add an update to this. We did indeed buy a house in Detroit and I'm on the road at the moment in a 26' truck with a dog.
One observation is that I80 could use some work!

Gotta go load up and get back on the road....

If anyone is deying of curiosity I'm doing a light weight travel log blog of the adventure.
 
Noiz2 said:
Thought I would add an update to this. We did indeed buy a house in Detroit and I'm on the road at the moment in a 26' truck with a dog.
One observation is that I80 could use some work!

Gotta go load up and get back on the road....

If anyone is deying of curiosity I'm doing a light weight travel log blog of the adventure.
Click to expand...

Safe Travels Scott! Sorry we didn't get to meet up one last time but wish you the best in Detroit. My wife and I will be doing the same thing as you in about a year...we're both pretty excited!
 
Noiz2 said:
Thought I would add an update to this. We did indeed buy a house in Detroit and I'm on the road at the moment in a 26' truck with a dog.
One observation is that I80 could use some work!

Gotta go load up and get back on the road....

If anyone is deying of curiosity I'm doing a light weight travel log blog of the adventure.
Click to expand...

Good to see you started the trek.
Be careful and safe!
 
Though I would update.

I indeed arrived and the travel Blog turned into more of a Detroit Adventure Blog.

Lots of renovation, actually a lot more than we planned (but not more than my pessimistic take on it so...).

Anyway I'm here and my wife should be on the road today so we will both be here for about a day before I head down to DC for a couple of weeks with the Dalai Lama and one BIG birthday party.
 
Oh and I did get one post on the blog from someone on this list who is in the area, but no contact info. Drop me A line. I'm brewing beer so...
 
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