Movie Locations

Michigan, home of the automotive industry, is raising the stakes in the nationwide competition for Hollywood's lucrative film jobs. In what it bills as the most generous film incentives program in the country, the Great Lake State is announcing today that it will begin offering a 40% rebate on production spending to filmmakers, as well as tax credits for companies that invest in new studios. "Michigan has a great work force, great locations and now this great incentive," said Gov. Jennifer M.

Norman Thaddeus Vane was just four minutes into his speed-dating matchup when he fell in love . . . with Palmdale. "I'm going to use an old gas station and cafe there that I just found out about," the veteran filmmaker said. "Eighty percent of the movie can be shot at that location." Vane and 75 other studio and TV production executives, independent producers and location scouts were learning Thursday about movie-making opportunities in cities and counties across California.

The star-struck gawkers, paparazzi and businessmen walking by a big-budget film set on Broadway in downtown Thursday could be forgiven for thinking that Bill Todd was a real Los Angeles police officer. He did, after all, shut down a lane of traffic to make room for the huge trailers and production rigs -- much to the annoyance of drivers. And then there was the matter of the pistol hanging from his hip and the Los Angeles Police Department badge clipped to the LAPD uniform.

Film and television production soared in Los Angeles in recent weeks as studios rushed to finish projects before a labor agreement with actors expires Monday night. Permits issued for television dramas more than tripled to 119 in the five weeks ended Tuesday, according to FilmL.A. Inc., the nonprofit company that regulates filming in Los Angeles County.

Last July, the television series “Ugly Betty” moved from Los Angeles, where it has been filmed for two years, to New York, on account of a recently tripled tax incentive. Given that the series, whose third season premieres tonight, is now being shot in the city where it is supposed to take place, you can't exactly call it a runaway production -- more like a "run-to production," perhaps. Still, it feels like a loss for the home team and an injury to local pride, not to say local pocketbooks.

First it was Louisiana. Then it was New Mexico and New York. Now it's Michigan's turn as the latest hot spot for film production. Not since Michael Moore's documentary "Roger and Me" has the Great Lakes state garnered so much attention from Hollywood. Once considered a relative backwater as a film destination, Michigan has lured more than 60 features and made-for-TV movies this year, up from just three last year, according to the Michigan Film Office.

Hollywood would get a little unexpected boost from the proposed $700-billion bailout of the nation's financial system. The bill wending its way through Congress would provide tax breaks worth more than $470 million over the next decade for movie and TV producers that shoot in the U.S. That's not a lot of money, given that the average studio movie costs $106.6 million to make and market, but it could keep some low-budget productions -- and jobs -- from going offshore.

In the freezing forests of Belarus, as the Nazis swept through Europe, handfuls of Jewish refugees banded together under the leadership of the Bielski brothers to survive the killing winter and beyond. But they didn't just survive; they struck back, attacking German soldiers and collaborators, performing acts of sabotage and supporting other partisan groups. All told, the Bielskis are said to have rescued about 1,200 Jews. And you've probably never heard of them until now.

cast throwing themselves into a creek at night. Shallow, murky waters are scouted but soon we realize the inevitable: We have to build our own creek to control the water's quality and temperature. A 30-foot-by-10-foot hole is dug. On the night we have to shoot the scene, it is a freezing 25 degrees. To make it possible for the actors to do this scene on this night, the water temperature has to be around 80 degrees. By the time we're ready to roll the cameras, steam is billowing from the water.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums is not happy that an upcoming HBO drama exploring prostitution is set to be filmed in the city. The show, "Gentlemen of Leisure," is based on the 1999 documentary "American Pimp" and would focus on a middle-aged pimp who wants to get out of the business. Production is scheduled for next year, though no permits have been issued for filming. Dellums and other city officials say they worry the show would promote a negative image of the city.