Oakland Community College offers film industry training courses

[shugah]

A Hollywood Sequel for Michigan Workers

AS the job market tightens, many people would welcome the chance to receive training for work in a new field — if only they could figure out which industries were hiring, and how to find and pay for that training.

A new program in Michigan, which has suffered staggering job losses related to the auto industry, seeks to solve this conundrum. The program is training people to work in the film industry, which is experiencing a huge growth spurt in response to the state’s incentives to companies making films in Michigan. An example is Clint Eastwood’s latest, “Gran Torino,” filmed in the state. Last week, the governor’s office announced that its efforts to attract film production companies to the state would yield nearly 6,000 new jobs.

The film training project is a partnership of Oakland Community College, located just outside Detroit, and S3 Entertainment Group, a film production company that worked on “Gran Torino.” The classes are short and intense, lasting 20 to 40 hours over several weeks.

The program began last week with two courses — an industry overview and an introduction to technical jobs in the production, grip and electrical departments for films and television. Two more classes — one in production accounting, the other covering hair, makeup, wardrobe, scripts and props — will begin in March.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/jobs/08training.html?_r=2

[Lefty48197]

1. This is very good news.

With the recent announcement that a film production company was going to be opening it's offices near Pontiac and the animation company moving to the downriver area, it's clear that the tax incentives are bringing film makers to Michigan. It won't eliminate our economic problems but it will help. We can thank Governor Granholm for spearheading the effort to offer the tax incentives to film makers.