Pontiac Movie Studio Not Just Idea Anymore

July 25, 2010

BY CAROL CAIN
FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER

Linden Nelson, A. Alfred Taubman, John Rakolta and others from Raleigh Studios will break ground Tuesday on an $80-million movie studio at a former Pontiac truck plant.

 

Two years after Gov. Jennifer Granholm and state leaders introduced the nation's most lucrative film incentives, Raleigh Michigan Studios is among the first to have brick and mortar results.

The involvement in the project of Raleigh and William Morris Endeavor Entertainment -- which have extensive television experience -- has led to optimism that Michigan could attract more TV projects.

"They are stamps of credibility," said Chris Baum, head of Film Detroit, which markets the region for production work. "We think this will be a positive step to make us a legitimate film center."

Carrie Jones, the incoming head of Michigan's Film Office, said: "This puts us in a better position to land more TV series."

The studio -- at a shuttered General Motors plant on the Center Point campus -- was the brainchild of Nelson, who runs a local development firm.

Besides remodeling the existing plant, the partnership will build a 200,000-square-foot building and hire 3,000 people within three years.

Nelson is chairman and CEO of the studio and pulled together the team.

Putting together a movie studio in the wake of the 2008 global credit meltdown was daunting, Taubman said.

"It's been the most difficult deal I have ever done," said the 86-year-old billionaire developer, who marveled at the 300-plus documents associated with it.

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