Come to Michigan. . .Make a Movie!

Hey folks, Chris French here from Modern Midwest Entertainment! Say, are you making a movie? Well, I think you should, because movies are cool! I also think that if you're going to make a movie, you should make it here in Michigan!! I just looked up the Michigan Film Office website and the state IS STILL offering tax incentives for companies wanting to make movies here.

Think about it, in 2007, Michigan took in 2 million dollars of revenue from films. In 2009, thanks to the film incentives, Michigan took in over 227 million dollars! Think about what that means for what Michigan is paying OUT in incentives!

Of course, with any program, there are rules. Here's a few for Michigan's movie tax incentive program:

• Minimum spend of at least $50,000 in Michigan to be eligible.
• Up To 40% refundable tax credit, across the board on Michigan expenditures.
• Claim an extra 2% if filming in one of the 136 Core Communities in Michigan.
• Labor and Crew: Up To 40%-42% Resident Below the Line. Up To 40%-42% Above the Line regardless of residency. Up To 30% Non-resident Below the Line.
• $2 million salary cap per employee per production. There is no other cap and no sunset.
• All applicants can expect a 4 week review process once all materials have been received.
• Must spend at least $500,000 annually in Michigan to be eligible for an interactive web site project.

So, now that you know a little bit about that, go to the Michigan Film Office's website, check it out and go make a movie!!

Another Look at This is Vintage Now.

Hello folks,

Chris French here at Modern Midwest Entertainment! A few months ago I blogged about a new movement in fashion, art, and music called "The Vintage Movement". This movement is picking up a surefire head of steam in the European countries as well as farther east such as Japan and Australia! Today, as I sit here in my house and write this, I think back to the compilation album called This is Vintage Now. This compilation (www.thisisvintagenow.com), put together by Swing City Productions' David Gasten, showcases the best of the modern Vintage Movement, along with bringing out the best of the original era itself!

Sitting with me, here and now, is the Director of Swing City Productions, David Gasten, who will answer some questions about This is Vintage Now, and the Vintage Movement in general.

Where and when did the idea for This is Vintage Now originate?


David Gasten - The idea came about in mid 2010 based off of a demo I had recorded in April 2010 called The Deacon Don't Like It EP. I couldn't finish the EP and I just didn't want to do the whole "check out my band" thing that a lot of artists are doing. I realized there were a lot of bands doing the style we were doing, the old style brought to today. I found a lot of fantastic artists doing this, and I realized that they were all spread out and not connected. I felt like the smart thing to do would be to bring all of these great artists under one umbrella. I figured that it would have more impact that way and so far I've been proven right.


How did you select the artists represented on This is Vintage Now?


DG - How I selected them was more or less following my nose. I went for artists that had a great vibe when I listened to them. When I'd listen to their music, or see them live, they had this "anything can happen" feel to them. These artists are hard to come by, because a lot of artists out there want to be this way but they just can't get it right. I've been following a lot of bunny trails. An Ebay search brought me to Caro Emerald. An accidental YouTube search brought me to Ilana Charnelle. I found The Waitiki 7 and Blake Jones and the Trike Shop on CD Baby. I knew the Necrotones way back when as a local band in Dallas. What I really went for, though, were things that resonated with me.

This is Vintage now has been released for just nine weeks at this writing. What do you see, at this point, to be the significance of this album?


DG - The big thing is that it's the first album to really try bring all the groups that are reviving the old style together under one umbrella, and try to make a franchise out of that. I think that's really important, given all the vintage music and movies and such, is everybody's "We'll always have Paris." This is referenced to the movie Casablanca. No matter how bad the economy gets, the state of socialization gets, the state of political affairs gets, it's something people can always go back to as a good memory. It lets people know that life is worth living and we can think about better times. What I like about the Vintage Music Movement is that we can bring the best of those times to today and help people relive them as if they'd never gone away. Now the caveat is, in order for this to work, it has to be based in the period values. If it's not, all it is is a big costume party and it's not going to feel real. If it's done correctly, I can absolutely see it being not just "We'll always have Paris", but a return to Paris.

Having said all that, where do you predict the future to be for the This is Vintage Now franchise?


DG - Right now, we're taking a little detour and putting things together for a documentary about Beverly Kenney, who is on the compilation. She's a jazz singer who committed suicide in 1960 at the age of 28. She has an appeal that really connects with people today. I kind of perceive her as the jazz version of Nick Drake (British folk singer who had a few albums in the early 1970s who has gone on to have a very strong cult following that influenced indy rock and has had a profound effect on many artists today). There are some unanswered questions as to why she committed suicide and why that transpired. This documentary is hoping to answer those questions. We're just getting that started. I have a general idea of who I want for TIVN volume two when I'm ready to begin work on that. I do have one artist confirmed, Tiki Joe's Ocean in Seattle. As the group of TIVN artists grows, I hope to start a newsfeed in Google+ when that opens where people can keep up with the artists and their adventures. I want it to be a feel good news feed where people can see their favorite artists and see what's going to happen next. I'm also hoping to have a TIVN concert series as the demand for that opens up. The big thing is, I want to see all of the artists that have the vibe of the period come together and bring this alive to people. I want to see everybody working together to get the vintage lifestyle and music rolling and really bringing it back to people. We have to do this by sticking together and supporting each other. I'm really looking forward to the positive impact it will have on culture as a whole and I have no doubt in my mind that it will!

THANK YOU, Mr. David Gasten, for sitting down with me and discussing The Vintage Movement and This is Vintage Now! Now, everyone needs to go to www.thisisvintagenow.com and check out this album, and as always, keep your head up and keep smiling!

SEE YA!