The Mitten State woos the $60 Billion U.S. Film Industry by working on a bill that will offer the largest rebates to film makers in the whole US of A.

The governor is poised to sign a package of bills that offers moviemakers breathtaking rebates on their production costs, if they shoot and hire here. When signed next week, the Michigan laws will transform the state into a movie and TV producer's land of plenty: up to 42 percent of the costs of filming in Michigan will get returned to the moviemakers.

The lovely Gov. Jennifer Grandholm had this to say to the Detroit News, "We're brainstorming to see what it would take to make Michigan the best-in-the-nation place in attracting filmmakers," she said in an interview, "We're working to create a package that has some pop."

Granholm says the movie industry is part of the "creative economy" that Michigan needs to help replace jobs lost in the auto industry and keep the state's youngest and brightest minds at home.

During 2007, two movies were partially shot here. "Semi-Pro," a basketball movie starring Will Farrell and Woody Harrelson, shot for eight days at the Michigan State Fairgrounds and at various locations in Flint. "Jumpers," a sci-fi thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson, shot scenes in Ann Arbor and Downriver.

Source: The Detroit News