Tax benefits lure visual effects studio to Mich.

By Marta Hepler Drahos Traverse City Record-Eagle TRAVERSE CITY (AP) -- Could "Apollo 18''or "Spy Kids 4" be among the projects of I.E. Effects' new Traverse City studio? The Los Angeles-area based group -- known for work on films including "Spiderman II" and Michael Jackson's "This Is It" -- recently moved into new digs at the corner of Division and Randolph. Even as the boxes were being unpacked, artists were working on 3-D and special effects for "some major motion picture studios," said Director of Regional Operations Clover Roy. "You'll know when the movies come out and you see our names ... in the credits," said Roy, who declined to name the films or their studios. The group, whose slogan is, "Adding dimension to entertainment," designs and produces content -- including stereoscopic 3-D and visual effects. Its work can be seen in movies, commercials, TV shows and at theme parks. The California studio will feed work to the Traverse City studio, Roy said. "The goal is for us to be a seamless operation between here and L.A.," she said. An expansion into Traverse City has been in the works for years, said Patrick Barrett, who left his sunny apartment in Los Angeles behind for a condo in northern Michigan. "They wanted to take advantage of all the tax breaks and they wanted to have a permanent place here," said Barrett, lead compositor for the Traverse City studio. "You guys have great incentives right now. We have high hopes." The local studio could be a boon for the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District's Career-Tech Center and Northwestern Michigan College, which offer Visual Imaging Technology and Visual Communications programs respectively. "It's a pretty cool opportunity," said TBAISD instructor Julie Orr, who was contacted by the group after it learned of an animation project her students worked on. "It's one of those partnerships, if it all goes well, that has great potential for our school. It's almost a feeder program." Orr said she hopes to tour the studio to learn more about its work, "so that we can be more specific with training on our end." If so, she'll be sworn to secrecy like two of her students now working at the studio part time. "They had to sign confidentiality agreements, which is a great thing for them to learn," Orr said. Currently the Traverse City studio has about a dozen full and part-time employees, including TBAISD and NMC students and artists from the Los Angeles area, Roy said. "We're pleasantly surprised at how much talent we are finding here," she said. She said the group plans to continue adding staff, including standby employees for extra-busy times. "A lot of it's going to depend on the incentives," she said, referring to Michigan's film tax credits, which are threatened under Gov. Rick Snyder's budget proposal. "If they stay competitive, then we're talking hundreds of jobs" in coming years. More important than the number of jobs is their nature, said Phil Franzo, director of business development for the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce. He said the 21st-century technology positions will impact the area by appealing to "young, up-and-coming, technically proficient professionals," like the students and those with ties to the area who have left Michigan and want to return. Roy is an example. The Birmingham native attended Western Michigan University and New York University and worked in production in Detroit before striking out for Los Angeles 22 years ago. Now northern Michigan is where she wants to be. Compositor Barrett first came to the area in November and said he jumped at the opportunity to stay. "The growth possibilities in California are really dismal right now," he said. "I was a storyboard artist. I had a lucrative career, which just fizzled away." So far, he said he's enjoying Traverse City's climate and fresh air, "though I'm not a fan of the cold." But, he said, "I'd rather be in an area where you have snow and employment." Roy said Traverse City's appeal bodes well for the group's hiring outlook. She said executive producer David Kenneth wants the local studio to be involved in the community to help make it an attractive place to come and work. "If we're going to have to cast a fairly wide net across the country or the world, it has to be really sellable," she said. An open house event is being planned for some time in April, she said. Published: Tue, Apr 26, 2011