The studio is not even up and running yet but it already has it’s first name change. The Motown Motion Picture Studios that is set to be operating in a former General Motor’s Pontiac plant will now be officially known as Raleigh Michigan Studios. Why the name change, my guess is an effort to capitalize on the draw of the Raleigh name which recently booked two straight years of productions for all four upcoming Marvel Studios movies (Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers) at it’s Manhattan Beach, CA studio. Some in California are calling these productions the largest to be shot in their state in decades.
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The studio had been getting some flak from Motown Records, which thought the name of the studio was too similar to the record company.
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Actor Robert De Niro is currently in Southeast Michigan shooting the new thriller Stone (also starring Edward Norton) and is executive producer on the upcoming Martin Landau movie 20% Fiction,which is also shooting in Southeast Michigan.
Mlive is also reporting that the Cinepro Pictures CGI action film Tribes of October; starring Ray Stevenson, Robert Duvall and James Caan; will likely film inside the Grand Rapids convention center DeVos Place in August.
Recently, Lansing Community College, Michigan State University and the Capital Area Michigan Works! teamed up to create an 80 hour hands-on intensive Film Production Training Program where students learned everything from storyboarding, set construction, makeup, camera operation and lighting.
This past Monday, all 60 students in the program received certificates and receive a DVD of the short film they produced entitled Fired – which was written and directed by Jacob Motz, a noted film director from Los Angeles and graduate of Michigan State University [learn more].
Fired, which tells the tale of an employee who is laid off form a necktie factory, stars noted Detroit actor Peter Cary.
HBO’s upcoming dark comedy Hungwas shot around Metro Detroit. The series’ first season consists of the 45-minute pilot and nine 30-minute episodes, and premieres after Tru Blood on June 28, 2009.
Sony has recenlty revealed a teaser poster for Spider-Man 4 which is currently under develpoment by Metro Detroitnative director and producer Sam Raimi. May in the local communtiy hope and belive that Raimi will bring at least the second unit of filming of both Spider-Man 4 and 5 (which are set to shoot back-to-back) to Metro Detroit sometime in 2010.
Actor Robert De Niro at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) yesterday. De Niro is currently both shooting and producing two separate movies in Southeast Michigan.
Actor Thomas Jane was seen shooting the opening sequence for the upcoming HBO series Hungat Detroit’s Small Plates’ outdoor patio.
Brove is looking to shoot the next installment of their TV series in Metro Detroit and call it Real Housewives of Oakland County.
Actor Danny Glover was recently seen with a tableful of Hollywood producers at Bacco in Southfield working on a slate of new films project to be shot in Metro Detroit.
The independent movie The Irishman is currenlty filmming at the remains of former Tigers Stadium in Detroit, which has pushed back it’s demplotion by one day. The Irsihmen will also shoot in Detroit’s Cass Corridor, Eastern Market and Corktown. On a side note, earlier this decade the HBO movie 61*was filmed in Tigers Stadium.
More then 5,000 people showed up or tuned in yesterday to hear about the new Allen Park Film Studios.
MiFilmtourage looks at the cast for the upcoming Rob Reiner move Flipped which is set to start shooting in Ann Arbor later this summer. The film is based on the best selling novel “Flipped” by Wendelin Van Draanen. Reiner and writer-producer Andy Scheinman (”Bait”) wrote the screenplay. 13 year old actress Madeline Carroll is set to star.
WXYZ Detroit has the first look at the new MoTown Motion Picture Studio opening up later this year in a former GM Plant in Pontiac Michigan. The 7 sound stage studio is expected to bring in over 3,000 permanent and over 10,000 support positions to Southeast Michigan. They also stated in the news piece that Steven Spielberg is looking to shoot an upcoming movie at the vacancy Pontiac Silverdome.
Grand Rapids Wood TV 8 has a behind the scenes look at the upcoming 50 Cent and Chris Klein crime drama Caught In The Crossfire, which is currently shooting in Grand Rapids
” by Wendelin Van Draanen. Reiner and writer-producer Andy Scheinman (”Bait”) wrote the screenplay. 13 year old actress 
