Film / Video : Development News

Oak Park-based MJR Digital Cinemas is opening its next theater in Troy, creating jobs and drawing an estimated 800,000 visitors annually to the spot that will also introduce a new concept in movie-watching.

The MJR Troy Grand Digital Cinema 16 will be located at the corner of Maple and Livernois roads and house 16 screens and 3,200 seats.

Ground will be broken on the 74,000-square-foot facility in September, and  opening day is expected by late April 2014.

The $16-million project will also dedicate one of its theaters to the MJR Epic Experience, a new concept that focuses on designing a theater around extra comfort and a higher level of customer service. The 460-seat theater will have a larger screen and larger, overstuffed leather seats with more space between seats. The Epic Experience Theater will also come with the MJR Studio Bar & Lounge.

“Troy has great demographics and is the perfect community in which to build a brand new and truly state of the art facility,” MJR CEO and founder Michael Mihalich says.
 
The Troy Grand will be MJR's ninth theater in southeast Michigan.

“The city of Troy is so proud to partner with MJR in transforming the Maple Road-Livernois corner into a first-class entertainment destination,” Mayor Dane Slater says.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Cindy Stewart, city of Troy; Dane Slater, Troy mayor; Michael Mihalich, CEO, MJR Theaters

Moonlink Studios, a provider of production and satellite services in Michigan, has opened two new stages in metro Detroit where live shoots can be done and productions can be recorded.

The expansion of the company, which also rents recording and production equipment and staff, opens doors for metro Detroiters who have been learning production and film industry skills - even as cuts to the state's tax incentives have led to uncertainty in the industry.

One of Moonlink's new stages is in Southfield and was the site of ESPN's sports analyst Jalen Rose's basketball analysis during the London Olympics. The other stage is in Ann Arbor  is located at Domino's Farm office Park and has been used by CNN International and CNBC networks already.

The two new stages bring the company's total number of stages to five. The other three, in Warren, Troy and Detroit, can all be used for live shots or recorded productions.

Moonlink, based in Oak Park, was formed when RingSide Creative Integrated Media Studio and Jeff Moon Production Services Inc. went into partnership last year. Read the metromode story here. Through the partnership the companies became the largest single source provider of start-to-finish production and satellite services in Michigan.

Moonlink rents stages, crew and equipment, including cameras and satellite trucks that cover the Midwest and Eastern half of the country.

Source: Amy Weishuhn, spokesperson, Ringside Creative and Moonlink Studios
Writer: Kim North Shine

An entertainment complex that takes movies and bowling up a few notches - leather, club seating instead of hard, fiberglass chairs; real dishes instead of styrofoam and paper; restaurant wait service; and high tech bells and whistles - opened Monday in Royal Oak.

The Emagine Theater and Star Lanes in Royal Oak is Emagine's sixth theater in Michigan and the first in a downtown Main Street location (Main St. and 11 Mile, near the Main Art Theatre). it's also their most ambitious.

Inside 71,000 square feet of space are 10 movie screens and 16 bowling lanes, and a bar and restaurant that serves lunch and dinner at its own tables, or to bowlers and movie-goers.

The latest in technology will operate on the lanes and in the theaters, including Smartphone movie tickets and more. There are also four electric car charging stations and solar power panels on the top of the buildings, which is LEED certified, says Ruth Daniels, senior vice president of marketing for Emagine Entertainment and Star Lanes.
 
"It's the greenest entertainment venue in town," Daniels says.

The  $19-million project was christened with three charity preview parties last weekend. At least $200,000 was raised and benefited the Judson Center and Gleaners Community Food Banks, she says. Separately, the business created 100 jobs.

"It's not your typical bowling alley," Daniels says.

In fact, the company doesn't call them bowling alleys. They're bowling lanes. And banish any thoughts of stale, throwback bowling joints. The Royal Oak location follows a nationwide trend to step up bowling and movies in competition for the consumers discretionary entertainment dollar.

Daniels says the downtown location was sought after, and she sees the company pursuing other downtown locations, possibly for a theater or bowling lanes on their own or together.

Royal Oak is an ideal location…."It's a great place to hang out," she says. "If we can get the right space we need we would definitely look for another downtown area."

Emagine's other theaters are in Woodhaven, Canton, Novi, Rochester Hills, and Birch Run.

Source: Ruth Daniels, senior vice president of marketing, Emagine Entertainment, Star Lanes
Writer: Kim North Shine

The debate over Gov. Rick Snyder's plan to cap film tax credits goes on, but a movie studio has opened in Pontiac nonetheless.

This week Raleigh Studios Michigan, the newest division of Raleigh Studios Worldwide, officially opened on the site of the former General Motors truck plant and office complex at Centerpoint.

The new location joins studios, production facilities, and other film-making locations in Hollywood, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Playa Vista, Calif., Baton Rouge, Atlanta, and Budapest.

Raleigh Studios Michigan has nine sound stages totaling over 175,000 square feet, the latest in filming equipment and technology, and 360,000 square feet of office space on three floors, some already leased to production companies, production service firms and other vendors. There is also a set lighting department, on-lot cafe and "premier dressing rooms," according to a news release from Raleigh, which says it is the longest continually operating movie studio in the country.

The Michigan studio is owned by one of Michigan's most prolific developers and businessmen, A. Alfred Taubman, along with Linden Nelson and John Rakolta Jr.

Supporters of Michigan's fledgling movie industry oppose Gov. Snyder's $25-million cap on film tax credits and are lobbying for a $180-million annual spending limit.

Raleigh promotes the film incentives on its website, walking producers through the application process and also lists more than 20 films, TV shows and other productions currently happening in Michigan.

Source: Raleigh Studios
Writer: Kim North Shine

The former Showcase Cinema on Wayne Road in Westland will be demolished so that its nearly 50,000 obsolete square feet can be replaced with a modern 65,000-square-foot theater with 16 screens and room for 3,100 attendees.

The new MJR Digital Cinemas theater will feature the latest in screen, sound and digital technology. Demolition, which includes the parking lot, starts next week. Construction starts in March and the theater is scheduled to open in November. It will be the only theater in Wayne County with 4-D digital projection (3D with motion seats).

"It's huge for the city," says Lori Fodale, economic development director for the city of Westland. "It's right on the outskirts of our shopping and dining district."

With an estimated 800,000 visitors to the theater each year, "it's a huge shot in the arm for the restaurants and retail shops," she says.

About 10 permanent full-time jobs and 50 part-time jobs will be created by the project, a collaboration between the city of Westland, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the Michigan Economic Growth Authority, or MEGA and Wayne County T.U.R.B.O., a part of the Wayne County Land Bank.

MEGA is providing nearly $188,000 to the theater developer to aid in demolition, environmental remediation, and other work.

In addition, Wayne County TURBO offered tax incentives to bring the theater in, including 100 percent coverage of the first year of taxes and 50 percent off taxes for years two through five of the theater's operation, Fodale says.

The project was deemed a brownfield redevelopment and is eligible for tax discounts. It can receive the MEGA payout and the tax discounts because of the jobs created and the stimulus it will provide to neighboring businesses as well as future positive impact on state, local and school taxes to be paid. It was also eligible because contamination on the property will be cleaned, in addition to other factors.

Source: Lori Fodale, economic development director, city of Westland
Writer: Kim North Shine

The founder of what will be Royal Oak's new movie theater hopes to break ground by the end of this month or early next on the entertainment complex.

Paul Glantz, founder and chairman of Plymouth-based Emagine Entertainment, says the process has been challenging, yet exciting to bring a first-run theater complex offering food, alcohol, and bowling to the city. Yet, "I think this venue is going to be very successful," he says. "And I think it's going to be successful not just for our benefit, but for downtown Royal Oak."

He expects that not only will the theater bring in new visitors to the downtown area, but they'll stay and visit the existing restaurants, coffee shops, and stores. It's expected to create 100 full-time jobs in the kitchen, at the ticket counter, and in the food-service area.

"It's going to be a pretty substantial economic engine," he says.

At this time Glantz is reviewing contractor bids before breaking ground this summer. Helping to fund the project is a $1.25 million Brownfield Tax Credit from the Michigan Economic Development Corp, which helped garner support from Royal Oak's Downtown Development Authority, and what Glantz calls a "substantial economic boost."

"We are really in the home stretch in terms of starting construction," he says. "It's very exciting. You pour a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into bringing one of these projects to fruition."

He still hopes to have the theater up and running by April, to get all the kinks worked out before next summer's blockbuster season starts.

The 10-screen complex, 73,000 square feet spread over two stories, will be located on the parking lot on 11 Mile Road just east of Main Street, behind the Main Art Theatre. The $14 million project will house 1,680 seats and 16 lanes of bowling. There will also be a private party area/meeting room on a second-floor mezzanine level over the main entrance.

Source: Paul Glantz, founder and chairman of Emagine Entertainment
Writer: Kristin Lukowski