Motown Motion Picture Studios (was known as Michigan Motion Picture Studios and formerly Raleigh Michigan Studios) was located in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

suburb of Pontiac and owned by Motown Motion Pictures LLC . Motown Motion Pictures was owned by Linden Nelson, A. Alfred Taubman and John Rakolta Jr., William Morris Endeavor Entertainment and Raleigh Entertainment (10%).

Background

The studios were first developed in 2009 when the state had a generous film tax credit promoted by the governor at the time,

Jennifer Granholm Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is an American politician who was the 16th United States secretary of energy from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she previously served as the 47t ...

. Linden Nelson's son passed on how Michigan's film credits were a big topic of discussion at

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

History

Nelson discussed with

Ari Emanuel Ariel Zev Parmar Emanuel (born March 29, 1961) is an American businessman and the CEO of Endeavor, an entertainment and media agency, as well as CEO and executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings, which owns the UFC and WWE. He was a founding ...

the idea of a Michigan production studio to take advantage of the tax break. Nelson and Emanuel formed Motown Motion Pictures LLC in May 2008. Soon two more investors were brought in to the company: John Rakolta Jr., a head of a commercial construction company, and A. Alfred Taubman. A former GM plant in Pontiac, Michigan, was purchased rather inexpensively in early 2009 for the studio. Michigan's officials initially considered the studio to be a significant economic engine, since it was intended to establish the state as a legitimate contender in the 12-month-a-year film business. With Pontiac having a high unemployment rate and a financial emergency, the studio was seen as a way to diversify the economy of the city away from General Motors then given a bailout. The company pursued and got various government incentives. The city was pushed, over the objections of the financial manager, to waive property taxes and issued municipal bonds on behalf of the company. The bonds were backed by the state retirement system. The studio got assistance from a federal tax credit program with help from Edward B. Montgomery, the White House assistant for the automobile communities. The studio was originally to be named Motown Motion Pictures, giving possible confusion with multiple businesses, particularly Motown Records. So in June 2009, the Raleigh Michigan Studios name was selected after Raleigh Entertainment, the company which would be managing the studio. Nelson indicated at that time that Emanuel had 20 pictures lined up to film at the studio. By September 2009, several colleges including Oakland University and Baker College started holding film classes at the studio. The ground was broken on the studio on July 27, 2010, with the governor and other officials in attendance. The studios opened in summer 2011 and

Raleigh Studios Raleigh Studios is a studio facility located in Hollywood, Los Angeles and has been under the ownership of Raleigh Enterprises since 1979. The location has been active since 1915. Before Raleigh, the studio was run by the Famous Players Film Comp ...

of Hollywood took over management of the facility. Raleigh Studios of Hollywood operated and marketed the studio, totaling at the Pontiac Centerpoint Business Campus, until August 2012. The first big picture filmed at the studio was Disney's ''

Oz the Great and Powerful ''Oz the Great and Powerful'' is a 2013 American fantasy adventure film directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Lindsay-Abaire and Mitchell Kapner from a story by Kapner. Based on L. Frank Baum's early 20th century ''Oz'' books and set 20 ...

''. Gov.

Rick Snyder Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. Snyder, who was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, ...

's 2011 rollback of state film credits caused some film producers to bypass the Michigan studio resulting in the studio investors to miss scheduled debt servicing payments and in August 2012 the studio defaulted on the entire $630,000 payment on the bond. In August 2012, Raleigh Studios ended their management agreement with the studios. The owners of the facility then changed the name to Michigan Motion Picture Studios. On June 22, 2018, it was announced that the building and the land comprising the studio would be sold to then-Commerce Township-based defense contractor Williams International Co. LLC. The sale of the property and two adjacent parcels spanning 120 acres was sold for $44 million.

References

External links

*{{URL, mmpicturestudios.com American film studios Companies based in Oakland County, Michigan Pontiac, Michigan Entertainment companies established in 2009 2009 establishments in Michigan