Most of the films shot in Michigan are independently produced. But the occasional big studio film passes through. Sadly, most only film here for a few weeks, shooting a few exterior scenes for authenticity and then move on to Toronto or LA to complete the film since it's exponentially cheaper to film in those areas, particularly if the remaining scenes are interior and can be shot on pre-existing studio sets.

One such film will be here around April and features Will Ferrell and Andre Benjamin of Outkast fame. The film, Semi-Pro, will be shot in the Flint area for a few weeks only, despite the fact that the film is about a Flint area basketball team.

The only studio film filmed entirely in Michigan recently is 8 Mile. Other films that were here for a few weeks in the recent past include Four Brothers, The Island and Transformers.

But we have had some celebrities grace us with their presence. Kevin Smith was here to promote Clerks II. Raven-Symone stopped in on her Cheetah Girls 2 tour. Will Smith came for The Pursuit of Happyness, and only weeks ago, the cast of Reno 911 was here to promote their film being released on February 23.

While big names and big money are intermittent, the independent film scene in Michigan is strong. A group called Thought Collide is committed to putting the Detroit area on the map as a major film industry city. You can view the works of the group regularly at The Main Art Theater in Royal Oak.

Several independent feature films have recently been completed here, including Offshore, P.I. Blues and Human Achievement. For a summary of all features shot in Michigan from 1946 to 2004, click here:

Two of the films listed, Hellmaster (listed under 2002) and Dark Heaven (listed under 2003) were shot by the founders of MPI, the Motion Picture Institute of Michigan, a film school right here in Troy.

Recently, The Death of Michael Smith, shot in the Detroit area for a budget of $500, was featured at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The film was produced, directed and edited by Detroit native Daniel Casey. His previous works include the low-budget horror-comedy Dead/Undead, a crime caper called The Passage, and the film Secrets of Fenville that is a collaboration of nine Detroit-area filmmakers.

If you’d like to help make Detroit a major film industry city, get out there and film something, of course. But also lobby with the State of Michigan government offices to make Michigan, and especially Detroit, cheaper and more accessible to film in. With any luck, and a lot of effort, Detroit will join LA, New York, Toronto and Chicago as a major film industry city.

If you have an opinion on this topic, write me at tshick@detroitbuzz.com