films scenes at Southfield library By Jennie Miller SOUTHFIELD — The city of Southfield got a piece of the movie business pie this week as the stars and crew for the movie “Demoted” set up shop at the library Oct. 12-14. Stars like David Cross, Michael Vartan and Sean Astin strolled in and out of the Southfield Public Library, 26300 Evergreen, filming scenes for the comedy that involves a pair of prankster tire salesmen (Vartan and Astin) who find themselves placed in secretarial jobs by their boss, played by comedy-vet Cross. The film is directed by James B. Rogers. Location manager David Rumble, a Ferndale native and current Warren resident, chose the Southfield facility as the site of the world headquarters of Reilly Auto Parts, where all three stars’ characters are employed in the movie. “We were looking for a boardroom,” Rumble said of what brought him to Southfield. “I’ve scouted 40 or 50 boardrooms in the area, and this one really stood out — it’s really unique.” The movie is being filmed exclusively in southeastern Michigan, with other locations in Milford, Novi, Plymouth, Dearborn and Belle Isle. Rumble said he first saw the Southfield library’s boardroom through pictures taken by a location scout. “I didn’t really believe it at first that it was a library,” he said. “When he gave me the picture, I said, ‘Are you sure this is the library?’ The director loved it and we made it happen.” The film crew scrambled to put the deal together over the course of the last two weeks, and the library was more than cooperative, Rumble said. “We really threw this together at the last minute,” Rumble said. “(Librarian) David Ewick was absolutely wonderful. There’s a lot of times when people say, ‘It’s no problem,’ but it’s a problem. The agreement was signed almost immediately and we made it happen. It couldn’t be better (working at the library).” Crews set up shop on Sunday, Oct. 12, and although the library was closed on Columbus Day, filming was done for about two hours that night. The shoot was held all day on Tuesday, Oct. 14, from 7 a.m. until about midnight. “Once you move into a place, everything is a little bigger than what the folks imagined,” Rumble said. “I always preface that ‘What you’re picturing, it’s bigger than that.’ It’s like 80 people, plus extras, plus cast. We have two big (scaffoldings) 80 feet in the air for lights and stuff. Sometimes that can be intimidating and these guys just rolled with it. They’re just — anything we ask for, they give. I can tell they’re not frustrated with it, either. These guys just have been wonderful. They’re totally on board, and they’re smiling.” With Vartan a presence in the library, one can imagine that those smiles come pretty easy. “It’s been a lot of fun,” said Kelly Ireland, outreach librarian and liaison for the movie set. “I’ve been here every minute the film crew has been here. You think you know what goes into making a movie, but until you really see it, you don’t know how much goes into it. They work long days, and it’s a lot of hard work, but they really seem to love what they do. They’ve been fun to work with.” Ireland said that the library received compensation for the shoot, but did not disclose the details. “We did it for exposure; to help promote Southfield,” she said. “It’s a great place for the film industry to be, and we can showcase one of the jewels of the city. This is the first movie that has ever been filmed at the library. It has all happened very quickly. It’s kind of fun.” Michigan has been the hotspot for Hollywood ever since Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a bill that all but rolled out the red carpet for the movie industry. “They passed a really aggressive tax incentive, a 40 percent tax incentive with an additional 2 percent if you film within any of 103 communities,” Rumble explained. The new laws also provide a 25 percent tax credit for film and digital media infrastructure investments for such activities as building studios or purchasing equipment. “It’s great for movies because we’re getting a chunk of money back,” Rumble said. “But there’s so much trickle down that people don’t take into account.” Rumble said that while on location in Dearborn recently, an employee with craft services reported having spent $1,700 on snack food for the film crew for the few-day shoot. He also reported that because he’s been making good money since the legislation passed, he plans to remodel his kitchen. “Those people aren’t working in the movie industry, but they’re benefiting,” he said. Rumble’s first movie was “8 Mile,” and he has since worked on films such as “Transformers,” “Fahrenheit 911,” “Four Brothers,” “Jumper,” “Semi-Pro,” “Dreamgirls” and “Spider Man 3” (which was filmed in Ohio). Movies that have been shot in Michigan in the last few months include the Clint Eastwood-helmed “Gran Torino”; “Youth in Revolt,” starring Ray Liotta, Steve Buscemi and Michael Cera; the Drew Barrymore movie “Whip-it!”; and the Lifetime Original Movie “Prayers for Bobby,” starring Sigourney Weaver. The stars of “Demoted” are no strangers to Hollywood. Cross has previously starred in the TV series “Arrested Development”; Vartan hails from TV’s “Alias” and the motion pictures “Monster-in-Law” and “Never Been Kissed”; Astin was a child actor with roles in movies like “Goonies,” and his career has continued with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Rogers has worked on such comedies as “American Pie,” “The Heartbreak Kid,” “Me, Myself & Irene” and “There’s Something About Mary.” For more information about the movie, visit www.imdb.com. For more information about the Southfield Public Library, visit www.sfldlib.org. You can reach Staff Writer Jennie Miller at jmiller@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1108. |
