By Terry Oparka
C & G Staff Writer

TROY — Assistant Director Tara Plizga, a former Sterling Heights resident, yelled “quiet on the set” in the log cabin of the Troy Museum and Historic Village Nov. 24. 

Actors Derek Brandon, 10, of Grand Rapids, and Kristen Jarzembowski, 11, of Northville, said their lines and hit their marks as the film crew did its work.

“This is a perfect place for us,” Plizga said. “I like working here.”

Plizga graduated from Warren Mott High School in Warren in ’95 and attended the New York Film School in California. “I love the creative side (of the film industry). People don’t realize how much goes into this.”

She was back home working on the “The Rain Chronicles,” a feature horror film starring David Carradine of the “Kung Fu” TV series fame and the “Kill Bill” movies.

The Motion Picture Institute of Michigan, a state licensed film school based in Troy, is producing the film. Students from MPI were at the museum during the shoot as part of a class called “Feature Lab,” in which students learn advanced production skills by working under the direction of experienced industry professionals.

The film’s producers, Douglas Schulze and Kurt Eli Mayry, started MPI after they produced their first film, “Hellmaster,” which premiered on HBO/Cinemax in 1992. After receiving numerous requests to walk people through the process of selling an independent film, they opened the school. “We started off with workshops and seminars, but figured out fairly quickly that we needed to offer something more comprehensive,” Schulze said.

MPI students are assigned to work on script continuity, lighting, audio, special effects and cinematography, and with assisting the director. More than 300 students have graduated from the school since it opened six years ago.

Chuck Grady graduated from MPI in 2007 and worked as line producer for “The Rain Chronicles.” He is optimistic about his future making films in Michigan.

“The timing of the tax incentive package is perfect,” he said, speaking of the Michigan Film Incentive, which grants up to 42 percent tax incentives for approved film production companies to film in Michigan.

“I was fortunate enough to work on ‘Demoted,’ which was just shot here, and would love to work in any capacity on other local feature films that come to the state,” he said.

It took both child actors a week to memorize their lines for six days of filming. In between takes, Derek said his favorite part of acting is “having the camera on him.”

Kristen always wanted to act, said her mother, Kim Jarzembowski. Kirsten has been a dancer since she was 2 1/2, Kim said,  and “she’s in her element when she’s performing.”

This is the second film crew to shoot at the Troy Museum this year. Documentary filmmaker Pamela Peak shot footage in the cabin Oct. 24 for a documentary film on the Polar Bears, the story of young Detroit-area World War I soldiers who fought for freedom in northern Russia in 1918.

Museum Director Lorraine Campbell said the museum charges a sliding scale to those who wish to use rent the grounds. The museum charged the MPI the nonprofit rate of $50 an hour, although the school paid the museum $100 an hour for the night shooting done from 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. on two evenings to cover museum staff’s overtime.

“Larger production companies would be charged higher rates,” Campbell said. “We’re giving them a deal because they are a school, a Troy business, and because they are working with us to plug us into other groups doing filming.”

You can reach Staff Writer Terry Oparka at toparka@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1054.