News Story

Is Shooting a Film in Detroit Like 'Being in Prison'?

The state of Michigan approved a $4.9 million subsidy for the movie company that made "The Ides of March."

But one of the actors who worked on the film made what appeared to be a disparaging remark about the city of Detroit on Friday. Actor Paul Giamatti compared filming a movie in Detroit to "being in prison" on ABC television’s LIVE! With Regis and Kelly.

Giamatti was in the film, shot partly in Ann Arbor and Detroit. It also stars George Clooney.

Following the commercial break that came after his remark, Giamatti apologized and said he was referring to the job and not the city. A LIVE! With Regis and Kelly employee said that Giamatti clarified his comments and that he was not calling Detroit a prison, but instead saying that working on the movie was like being in prison.

"If it’s a prison, it is the only prison that pays you to stay there," said James Hohman, a fiscal policy analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, referring to the $4.9 million subsidy that the film received.

"The Ides of March" was expected to spend $7.7 million in the state, according to the 2010 report from the Michigan Film Office.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.