DETROIT, Mich. – Who ever would have thought that Michigan’s automotive workers may work in the film industry one day? Welcome to Michigan, where film tax credits and a local organization of growing repute is making this a reality. FilmEmerge.com, Michigan’s most-visited film resource website in Detroit’s popular TechTown, which provides social media for Michigan’s film and entertainment industry, has acquired the seal of approval from the UAW – all nine Michigan regions controlling all the locals – to provide a variety of film training to UAW members and other displaced Michigan residents.

“We were approached by and also researched many film industry training groups, and decided that FilmEmerge was the right company for us, says UAW President Rory Gamble. “They will retrain our displaced workers for Michigan’s emerging film industry. We envision a long relationship and many success stories.”

Rory recently invited FilmEmerge to present to 150 UAW regional directors, and then to 400 local UAW leaders and members. Michigan’s upcoming film career opportunities grabbed the attention of everyone in the room.

“Through our trainings, hard-working Michigan residents can reinvent themselves and discover the next steps in their career,” says FilmEmerge Co-Founder Jonathan Rayos, who with his partner Jason Waterman, formed the organization nearly one year ago. “Our trainings focus on the film industry’s ‘below-the-line’ jobs, such as production assistance, grip, electrical, lighting, and stage production and carpentry.”  Additionally, UAW displaced workers can take advantage of the federal government’s January, 2009, UAW Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA ) grant program, offering retraining funds from $5000-$10,000.

Learn more about FilmEmerge at www.FilmEmerge.com, and to register for quickly-filling trainings and receive special pricing, visit www.FilmEmerge.com/training. Also, visit FilmEmerge at the Plymouth 845 UAW job fair on Wednesday, July 15, from 10 am to 6 pm, on Sheldon Road, in Plymouth, Michigan.

FilmEmerge’s vision to create a web-based resource for the Michigan film industry originally began as a film production directory for those offering production services. Today, the site includes more than 270 individual production categories offering a customizable profile with social media components, marketing-friendly URL to attach one’s business name, customizable banner, personalized and up-loadable news, events, videos, area for verified film credits, and ability to share profiles with other social media sites. Additionally, FilmEmerge provides training, web-based marketing for independent filmmakers, and film funding. Already over 1700 people follow FilmEmerge on Twitter — @FilmEmerge — and about 125 join each week.

For more info.: Contact Anahid Lisa Derbabian, 248 202.0583, Anahid@integritycommunicationsco.com.

FilmEmerge
FilmEmerge is a movie production resource center providing social media for the Michigan film and entertainment industry. Originally begun as a film production directory for those offering production services, it quickly grew into also a non-profit film foundation for training and education. Currently, FilmEmerge has more than 270 production categories. The differentiator technology of FilmEmerge includes a customizable profile page for directory listings, a marketing-friendly URL to attach one’s business name, a customizable banner, personalized and up loadable news, events, videos, an area for verified film credits, and a Save/Share component to share profiles with other social media sites. www.filmemerge.com