New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Actor plans apprenticeships for film hub in city
Diane Brown, the nationally recognized New Haven librarian, was all in as she listened to Michael Jai White describe his ambitious plans to develop a film hub in Connecticut.
She was among about 100 people who the actor, director and writer told about virtual technology, as a “game-changer,” and his plan to introduce young adults to the widerange of jobs in the industry through a preapprenticeship program.
He addressed them in the party atmosphere at his interim Jaigantic Studios site in Shelton as his complicated plans for 25 stages on River Street in New Haven slowly play out.
In a sermon-like explanation, White, said “deep
down I feel I am doing what I am supposed to do
... I have to live true to who I am. You live true to who you are, you don’t have to look back.” White said now is the time to share in his success.
Referring to growing up poor in Bridgeport, the actor said “I was spared for a reason. My life could have gone a lot of different ways. It was right on the line.”
Brown said she is going to do whatever she can to support the program.
“I feel where he is coming from,” she said, as others from New Haven agreed.
White’s plans for New Haven are ambitious, but so is the mark he hopes to leave on the industry.
Mayne Berke, Jaigantic’s chief operating officer, said virtual production will be one of the biggest things to come out of their proposals.
“It is the future of film making and we are on the cutting edge. We are right there. We are actually ahead of everyone. We want to do for virtual production what (Igor) Sikorsky did for helicopters,” Berke said of the founder of the aviation manufacturer.
He said they are fortunate to have Alton Glass on their team as the director of emerging media as they wait for delivery of the 360 degree virtual stage. He said they have partnered with a Chinese American company to get the screens out of China.
“We are out front. We want to stay out front. We want to corner the market. We want to do it for Connecticut more than anything. CT Innovations is about to find out just what this state is getting,” Berke said, of the state’s investment agency.
He said it will take 60 days to get the virtual screens here and another two months to test them and set them up.
Connecticut Innovations confirmed it has been talking with Jaigantic officials, but said the plans are too early to comment on at this point.
Donovan DeBoer, the CEO at Jaigantic, said the proposal is to eventually have 7 virtual screens in New Haven and one in Shelton. A recent event at Jaigantic took place in the room in Shelton where the 360 degree LED wall — some 18 feet by 78 feet across — will be installed.
White said they can shoot movies 12 months a year as seasons are now
irrelevant. He said you can capture any scene without having to move to a location, which saves time and money.
Berke said they have a studio in Los Angeles. If an actor couldn’t leave there to come to Connecticut, you could shoot her role in LA and place it in the same virtual scene in Connecticut. You wouldn’t be able to tell they were in two different places, White said.
“It is really like teleporting,” Berke said.
He said the virtual stages in Connecticut will be available for rent.
“As soon as we set up that virtual 360 stage here, people are going to flock from all over Europe, from all over the country because it is going to be the only one you can use,” Berke said.
Although Netflix has already used the stage in Shelton to produce a holiday film, the studio in Shelton is about two months away from completion.
Apprenticeship
DeBoer said the curriculum they put together for the apprenticeship initiative has two units.
There is an exploratory level where people can examine the universe of jobs and determine an area of interest. The second is the focus unit and “that is for people who have already demonstrated a certain level of skill and they just want a real pathway to get into a union job and move towards the hours that you need to qualify,” DeBoer said.
In a previous interview, DeBoer said to get a union card, a candidate must put in 3,000 hours of union work over five years and in some cases there are exams.
Berke said they are waiting on the state to see whether Jaigantic’s proposal to participate in the state Department of Labor’s paid Registered Apprenticeship Program will qualify. He said the plan is to start it in a few months.
Chief Impact Officer Jackie Buster said it is true that outside producers will come to a studio with a core group of workers that they always use, but there are still jobs to be filled locally.
She said Jaigantic Studios will set up a portal where people can go to register for the pre-apprenticeship.
Buster said White’s first directive to the company’s officers was to reach out to the Black and brown communities to help diversify the industry at all levels.
Buster said you don’t have to go to college to be in this industry. She said White is also interested in re-entry programs. “We know there is a bank of talent that needs a second chance,” she said.
Phase one in New Haven is development of stages at 46-56 River St, and a parking garage at 112 Chapel St. Phase 2 is the rest of the plan, which includes multiple other parcels of land.
“You have to recognize that there are a lot of mitigating factors that come into play, but our hope is to break ground March 1 and finish nine months later before the snow comes,” Berke said.
“We look at New Haven as the cultural center of Connecticut. It is the most appropriate place to put the studio for what we want to do. That said, Fair Haven (a neighborhood) is even better. It is a place that needs something like that,” Berke said of the River Street location.
Berke said they need a production to kick off the pre-apprenticeship, but he couldn’t make that public yet.
Buster said they are in pre-production for two films, a sequel to “Black Dynamite,” a 2009 send up of blaxploitation, action comedies, in which White starred. The new film is “Blacker Dynamite.” The other film in pre-production is “Crossroads,” the story of White’s life.
The studio is in touch with the state Office of Film, Television and Digital Media about tax credits for infrastructure needs as well as productions, Executive Director George Norfleet said.
White has worked in over 100 films and television programs. He played Mike Tyson in “Tyson,” on HBO and is best known for “Spawn,” where he portrayed the comic book superhero, Mortal Kombat: Legacy. His latest film is the comedy Western, “The Outlaw Johnny Black.”
Salwa Abdussabur, who runs Black Haven in New Haven, was another city resident excited about Jaigantic Studios. She said the visuals that defined White’s career and future plans, particularly around diversity and history “is like coming into a new revolution.”
Lisa Dent of Art Space New Haven also pressed Berke for opportunities for artists who said they would be part of the virtual productions. He said eventually mill work will also be done in New Haven.
Lisa Cruthfield-McLean of BLOOM was at the recent Shelton event, as was Alisa Bowens-Mercado of Rhythm Brewing Co.. Sandra’s Next Generation soul food was represented.
“It is so important for me to see other people’s vision for a city that is near and dear to my heart,” BowensMercado said.