Bayside resident Mark Metcalf is an actor who has worked in movies, TV and on the stage. He is best known for his work in "Animal House," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Seinfeld."

In addition to his work on screen, Metcalf is involved with the Milwaukee International Film Festival, First Stage Children's Theater and a number of other projects.

He also finds time to write about movies for OnMilwaukee.com.

In 2004, the film that opened the Milwaukee International Film Festival was called "Gettin' Grown." It was a packed house; the first time that had happened for the opening night film in the history of the festival. It was a short history at that time, only two years, but it had been a busy history.

"Getting' Grown" went on to win the Audience Choice Award that year. It's a wonderful story of a boy trying to do the right thing in a world full of dangerous distractions. Aaron Greer directed it in a very simple, straightforward way remembering always that story and the people are the forefront of any film. And it was made by people from Milwaukee, with Milwaukee money, and actors and people from this city starred in it and played all the parts, and it is about life in Milwaukee.

They should have called their production company "Homegrown Films" instead of Gettin' Grown Productions.

The State of Wisconsin has not been very interested in promoting the entertainment industry. Wisconsin has been content for years to have stood in for Cleveland in "Major League," to be home to "Laverne & Shirley" and "The Fonz" in "Happy Days," and to have provided the bridge to nowhere when John Landis needed to send the Nazis flying off one in "The Blues Brothers."

But the television shows were not shot here, and the films just came here for a day or a week in order to get footage they couldn't get in the real locations. Neither the state nor the city has taken much interest in pursuing either the dollars that the entertainment industry can bring in or the jobs that it can provide. Maybe it's a deeply seated German shyness or a near belligerent resistance to the spotlight but there has been, in the past, very little love expressed, in a business sense, for the cinematic arts, that is: movies.

Consequently, people with talent and desire in these fields have moved away to what are perceived to be the greener pastures of Los Angeles and New York, even Chicago. After the state cut all funding to its film office and abandoned the film commission, there seemed to be no future at all for an industry that, at the time, was the highest dollar for dollar export that the United States had.

But a few people of vision, who were able to imagine the future more accurately, decided they didn't want to let it drop so easily. They formed a group that is now called Film Wisconsin, to promote, independent of the state, what many are now calling the 21st century industry of entertainment -- not just movies and television but video games, commercials, any and all visual media.

They also convinced some people involved in state government, in particular Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, that this was important and they managed to get a law passed that gives filmmakers a tax break for every dollar they spend making their product. The law applies to any and all visual media. The law went into effect Jan. 1, and soon after Michael Mann started scouting locations for "Public Enemies," with Johnny Depp.

So, it's working. Thanks to the continuing efforts of Scott Robbe and Dave Fantle and a bunch of other people.

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Posted by citykid on June 5, 2008 at 12:12 p.m. (report)

Very thoughtful piece, Mark. I hope the film on James Cameron gets made. His story is remarkable; he was a passionate and articulate advocate for social justice until the day he died. It is sad that the American Holocaust Museum that he created to remind us of the nation's shameful legacy of slavery doesn't attract more visitors and financial support. I guess people prefer getting freaked out by corpses than facing up to the evil that amounts to a secular version of an Original Sin. By the way, did you catch Karen Allen in the new Indie movie? Boy, it's been awhile since she (and Donald Sutherland) mooned us in Animal House, eh?