http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20090826/NEWS01/908260318
BY CHRISTOPHER BEHNAN • DAILY PRESS & ARGUS • AUGUST 26, 2009
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You may have seen them at the Howell Melon Festival.
Or at the Friday night concert series in downtown Howell.
You may soon see them doing community service or at your local church, and, if you’re a student in Howell, they could become your classmates.
They’re probably the last group of people you would imagine doing any of the above: the cast of a major international television series.
It’s the cast of “The Wannabes,” the teen-themed musical series being filmed at the Howell Public Schools Parker Campus right now and for the next several months.
The above efforts are all part of integrating the cast — primarily teenage entertainers — and crew into the community.
Shooting began almost two weeks ago, and many cast and crewmembers have already begun bringing families to town to stay with them here during the shoot.
“Everybody loves it here. I love the lifestyle here,” said Jeff Spilman, a producer for Ferndale-based S3 Entertainment Group LLC.
“When you’re here, you’re a member of the community,” Spilman added.
Most, if not all, of the out-of-town cast and crew members are living in the same Howell-area apartment complex while filming lasts at least through early 2010.
Five members of the cast are school age, and will receive schooling of some kind during production. Producers are in talks with the Howell district to potentially enroll them in the district.
The teenagers, and others with the production, are seeking local churches to attend during their stay.
The production is considering requiring the cast to conduct community service in the Howell area, said Rick Gibson, executive producer assistant for “The Wannabes.”
“You’re definitely going to see us all out in the community. That’s for sure,” Gibson said.
Like “High School” — a high school stoner film shot last year at the Parker Campus, which is on Wright Road off D-19 in Marion Township — “The Wannabes” is providing district students a glimpse into the world of filmmaking through in-class visits.
“The Wannabes” storyline is shaped around Savvy, a real-life, Houston-based teen singing and dancing ensemble. The group was discovered by industry executives a year and a half ago.
In the series, the teen performers earn the name The Wannabes after enrolling in the Highlands Academy of Arts and are restricted from performing their mix of pop, rock and hip-hop music.
The students dress in a variety of disguises and perform their music while working at Moody’s Sweet Shop, the local student hangout.
Commerce Township resident Dawn Hathaway, whose son, Alex, 15, has appeared in several scenes, attested to the family-like nature of the set. She normally works from home, but brings her work to Parker each day Alex is on the set.
“It really feels like family. It is family,” Dawn Hathaway said.
“It’s this small community of people,” she added.
Background
“The Wannabes” was scheduled to be shot and the storyline set in Houston before S3 Entertainment Group managed to bring the production to Michigan to take advantage of the state’s generous film tax incentive program.
The company is co-producing the series with Houston-based Stern-LeMaire Productions Inc.
In recent weeks, “The Wannabes” was given the green light to shoot all planned 26 episodes. At least the first eight episodes have been approved by the Michigan Film Office to receive an up to 42 percent rebate on all production related expenses made in the state.
Executive Producer Ron Stern said the budget for the 26 episodes is between $8 million and $10 million.
Spilman has said the production is spending “millions” in Livingston County alone.
The show will be distributed by Showcase Entertainment, and will most likely be seen overseas before the United States, most likely on children’s television networks.
The Howell school district jumped at the chance to again have industry professionals interact with students, said Rick Terres, the district’s associate superintendent for business.
“You kidding me?” Terres said of the unique opportunity.
The production has a contract with the district to rent the Parker building for $17,500 per month through Aug. 1, 2010.
Spilman said the production has employed roughly 95 percent Michigan workers in the wardrobe and props departments, as well as electricians, construction, transportation and other jobs.
At least some of those dollars will boost the Genoa Township Bob Evans restaurant, which is an on-site caterer.
The set
The Daily Press & Argus last week was granted a tour of the set at Parker — now clearly Highlands Academy of Arts.
Producers said the name Highlands was conceived in Houston, and isn’t related to the Howell High School Highlander mascot.
While Howell students won’t fill Parker’s seats this year — it served as the district’s building for grades 10-12 in 2007-2008 and was mostly closed the following year because the district couldn’t afford to operate two high schools — the school’s classrooms are being well-used by the production.
One room comprises both the office of Principal Mr. Pesckow and a location for hallway shots for the series.
Principal Pesckow’s office is decorated with photos of the fictitious principal’s family and a photo roster of the academy’s equally fictitious top students.
“We certainly have transformed everything. We’re now at Highlands Academy of Arts,” Spilman said between music-video takes last week.
The show features one music video per episode.
Moody’s Sweet Shop is set up in the school’s gymnasium. When shooting at Moody’s, kitchen shots will be filmed in Parker’s cafeteria kitchen.
Like other fine arts academies seen on television, the Highlands academy is decorated with images of musical notes, ballet dancers and other fine arts.
Gibson said the layout of the school works well with the single cameras being used, which work to provide 360-degree shots of the set.
“We have everything the way we want it. We’re using the whole school,” he said.
The day of the tour, the crew was finishing shooting the series’ first episode. In the storyline, the boys and girls have a fight and reconcile by the end of the show.
A shoot was planned for later that day in an area set up to be a student lounge.
Unlike “High School,” which filmed several scenes outside the school building and in the Howell area, “The Wannabes” is almost entirely being shot inside the school.
There have been about two outdoor shoots so far for “The Wannabes,” both for music videos shot on the football field and at the school’s front entrance.
The first eight episodes will entirely be on the school’s campus, then other locations in the Howell area will be sought for scenes. Producers wouldn’t say where those locations will be.
To date, the cast and crew have been on set four, 10-hour days Mondays through Thursdays each week.
Two cast members, Shaylen Carroll, 16, and Mariah Parks, 15, were found wondering the academy’s “halls” during the Daily Press & Argus tour.
Both have family members who are also involved in the production. Carroll’s mother is the production’s nurse, and Parks’ father location manager.
Carroll said the girls, used the to Houston heat, weren’t fazed by recent weeks’ humid weather.
“We’re Texas girls, so we’re built for the heat,” she explained.
Contact Daily Press & Argus reporter Christopher Behnan at (517) 548-7108 or at cbehnan@ gannett.com.
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