D.C.-Based 'Double' Shot in Michigan

Credit: Image Entertainment

Tonight on Netflix I watched the Washington, D.C.-based spy film "The Double," starring Richard Gere and Topher Grace. The 2011 Michael Brandt-directed movie, about a retired CIA operative (Gere) and a young FBI agent (Grace) on the hunt for a Russian assassin who murdered a U.S. senator, is awful and entertaining at the same time. "The Double" is 98 minutes of mindless entertainment, a vintage Hollywood cliche flick -- so bad it is good.

And it was shot in The Great Lakes State.

That's right. Those gritty urban chase scenes are straight out of Detroit, not D.C. While watching the film, I was sure it was shot in Baltimore, Maryland because that state usually steals film shoots from the nation's capital because of its generous film incentives and close proximity to Washington. That's why it was a surprise to see Detroit, Michigan as the film location in the closing credits.

But should it come as a surprise? While Washington, D.C. doesn't provide tax incentives to lure Hollywood filmmakers, lacks quality production facilities and makes location scouts navigate a difficult maze of federal and local agencies to get permission to shoot, the state of Michigan features a 40 percent refundable tax credit and an additional two percent tax rebate for filming in core cities like Detroit. 

"The Double" is the quintessential Washington, D.C. film. It's just a shame that the filmmakers chose to shoot in Michigan because of the better production incentives.

D.C. can do better.

Oscar-Nominated 'Transformers 3' Shot Scenes in D.C.

'Transformers 3' shooting a scene on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. Photo credit: Screen Junkies

Recently the press has been hounding the nation's capital for making it hard on Hollywood film shoots. First it was the Washington Post writing about the lack of tax incentives to lure big productions and too much red tape for location scouts to deal with, now it is Southern California public radio station 89.3 KPCC with a story about the few Oscar-nominated films that have been lensed in The District over the years.

But there is a ray of sunshine when it comes to filming in Washington, D.C. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" filmed scenes in Washington in October 2010 and now has a chance at winning multiple Oscars tomorrow evening in the visual effects, sound editing and sound mixing categories. Even though there was an on-set accident between a yellow Chevy Camaro—known in the film as the character Bumblebee—and a D.C. police SUV, the production was still a positive for D.C. with great publicity and money spent in the city.

So at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony tomorrow evening at Hollywood and Highland Center (formerly Kodak Theatre), there is a chance that "Transformers 3" will win as many as three Oscars and thus connect Washington, D.C. to showbiz's biggest night. Perhaps that will motivate city leaders to more aggressively pursue Hollywood productions so filmmakers are not forced to shoot in Baltimore or a studio backlot instead of the most powerful city in the world.