Mitch Albom and Frank Beckman get in on-air fight.

Not sports related, but still fun. Albom has been really critical of Michigan cutting film incentives recently. He also has some movies in the works.


http://wjrpodcasts.com/podcasts/frankbeckmann/FrankMitch-051711.mp3

 

Re: Frank Beckman and the Elf get in on-air fight.

This is pure comedy gold. Beckman really gets under Albom's skin and then Albom gets really agitated and yells. Then Beckman yells like Desmond Howard got tripped in the end zone again. Pure comedy gold I tell you.

 

Re: Frank Beckman and the Elf get in on-air fight.

Little Lord Mitchelroy seemed awfully brave on the other end of a phone line - not across a studio from a guy a half-foot taller and at least 50 pounds heavier.

Beckmann was right - Mitch's advocacy could directly lead to more money in his pocket. Looks like Mitch didn't like getting told the truth.

The next staff meeting at the Fisher Building sure should be interesting.

Betcha Mitch uses his Sunday column to tee off on Frank - and there's nothing Frank can do about it because the Freep lets Mitch do whatever Mitch wants to do - including fabricate columns.

Two other observations - in listening to the podcast, my son was in the next room. He said that Mitch sure sounded arrogant. And, he asked if Frank was calling him "bitch." Uh, no. But I bet he wanted to.

Ah, where's the old MitchWatch website when you need it?

 

Ahhh, but Beckmann also does columns for The News...
And Mitchwatch wasn't a website, it was a email newsletter.

As for the bout, Go Frank, Go Frank....

 

I forgot it was an email newsletter. But, I do remember that it was a very fun read. And, I'll bet that Frank takes the high road and doesn't write about this, unlike Mitch.

 

More pedantic patronizing from the Dwarf.

You can only take so much.

 

Hearty congratulations, Frank.

 

No mention in the Freep... hmm, could it be because the franchise had his ears pinned back?
I agree the film credits are great at driving business for the stated -- especially peripherally. The Dwarf isn't the best messenger...

 

The film credits might be. Nobody really knows. The last administration wasn't transparent at all. They had no way of actually showing how much the film credits were bringing to the state. Everyone knows that they were subsidizing Hollywood, which could be okay if it worked, but nobody could prove anything. Hell, I say if it works spend as much money as you need to - maybe even more than planned - but you have to prove it works.

That's a lot of what Beckman was getting pissed about, and rightfully so.

 

Sounded to me that Mitch was correct, though thin-skinned.

Beckman seemed to be trying not to understand.

Many states have these subsidies.

Are they worth it? Well, if you don't have them and no one films any movies in your state, what's the harm?

You could argue both sides, but most folks seem to think that giving businesses some kind of incentive to set up shop locally and compete better against other states is a good thing or a necessity.

 

It's not so much the actual cost of the production that can help, but the peripherals. People need to rent hotels and apartments; shop at stores...

 

Am listening to this for the first time (I read the story before). Beckmann is wonderful at pushing Albom's buttons...