Compass College of Cinematic Arts is located in Grand Rapids, a western Michigan city that sits along the whimsical Grand River. The area serves as a production mecca for on-location filming, with a wide variety of backdrops – urban centers, vast forests, rural farming and waterfront communities, Lake Michigan, abundant sports adventures, historical towns and unique architectural buildings, all within a 50 mile radius. The state of Michigan, affectionately called the “mitten,” is surrounded by the Great Lakes and boasts the world-renowned Mackinac Island as well as an international border with gateways to Canada.

Michigan offers a competitive film incentive package, which annually attracts the Hollywood film industry to shoot inside its doors. Major films, such as Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, Whip It with Drew Barrymore, All’s Fair in Love starring Christina Ricci, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story with Cuba Gooding Jr., and other notable features have been filmed in the state within the past few years. Many CCCA interns and alumni have had the opportunity to showcase their skills and to learn on sets from a diverse collection of the industry’s most talented artists, including, most recently, The Chaos Experiment, Tug, Cherry, and The Gun which were shot in Grand Rapids and the nearby cities of Holland and Kalamazoo.

Interested in discovering more about the community and art culture of Grand Rapids? Check out the links below for more information.

Celebration! Cinema
http://www.celebrationcinema.com

Grand Rapids Events
http://www.grnow.org
http://www.visitgrandrapids.org/events.php

Grand Rapids Art Museum
http://www.artmuseumgr.org

Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts
http://www.uica.org

ArtPrize
http://www.artprize.org/

Wealthy Theatre
http://www.grcmc.org/theatre