Here's the letter! I can't load the stinkin' video!! :P

Dear Michigan State Government, Governor Rick Snider, and those who have any say in the film incentives in our state;

My name is Sarah Jane Regan. I am a 26 year old up and coming fashion designer in the Metro Detroit area. I live in Commerce Township, Mi where my husband and I decided to purchase a house together with my parents for many reasons. 1. Neither of us could afford to purchase a home on our own and we knew that buying a home would lead to (some kind) of investment for the future. 2. My husband and I had just found out that we were expecting our second child just 3 months after having our first. My husband worked at our church as a live production assistant/ intern and I was bar tending at a local pub. For obvious reasons I left the bar scene to raise our children. As the economy continued to plummet my husbands' "low man on the totem pole" position was no longer needed, as even our church was preparing for even harder times to come.
This was a bit frustrating because 9 months previous he had been laid off from the construction company he worked for........I still think that the last subdivision they worked on is still unfinished to this day.
I decided I should take my passion for design and put it to good use and hopefully help supplement the income we no longer had. I made a small collection of handbags and sold them at a booth style sale locally and the result was great! So great that it encouraged me to start a future in fashion design and develop my own brand. As I dove into the circuit here in Detroit I saw how tangible it was to succeed in fashion and ESPECIALLY because low and behold -THE FILM INDUSTRY- was making its way here to Michigan! Making its way to a state that had definitely seen some better times.
The thought of getting national exposure through celebrities and the contacts that come with a film industry was really driving my optimism! A lot of times breaking through into my field happens in one single red carpet moment that a reporter (if you will) asks the celeb what they are wearing and, in my case, four little words come out, " Sarah Jane Sarah Jane" and BOOM! Every local and national celebrity goes out and gets their hands on that brand name!
The thought of my brand being used in a movie or a major network television series the way fashion designer Kate Spade's handbags were used on episodes of Just Shoot Me, due to her connection with brother-in-law David Spade, gave me hope. It meant that I didn't need to uproot my entire like and move to New York to succeed in fashion. It meant that we could fulfill our plans of living with my parents so that I could build a fashion empire, in yes, DIRT ROAD MICHIGAN. "HOW AMAZING!!", I thought.
Sometimes I would daydream about even having the manufacturing for my line taking place in an old broken down warehouse in Detroit and I could someday offer hundreds of jobs that come along with a fashion manufacturing company. Maybe, just MAYBE the little girl who grew up in a trailer park (for real) and who purposely moved her husband and 2 young children in with her parents could have started something that would help turn the city of Detroit around!!
Many times along the way I have thought, "I'm gonna have to get the heck out of Michigan if I want to have a chance in fashion..." But over two weeks ago when I heard the plan to take the film incentives away I was shocked. It felt as though the preverbal rug had been ripped out from underneath me and there I was left on my behind feeling defeated.... It was the very first time that I seriously thought, "Wow, I really am going to have to get the heck out of Michigan..."
There was an article in Real Detroit Weekly that asked its readers what the best thing about living in Detroit was; and they answered with one word, POTENTIAL.

Potential; I fear that if Governor Rick Snider and the State of Michigan take the film incentives away they will be taking the only thing that our state has left, potential.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration to keep the Film Incentives in Michigan.

Sincerely Yours,
Sarah Jane

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Sarah Jane Regan
Owner/ Lead Designer
Sarah Jane Sarah Jane LLC.

248.207.3267
www.SarahJaneSarahJane.com