<P> The original script was inspired by the Northeast community of Minneapolis, Minnesota, but filmmakers chose to shoot in Michigan, becoming one of the first productions to take advantage of the state's new law that provided lucrative incentive packages to film productions . Bill Huizenga, a man from Zeeland, Michigan who once served in the Michigan House of Representatives, helped write and coordinate the State of Michigan's incentive package to the film creators . The film ultimately received a 42% tax credit . Bruce Headlam of The New York Times said "That helped make it easy for Warner Bros. to sign off on bankrolling the movie, something that hasn't always been a given in the studio's relationship with the director ." </P> <P> Producer Robert Lorenz said that while the script was originally set in Minnesota, he chose Michigan as the actual setting as Kowalski is a retired car plant worker . Metro Detroit was the point of origin of the Ford Motor Company . Schenk said that sometimes the lines in the movie feel out of place with the Detroit setting; for instance a line about one of Walt's sons asks if Walt still knows a person who has season tickets for Minnesota Vikings games was changed to being about a person with Detroit Lions tickets . Schenk said "They don't sell out in Detroit . And so that bothered me . It seemed really untrue to me ." </P> <P> Locations, all within Metro Detroit, included Highland Park, Center Line, Warren, Royal Oak, and Grosse Pointe Park were used . The house depicting Walt Kowalski's house is on Rhode Island Street in Highland Park . The Hmong gang house is located on Pilgrim Street in Highland Park . The house depicting the residence of one of Walt's sons is on Ballantyne Road in Grosse Pointe Shores . The church used in the film, Saint Ambrose Roman Catholic Church, is in Grosse Pointe Park . The hardware store, Pointe Hardware, is also in Grosse Pointe Park . VFW Post 6756, used as the location where Walt meets friends to drink alcohol, is in Center Line . </P> <P> The barber shop, Widgren's Barber Shop, is along 11 Mile Road, near Center Street, in Royal Oak . The shop, founded in 1938, in a space now occupied by another business, moved to its current location, west of its original location, in 1970 . The film producers selected that shop out of 60 candidates in Metro Detroit . According to Frank Mills, the son - in - law of owner Ted Widgren, the producers selected it because they liked "the antique look inside ." Eastwood asked Widgren to act as an extra in the barber shop scene . In the area around the barbershop, vehicle traffic had to be stopped for three to five minutes at a time, so traffic in the area slowed down . </P>

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