By Mike Householder, Associated Press
….House, the lead character on the Fox medical drama of the same name, is a Michigan medical school graduate, and the DeGroots are Michigan doctoral candidates who founded the mysterious Dharma Initiative at the center of the ABC serial Lost.
Such tie-ins allow TV and film productions to be more authentic while at the same time providing universities with free advertising and the chance to up their coolness quotient.
“It’s fun for everyone â?? alumni and students â?? to see their university pop up in film,” said Lee Doyle, who heads up the University of Michigan’s film office.
And while that may be, it sometimes can be serious business for Doyle and others who hold the equivalent job at major universities.
They have their school’s reputation to consider in weighing whether to allow it to be associated with a TV show or movie