(shot during our trip to screen in Detroit)
This post has been adapted from an earlier email sent to Lemonade subscribers.
Much has happened in recent weeks. Lemonade is now on Hulu, and was the #1 watched film for two days in a row. We’ve had screenings in about a dozen cities, and in the coming weeks we’ll be in San Francisco, Glens Falls, NY, Baltimore, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. We’ve received over a hundred amazing submissions for the book (thank you!) and we’re working with literary agents to polish the proposal.
There’s been great momentum behind Lemonade, and I am incredibly thankful for your involvement. But for the rest of this post, I’d like to talk not about where Lemonade has been, but where it is going.
And that is to the city of Detroit.
Lemonade, Detroit will not be about the advertising industry nor will it lament unemployment. Rather, it will focus on a city that is embracing the reality that it can no longer depend on a single industry for its livelihood.
There’s no denying the dire circumstances in Detroit. And no film about the city’s reinvention can be told without acknowledging the hell it has seen. But there’s an amazing insurgence of the entrepreneurial spirit in Detroit, and the takeaway of this film will be about the disarming resilience of the people who live there.
These will be stories you don’t often hear about in the news, yet they are stories that need to be told.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be shooting a trailer. We’re looking for stories specifically in and about Detroit — people and businesses that have found a way to turn the economy on its head and make something great. If you happen to be one of those people, or if you know of any inspirational stories like these, please email detroit_stories [at] lemonademovie [dot] com with the subject “Lemonade, Detroit story submission.” We’d absolutely love your involvement.
Once the trailer is done, we will then use it to seek funding and sponsorships. If anyone reading this would like discuss that possibility, please email me at erik [at] pleasefeedtheanimals [dot] com.
Lastly, I want to thank you once again for all your amazing support of Lemonade, Please Feed The Animals, and this new film. It can’t be overstated how much your emails and tweets mean and how important they’ve been in moving everything forward.
Sincerely,
Erik
19 Comments
http://www.heidelberg.org/
YOu should check out this guy. He makes art out of broken down detroit. It truly is cool stuff and comes from a great place.
Cant wait to see you in SF next week.
I think you grabbed this idea.
I dunno… while I support and applaud your ambition, I’m skeptical about how this project will turn out.
True, the people in the Detroit area can be resilient, but last I saw before I high tailed it out of the area (after 3 ad agency layoffs) to find work in another state, not much was going on at all. I surely couldn’t give a rip about trying to do anything positive there anymore after fifteen/twenty years of trying.
I mean, sure you have your garage bands and artists, and a few starting thier own little ad agencies to try to get by, but the area is pretty beaten down spiritually; not much is going on but a bunch of whining back in the State of Bitch-again. Most anyone with a sense of self respect or ounce of fortitude struck out and away for greener pastures. Detroit is not coming back in our lifetime.
I hope you find otherwise.
wait did the screening in Chicago actually happen and I missed it? =(
Ex- Detroiter: I certainly hope to prove you wrong. If this were a film about advertising, I might be inclined to agree with you. But the vibe from both my outside perspective (and many insiders who are consulting with me) is that the resolve is strong to do something new. That’s the spirit I hope to catch.
fabgeekling — Not yet. We’re shooting for first week in March. Stay tuned.
Cool. I wonder what new things the people there will come up with.
I read in the Detroit Free Press that a light rail system may be built using local millionaire money (Penske, Illitch, and Karmanos).
Personally, I think the city needs a race track. Either NASCAR or dirt track racing, rather than light rail. Or maybe an amusement park to bring in tourists. There’s certainly enough vacant land for either of these or both.
when will you be in baltimore? i just watched this film– i loved it!!
As a former Detroiter, I agree with Erik; the city’s demise isn’t solely about advertising. What attracts new people to Detroit is the ability to forge one’s path, not take the well-trodden one. Case in point:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/us/10startup.html?scp=1&sq=independent+movie+theater+in+detroit&st=nyt
My mistake. I thought this was a blog about advertising.
This just in: Organic, Inc. in Bloomfield Hills, MI (just outside of Detroit), just lost the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge web work to SapientNitro. That’s another hundred or so people who’ll be out of work in the ad biz in Metro Detroit as Chryler takes their business out of state.
the blog Sweet Juniper (www.sweet-juniper.com) is an amazing read with lots of positive news on Detroit and the amazing photographs of one roving stay at home dad living in the city with his crafty wife and cute kids. Following their lovely adventures certainly makes Detroit seem just a bit better than people think with the sobering reality of how it truly is uniquely expressed through pictures and words.
Where did you get this idea? Tell us.
Not Really Happy –
Thanks for asking. I can tell you the exact moment, as a matter of fact. Peter Nelson (The DP on Lemonade) and I were on our way back from shooting Bob Weeks for the film, and he was telling me about Slows BBQ in Detroit. He said this one little BBQ joint managed to inspire a whole street of entrepreneurs and now it’s this little bustling pocket in Detroit. I had also heard about the artist communes that are springing up from foreclosed houses. And, together, Peter and I thought stories like those would be a great movie. So we’re making it.
Be sure to check out the guys who created Theater Bizarre near the Michigan State Fairgrounds (7 and a half mile and woodward). http://www.theatrebizarre.com/
They bought up 3 or 4 houses in a row and created a carnival in their backyard complete with an amazingly painted full stage for bands to play on. They have a huge party there every Halloween.
Theater Bizarre….GOLD!
Julien Temple beat you to it: “Requiem for Detroit”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/mar/10/detroit-motor-city-urban-decline
Thanks for that link Dr. Detroit. Great to see another project focusing on what’s right. Looks like hope is turning into a movement.
There’s a former senior account guy from Campbell-Ewald named Jeff Scott who got laid off last year or so and went back to being a musician full time. He tours and records music.
Maybe this guy will fit into your documentary of hope:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=544tFlFtEcU&feature=channel 17
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffscottduffeypetrosky
http://www.jeffscottmusic.com/Jeff_Scott_Music/Welcome.html
ex detroiter .. he rocks. thank you.
looking foward
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