Follow the money, the talent, the entertainment industry in Detroit
Filmmaker Erik Proulx is from Boston, another blue-collar town that’s taken its licks. He’d never been to Detroit, but after being laid off, for the third time, the City started to play on his mind. Hoping to make sense of his own life, he decided to venture to what he thought was the lay-off capital of the world. Like many people, he believed he would find a city in ruin, a city in despair. “I thought I wouldn’t even be able to get out of my car. That zombies and cannibals walked the streets,” he laughs. What he found, was something very different.
Once he began shooting his film, Lemonade, he realized how wrong he was. “These people have their sleeves rolled up, they’re taking it all on their shoulders.” The film itself is an inspiring look at the metamorphosis of Detroit, the resilience of the Motor City spirit. How little people from entrepreneurs to artists, engineers to executives, are all making a difference.
Using all Michigan talent, both on camera and behind it, Proulx shot his short film. When he screened it here, the response was so positive, he decided to follow it up with a feature film. How he’s funding that project echoes the refrain from his film. Pooling a network of people, their money and their resources, Proulx is using “crowd-funding” to complete his dream. Instead of relying on the old model of creating something and then selling it, many entrepreneurs today find their audience first, sell them merchandise behind their vision and then make the product. As an outsider, Proulx knows Detroit is an underdog, everyone wants to see her get back on her feet. It is such an easy fit, maybe the Mayor should try his strategy.
On lemonadedetroit.com, anyone can become a producer for a buck. Selling one frame of his film at a time, his target is a 90-minute film and he’s already raised a third of that. At press, he’s sold 41,770 frames, a Guiness Book of World Records for the most producers on one movie. Best of all, the waning film incentives won’t stop him. He’s going to shoot his film without them. That’s the spirit of Detroit.
On Monday, the Money: How Many of Detroit’s Movies are Now Being Made in Cleveland
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