stories & info for an optimistic doc on Detroit

**Antoine** · August-02-10, 09:39 AM

Hello,

I’m working at a Swiss production company which has already shot a feature film last year in California [[US) and Japan.

We are now planning to make a feature documentary about Detroit [[US) and Toyota City [[Japan). According to me, what makes Detroit and Toyota City so unique is their historical relationship with the car industry. They are twin cities for this specific reason.

We would like to focus on the way the two cities are facing the car industry crisis, the impact on the local population and how they try to overcome it. In short : what could embody the revival of Detroit today?

It could be a story of a successful person, or a charismatic politician / music star / cinema star..., or a new hype district, or a flourishing Mexican restaurant, or the development of new kinds of craft / arts. Anything!

Any idea or experience?

Antoine

**Lowell** · August-02-10, 11:36 AM

Welcome to the forum Antoine. Are you looking to focus on a single person or business? Are you speaking of the City of Detroit [900,000] or the international metropolitan Detroit [5.5 million]? We tend to use the two interchangeably but there is a difference. Detroit is also often used as a nickname for the American automobile industry.

Have you visited Detroit yet? I am sure there are many willing to help out and make you feel welcome.

**Antoine** · August-02-10, 12:09 PM

Thank you Lowell for your answer. I was speaking of City of Detroit, since we would like to compare it to Toyota City [[400,000).

We are still at an exploratory stage, and we just know information from newspapers/wikipedia/bogs [[I've never been there), which is obviously necessary but not enough. What we are looking for is a "human factor" : a single story, a successful enterprise, a new powerful association... Anything that could help us define our topic.

It's only when we'll have a precise idea of what should be explored that we will investigate in Detroit.

**Focus313** · August-02-10, 12:54 PM

Look up the history of "Poll Town", lots of people can still speak of that mess.

**Antoine** · August-02-10, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by Focus313

Look up the history of "Poll Town", lots of people can still speak of that mess.

I've tried to find info about it, but wasn't successful. Could you be more precise please?

**ndavies** · August-02-10, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by Focus313

Look up the history of "Poll Town", lots of people can still speak of that mess.

Actually that's Poletown, Not Poll Town.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poletown,_Detroit

**Antoine** · August-02-10, 03:11 PM

OMG it's dreadful! Is the city going to restore this area?

**ndavies** · August-02-10, 03:59 PM

How can you restore something, when most of poletown currently sits underneath a working auto assembly plant?

This is the factory where the salvation of the auto industry, the New Chevy Volt, is going to be produced. [[Yes, that last sentence was sarcasm for the sarcasm inpaired.)

**sumas** · August-03-10, 01:24 AM

Look up Georgia Street Community Gardens. It is a very inspirational story.

For an interesting interpretation of how and why Detroit became the Motor City contact The Village of Fairview Historical Society president.

Sadly, I don't see any one organization or business that would exemplify a phoenix like rise for Detroit. I do see however a ground swelling surge of effective non profits. Connecting the dots for the various groups causes might make for a compelling story.

**Antoine** · August-03-10, 03:26 AM

Originally Posted by sumas

Look up Georgia Street Community Gardens. It is a very inspirational story.

For an interesting interpretation of how and why Detroit became the Motor City contact The Village of Fairview Historical Society president.

Sadly, I don't see any one organization or business that would exemplify a phoenix like rise for Detroit. I do see however a ground swelling surge of effective non profits. Connecting the dots for the various groups causes might make for a compelling story.

Hi sumas. That looks great. It makes me think that there was a doc called "Grown in Detroit" that stressed on urban farming in Detroit. I haven't seen it but it was quite renown. But Georgia Street Community seems different : more a social interaction than a new kind of business. Am I right?

I have read that the Mexican community was quite successful, thanks to the increasing popularity of Mexican restaurants. Have you noticed that too?

**sumas** · August-03-10, 07:30 AM

GSCG's started with one man determined to fight blight in his neighborhood. What attracted me to his project was Movie Night for the area kids. Prior to the movie at dusk various volunteers would read to the assembled children. This led to a book distribution, then acquiring schoolbook supplies, a purchase of a vacant home and storefront to be used as a community center and various creative fundraisers and activities which bennefit area children.

This collaborative has attracted a diverse group of supporters, urban and suburban. The harmony and diversity of this group and the education these kids receive about communication, cooperation, collaboration, consideration and caring is perhaps as valuable as the stress placed on raising/eating fresh fruit and vegetables.

If you want info on Southwest Detroit/Mexican town talk to Elena Herrada.

**Kathleen** · August-03-10, 07:56 AM

Check out Open City, founded by Liz Blondy and Claire Nelson, both of whom have started their own businesses in Detroit and are looking for ways to help others realize their dreams.
http://www.opencitydetroit.com/

Liz owns Canine-to-Five, a doggie day care.
http://www.caninetofivedetroit.com/staff.php

Claire owns the Bureau of Urban Living, a home store
http://www.bureauliving.com/

**Antoine** · August-03-10, 08:21 AM

Originally Posted by sumas

GSCG's started with one man determined to fight blight in his neighborhood. What attracted me to his project was Movie Night for the area kids. Prior to the movie at dusk various volunteers would read to the assembled children. This led to a book distribution, then acquiring schoolbook supplies, a purchase of a vacant home and storefront to be used as a community center and various creative fundraisers and activities which bennefit area children.

This collaborative has attracted a diverse group of supporters, urban and suburban. The harmony and diversity of this group and the education these kids receive about communication, cooperation, collaboration, consideration and caring is perhaps as valuable as the stress placed on raising/eating fresh fruit and vegetables.

If you want info on Southwest Detroit/Mexican town talk to Elena Herrada.

I've sent her an e-mail. Thank you

**Antoine** · August-03-10, 03:16 PM

By the way, do you know if there are school / student exchanges with Toyota City? Or any other social activity due to the fact that these are twin cities?

**Kathleen** · August-03-10, 04:41 PM

Here's some info on the Sister Cities Program between Detroit and Tokyo from the Detroit side...
http://www.detroitmi.gov/Departments...0/Default.aspx

**Antoine** · August-04-10, 03:55 AM

Thank you Kathleen. I will contact the city for more info about it.

By the way, as Detroit citizens, what do you think of hybrid and electric cars? Do you think it could help the car industry to restart?

**Antoine** · August-04-10, 05:11 AM

Originally Posted by ndavies

How can you restore something, when most of poletown currently sits underneath a working auto assembly plant?

This is the factory where the salvation of the auto industry, the New Chevy Volt, is going to be produced. [[Yes, that last sentence was sarcasm for the sarcasm inpaired.)

Would you know someone I should contact on this issue?

**Kathleen** · August-04-10, 08:58 AM

Antoine: Can you be more specific on who you would like to talk to? Are you looking for someone who can speak to what happened and its ramifications to the city of Hamtramck and the Poletown area? or something else?

**rb336** · August-04-10, 09:29 AM

Antoine, actor Max Gail [["Wojo" on Barney Miller) did a documentary on the Poletown debacle several years ago. If you can contact his Full Circle productions, it might be beneficial.

There are a lot of interesting things going on here, from urban farming to arts. They aren't always headlines, but they are worth hunting down. I think there are tons of intriguing things in the news -- the bridge debate, the success of Corktown after the Tigers left, the revival of midtown through lots of grass roots work.

**Antoine** · August-06-10, 03:45 AM

Originally Posted by rb336

Antoine, actor Max Gail [["Wojo" on Barney Miller) did a documentary on the Poletown debacle several years ago. If you can contact his Full Circle productions, it might be beneficial.

There are a lot of interesting things going on here, from urban farming to arts. They aren't always headlines, but they are worth hunting down. I think there are tons of intriguing things in the news -- the bridge debate, the success of Corktown after the Tigers left, the revival of midtown through lots of grass roots work.

This is the kind of contact I was looking for. Thank you for your help.
By the way, when I'm looking for something about Detroit, I very often read the names of local teams : the Tigers, the Red Wings, the Lions... Does that mean that sport is more important in Detroit than in most of American cities? As I'm not American, I don't know if every city is so fiercely proud of its own teams... [[for instance in France, only a few cities present this particularity, but only for football : the PSG team for Paris and its suburbs, the OM team for Marseilles and the south of France, the OL for Lyon, and I think that's all)

**Kathleen** · August-06-10, 05:17 AM

For more info on the Poletown situation, contact Greg Kowalski at the Hamtramck Historical Commission. Contact info here:
http://www.hamtramckhistory.org/?q=you_can_help

**5speedz34** · August-06-10, 05:38 AM

Originally Posted by Antoine

This is the kind of contact I was looking for. Thank you for your help.
By the way, when I'm looking for something about Detroit, I very often read the names of local teams : the Tigers, the Red Wings, the Lions... Does that mean that sport is more important in Detroit than in most of American cities? As I'm not American, I don't know if every city is so fiercely proud of its own teams... [[for instance in France, only a few cities present this particularity, but only for football : the PSG team for Paris and its suburbs, the OM team for Marseilles and the south of France, the OL for Lyon, and I think that's all)

I think most would agree that the mentality of being a "World Class" city comes with having sports teams. Any major city in the U.S. has at least one of the major sports teams [[NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA). To answer your question further, yes sports is huge in Detroit and in Michigan as a whole. I would say we are within the top 3 best sports cities in the country. The Tigers have a large following and their "Olde English D" logo is a symbol for the city if not the region. The Red Wings are the NY Yankees of hockey for the most part, and when the Pistons are good they have a decent following.

As for the Lions.......well....nobody's perfect.

**George Cassidy** · August-06-10, 06:19 AM

Antoine, it seems to me that this is not the way a valid, paid researcher goes avbout doing his homework. Can we have more information about your antecedents/credentials before we open the kimono any further? What were your other projects and where are they available?

Got to admit, I can;t imagine why anybody would pull the chain of Detroiters at this point in history but, if anybody would, my money is on you.

I am working, by the way, on a project involving comparisons of cheese in Wisconsin and Emmenthal. Any help you could give me would be appreciated.

**Antoine** · August-06-10, 06:39 AM

Originally Posted by 5speedz34

sports is huge in Detroit and in Michigan as a whole.

Is it the same for music? I read that many music stars [[hip hop, rock) came from Detroit. And that electro music is huge too. Is that true?

**Antoine** · August-06-10, 06:40 AM

Originally Posted by Kathleen

For more info on the Poletown situation, contact Greg Kowalski at the Hamtramck Historical Commission. Contact info here:
http://www.hamtramckhistory.org/?q=you_can_help

Thank you. It's done, I hope for a reply now