BREWS AND VIEWS
Half Moon Bay, San Francisco, CA
January 3
The first will be on January 3 in San Francisco, CA at Half Moon Bay Brewing. I’ll be on hand to present the film and lead a short presentation and discussion afterwards. Click here for more details.

BAKER COLLEGE
Student Center, Allen Park, MI
January 21
The second screening (two of them, actually) will be held on January 21 (MLK Jr. Day), at Baker College, just outside of Detroit. The first will be at 11:15, and the evening screening will be at 6:15. I will be there to introduce the film and lead a discussion afterwards.  I believe this screening is for students only.

Stay tuned for more info as I receive it.

Thank you everybody!
Erik Proulx, Director, “Lemonade: Detroit”

That’s how I feel about my communication with you, my friends and supporters of “Lemonade: Detroit.”

More than three months ago, I got word that I was to receive a grant to continue editing the feature-length film. This was great news to share. I had an email at the ready. I planned to send you regular updates about how the editing was going. It was news that would have provided natural and regular reasons to communicate.

Well, I’m still set to receive that grant (for how much and by whom I’m not at liberty to say), but the vetting process is still ongoing. The foundation that is providing the grant requires, understandably, that the fiscal sponsor I work with have impeccable auditing records. After a couple of swings and misses, I finally found an organization that meets all the requirements and the process should be complete very soon.

Which is all to say that I have been waiting for so long to share some good news with you that I simply dropped the ball in communicating at all.

While I wait on confirmation of that grant, I do have some other news to share, however. On January 21st (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), I will be screening the “Lemonade: Detroit” short at Baker College. It’s been far too long since I’ve been back to Detroit, and I plan on making the most of my time there by doing more filming. Some will be follow up interviews to already established stories. I might shoot some b-roll. I might look for another story or two. Not sure. All I know is that I plan on being really busy for the weekend leading up to the screening.

I also want to let you know that tomorrow, (Cyber Monday), I will be trying to clear out some inventory of Lemonade: Detroit t-shirts. All t-shirts will be 50% off for the day. If you haven’t gotten your shirt yet, this might be the time. Keep in mind that you also become a credited producer of the feature-length film with your purchase.

That’s it for now. Thank you for your patience. I’ll be back in touch real soon.

Promise.

Sincerely,
Erik Proulx
Director, “Lemonade: Detroit”

$9.99

So when it came time to sell the shirts, I ordered twice as much inventory as I did for any other design. I didn’t do an initial run to test demand. I didn’t do any market research. I went solely on my own personal preference.

Well, as any retailer will tell you, too much inventory is deadly. And while we have sold a significant number of these shirts, it seems that my personal zeal for the design has left us with a bunch of overstock.

Originally, they cost $24 apiece plus shipping. As of today, I have cut the price by almost 60% to $9.99. And if you order by Friday, 6/22/12, I will also include FREE SHIPPING*.

And as a reminder, when you order this (or any) shirt, you are supporting production of the full-length film. You will become an official producer, both on the end credits of the film and on IMDB when it is done.

So for $10, you get a killer shirt, IMDB credit, and the satisfaction of knowing you helped make a worthwhile film about the reinvention of one of America’s great cities.

Pretty good deal, no?

*Free shipping applies to standard delivery for one (1) shirt and only to within the 50 United States. There will be a nominal additional shipping charge for more than one item.

Well, for the past month, I have been inputting as many names as I could, only getting through about 600 entries as I cut and pasted each person individually into the clunky IMDb interface.

Then two of those 1,812 people saw one of my progress updates on Twitter and offered to help.

Sarah Bloom and Dean Simmer — thank you. You turned a months-long process into a days long process. Within a week, we were able to input the rest of the batch. You helped me keep my promise, and I am forever grateful.

I am happy to report that every one who contributed to the short (NOT the feature length, which is still in production) has been entered into IMDb. If you contributed to the short, chances are you’ll see your name there now. But if not, it takes anywhere from 24 hours to a week for IMDb to verify all the names.

When that happens, you can see your name in all its glory here:
Lemonade: Detroit Full Credits on IMDb

Thank you, producers. Every one.

As news anchors say after the day of an election….results are still trickling in. But at this moment, I can confidently report that our “$25k in 25 days” campaign was a resounding success.

Between Buy-A-Frame, merchandise sales, and fundraising events, we were able to raise $24,100.

What does this mean?

I can now continue filming Joe Faris’ extraordinary story. I can pay a Detroit-based crew without asking for too many volunteers. And I don’t have to blow up my credit rating to do it.

But this is just one of a long line of future successes. So keep spreading the word on Twitter. Keep encouraging people to become a producer on Facebook.

Then if they ask why, show them this video from the producers themselves.

We’re doing it!

Peace,
Erik Proulx
Director, “Lemonade: Detroit”