The Great American Pixel

Stop! Producer Time! One More Day of Matching Funds for Lemonade: Detroit

“Lemonade: Detroit is a film about the disarming resilience of those who are moving Detroit beyond automobiles into an era of entrepreneurism.” 

You can help fund its completion and become a producer for as little as ONE MILLION dollars! Sorry. Stray decimal. For as little as ONE dollar! Peep the trailer and go here to squeeze some frames:

On October 20th at the 140 Characters Conference in Detroit, filmmaker Erik Proulx took the stage after Mayor David Bing welcomed the audience (for those that don’t know, Mr Bing’s not the Foursquare mayor, he’s like the actual democratically elected city mayor, as opposed to me, who used to be the Foursquare mayor of Detroit :-)). Well, I took the stage too, but as a minor supporting character to help Erik announce that the new Detroit documentary he’s working on has a crowd-funding element that invites many people to become producers at little individual cost.

Keeping with the micro theme, we did the math and discovered that the number of frames in a 90 minute film works out to be pretty much the dollar amount Erik was banking on to complete the film. 24 frames in a second = 1,464 in a minute = 129,600 frames in a 90 minute film. Larry customized the LOVELAND fundraising system to visualize every dollar contributed through the site as a frame in a timeline, and allow people to leave a message on their frames. Further, Erik took the big and awesome step of agreeing to credit all contributors as producers of the film!

In the hair over 2 months since then, the film already has more than 26,000 frames/dollars from more than 1,000 credited producers:

I highly encourage you to become a producer and help bring this badboy to life. As you can see by the trailer and Erik’s previous Lemonade film, it’s going to be awesome, and you’ll be proud to be a part of it. AAAND if you become a producer before January 1st, the funds will be matched by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan, so now’s a really great time to do it.

I really enjoy reading the notes that producers are leaving on their frames. You can read them all right here, and here’s a random mix of some poignant and funny ones:

“I have $197 in my checking account and I’m buying 24 frames of Lemonade Detroit. It’s that important.”
  —Tyler Hurst

“Me, a producer, I’d never imagined in my wildest dreams …”

  —Morgan Mouse

“We have been in Detroit for 86 years - we have seen it all and we like what we are seeing now.”

  —Detroit Hardware Co. 

“I always knew that one day I would become a big time producer…AND help out a good cause all at the same time! #LemonadeDetroit”

  —Dan Parks

“This is in incredible idea & I want to be a part not just by donating but in any way I can. I hope other cities can learn from this example.”
  —Brian Hamlett

“As long as you promise our donation goes to the best 4.12 seconds of the movie.”
  —Brokaw Inc.

“I’m 24 years old. Why wouldn’t I want to produce 24 frames of this great film?”
  —Kenji Summers

“Lovely idea to finance what will be an inspiring movie. Made me want to travel to Detroit.”
  —Martin Thörnkvist

“Well this is fun! i don’t even know what this is but i think it’s clever and wish i had thought of it :) ”
  —Mike Quattrocchi

“Go Erik, go. Hoping this credit makes me legit and helps me get closer to my real dream, producing porn. ”
  —Carolyn Zigmund

“This is an amazing concept. I bought one frame then watched the trailer and now I am buying 10 more. This is a GREAT idea! Congrats!”
  —Britt Michaelian, M.A,

“There is a Detroit in every part of our country. Keep up the hard work.”
  —Jonathan Tompkins

“I hope this $2 buys a grumpy crew member a coffee and makes him or her feel better. That or it pays for the 2-Pop. love, kirk”
  —Kirk Anderson

“I’m from Detroit and damn proud of it. I miss it every day. Thanks for this opportunity to be a part of something there while so far away.”
  —Rebecca K. Smialek

It’s been a real pleasure for the LOVELAND team to provide a unique online fundraising setup for this project. Thank you to Erik and his team, and thank you to Charlie Wollborg and Marcel Santiz for connecting us all up. Here’s to more in the future!