Detroit Documentary Film - (Gotta Keep Dreamin : Detroit's 21st Century Renaissance) - "American Dream : DETROIT"
Michael and Christina Kline, Michael's Manager, have been working together, over the last three years at least, in the making of a documentary film on the revival of the City of Detroit, Michigan, USA. In this thread hope to share some of the steps along the way as well as details on the film's Premiere which will take place at the Fox Theatre, Detroit on 2nd October, 2015.
Michael announced, a few days ago, that a new website has been set up to share information about the film and it can be found at GottaKeepDreamin.com There has also been a FB page created and it can be found at https://www.facebook.com/gottakeepdreamin?fref=ts along with a Twitter account which is at @gkdreamin and also an Instagram account at gotta_keep_dreamin Here is Michael's tweet where he made announcement:
excited to share our website http://gottakeepdreamin.com for the documentary film about Detroit!! Follow @gkdreamin !!
Here is the profile/avatar pic that is used on the FB page:
and the cover photo which is used on FB, Twitter and website
There is an album in the Gallery containing photos that have been posted to the FB and Twitter account and here is link to album http://www.michaelbolton.com/photo/albums/michael-s-detroit-documen... and it, of course, will be kept up-to-date as new photos are added to the various sites.
2018 up-date
"American Dream : DETROIT" to be screened in over 450 cinemas in USA on 15th May.
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Permalink Reply by sylvia doughty on
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Some people may remember that there was a thread called "Motor CityTV show" where various posts concerning the film had been placed. Unfortunately, the owner of that thread has elected to delete it, hence reason for creation of this new one. Hope, over next couple of days, to bring this thread up-to-date and to add some of the information which was contained in other thread to it.
Sylvia Your wee Scottish friend
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Permalink Reply by sylvie boisvert on
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Hi Sylvia, thanks for starting this thread and hope you can find all the old info, articles etc. Take care. Hugs, sincerely, Sylvie Qc Canada :D
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An attempt to add previous information which was contained in old thread with the help of an absolutely wonderful blog which Sylvie Boisvert has kept on Motown. Sylvie shared link to her blog with me and I have tried to extract relevant details when we first became aware Michael was even contemplating doing something on the Detroit front which we now know developed into his Detroit Documentary Film.
The first hint we had of anything appears to have been around August, 2012 when Michael did an interview at the "Nail Files" premiere he attended and in it he talked about filming a documentary. There was a YouTube video of the interview but unfortunately it is no longer available.
Then in March, 2013 there was an article discovered which said it was going to be a TV series and was going to take the form of six thirty minute shows.
In November, 2013 Gail found an article and posted it in Miscellany thread and here it is:-
"Grammy Award winner Michael Bolton to produce Detroit film that tells city's comeback story
Eric Lacy | elacy@mlive.com By Eric Lacy | elacy@mlive.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on November 20, 2013 at 6:02 PM, updated November 20, 2013 at 6:48 PM
"What I see in Detroit is this kind of love and loyalty - through the best times and the hardest times. I love a comeback story." -Michael Bolton
Grammy Award-winning singer Michael Bolton is working on a documentary that highlights Detroit's comeback.Courtesy photo
DETROIT, MI - Multiple Grammy Award-winning singer Michael Bolton has his sights set on Detroit for an ambitious project aimed to tell the world about its resurgence.
Bolton told MLive on Wednesday his production company is working on a documentary about "the comeback of Detroit" that is expected to be released early next year.
"What I see in Detroit is this kind of love and loyalty - through the best times and the hardest times," Bolton said. "And I love seeing that, and I love a comeback story.
"Detroit (and the effort to produce the documentary) has become a central theme for me, my management, my crew and my film company."
News of Bolton's documentary comes a few weeks before his Dec. 5 concert at the Macomb Music Theatre. The event is a benefit to support a local charity that benefits children in foster care.
Part of the effort involves production of a CD called "A Michigan Christmas of Hope" that features local musicians including Frankie Turner. Proceeds go to charity.
Bolton recently met with Quicken Loans found Dan Gilbert, singer Aretha Franklin, Motown legends like Smokey Robinson and several others for documentary interviews and research.
"I love Detroit," said Bolton, who filmed a portion at the Motown Historical Museum on East Grand Boulevard. "We have interviews from amazing people. "Now I'm meeting all kinds of people that I didn't know were from Detroit."
Gilbert's plan to transform downtown Detroit through bold real estate ventures impressed Bolton so much that he made it a major focus of the currently untitled project.
"We've been meeting with Dan Gilbert and his group and getting a tour of what they've been building, what they're creating," Bolton said. "It's brilliant. "We were allowed to bring some of our cameras in and film some of the process of rebuilding Detroit from the center out. And besides what they've done already, what the plans are are staggering. It's phenomenal."
Bolton said he still has plenty of more work to do on the documentary and is trying to get Kid Rock and other high profile people with Detroit ties involved in the project. For more of my interview with Bolton, check out MLive.com this weekend."
Following this, we never did find the rest of the MLive interview, but found interview Michael had done on "Going Gonzo" where he talks about Motown Project and it was in two parts and here are links to it:
1st part:
http://youtu.be/V9gHPGEVZ3k
2nd part:
http://youtu.be/xRSuM6zBwSI
Then we move onto June 2014 when different things were found with firstly an audio interview aired on 12th June:
WDET Shows - The Craig Fahle Show - Singer Michael Bolton Produces Documentary On Detroit. Once again there was a link to this interview which is no longer available as with a video interview Michael did for Live In The D but along with it came an article and here is that article:
"Michael Bolton gives preview of Detroit documentary on its resurgence; he performs Friday in city |
MLive.com
on June 12, 2014 at 3:35 PM, updated June 12, 2014 at 8:10 PM
Grammy Award winner Michael Bolton has plans to release a documentary about Detroit's resurgence.
DETROIT, MI -- Singer Michael Bolton told a Detroit area TV station this week he's making progress on what he claims is a bold documentary about the city's resurgence that's been two years in the making.
Plans for the film, first reported by MLive.com in a Nov. 20 interview with Bolton, appear to include plenty of footage about the city's Motown Records past and efforts to rebuild and diversify its economy.
Bolton told WDIV-TV (Channel 4) that there's plenty of Detroit pride showcased, too.
"What I'm constantly overwhelmed with is the the amount of love for Detroit - here," Bolton said. "... the people who are doing things here are on such a mission to make the new Detroit, the future of Detroit somehow surpass the glory years of what Detroit has been, which we all know rocked the whole world."
For more about Bolton's documentary, including a few clips, check out WDIV-TV's interview with him.
The Detroit Free Press reports that Bolton is eyeing September 2014 as a possible premiere date, either on television or possibly in a theatrical release."For more information we then moved on to September, 2014 with an article and video which again, unfortunately, because of being contained in a newspaper is no longer available as also with an article in October, 2014. It is a pity they have gone and maybe shows that instead of just giving a link to a certain thing we should in fact copy the article.
On 27th October, 2014 picked up a tweet which appeared to make date drawing nearer when Michael replied to a tweet asking him about documentary:
"@mbsings doc on #Detroit wraps up filming at end of 2014 with premiere in 1st quarter of 2015. @WWJ950 @CBSDetroit"
We then travel into February, 2015 when Michael did his question and answers session on Facebook and Sylvie posed a question to him and here is question and Michael's answer:
"Will there be a companion soundtrack CD to your Detroit documentary, since you've been teasing us with "I heard it through the grapevine" since January 2013?"
...and his reply was:
“Yes Sylvie!”
We then come to July, 2015 with an article from The Washington Post when we found out Premiere would be at Fox Theatre, Detroit on 2nd October and our next insight was where we are today with everything being ..... "Gotta Keep Dreamin"Thanks again to Sylvie for her blog which helped me link the various parts.
Sylvia Your wee Scottish friend
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First post I've picked on Miscellany thread which makes mention of Michael's commitment to Detroit.
Permalink Reply by sylvia doughty on
Picture is of Michael at the Cliff Bell's Jazz Club in Detroit last night and he says about being there with his new friends Dan Mullen, Bruce Schwartz and Rachel Lachover and Michael, whilst in Detroit, has been visiting offices and meeting with people who are very much involved in the regeneration of downtown Detroit as are his "new friends" and he has committed himself to helping in the regeneration programme by lending his support and voice wherever, and whenever, he can. Spot......no watch but a bracelet ????????
Sylvia. Your wee Scottish friend.
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Next what I've found is not directly related to the film although because now we know it's title and theme song it has a little more bearing and it is a tweet from Ron Pope who co-wrote "Gotta Keep Dreamin" with Michael :
Reply by sylvia doughty on
Here is a nice tweet put out by Ron Pope, co-writer of "Gotta Keep Dreamin"" on ANMHE...................
"Ron Pope
@RonPopeMusicMy bro Michael Bolton
@mbsings popped up randomly on@pandora_radio and you forget how good he is...can't touch Bolton. One of the greats..."Sylvia. Your wee Scottish friend.
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Have found an interview from 5th December, 2013 by Jeremy D Bonfiglio of the New Buffalo and he interviewed Michael before a show he had at the Four Winds Casino. Petra posted this article and I have copied the question and answer contained in it to do with the documentary:
Q: Your production company recently announced it was working on a documentary about Detroit. What can you tell me about the project?
A: My production company, Passion Films, started documenting the recording sessions for my latest CD and that led us to an awe-inspiring trip to Hitsville USA in Detroit. While we were there, we were welcomed by a brilliant entrepreneur named Dan Gilbert who was born and grew up in Detroit and was clearly on a mission to rebuild and create a new, thriving city from the center out.
His team, which consists of quite a few of his childhood friends and legions of focused, sharp, highly motivated men and women, are intent on making Detroit's future a bright and powerful one. They allowed us and our cameras into their process of rebuilding.
Detroit is a city known as one of the greatest driving economic forces in American history. Between the automotive industry and the wealth of artists, songwriters and producers, not only of Motown, which is enormous by itself, but many others like the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, Bob Seger, Kid Rock, all the music that has come from this place is staggering.
The awareness of all of this, combined with my fresh experience at Hitsville and the impact Motown had upon the entire world, brought me to the heart of my belief system. Enter ... the American dream. In the documentary, we get deep into this theme, one that I refuse to let go of.
Sylvia Your wee Scottish friend
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Here is an article Gail posted on 7th December, 2013
"Reply by Gail on
Bolton Making Detroit Documentary
Michael Bolton signs copies of his new book "The Soul of It All" at Barnes & Noble in New York, Jan. 29, 2013. (Dennis Van Tine/Abaca Press/MCT)
The Grammy-winning singer has been spreading an excess of good cheer in his hip new holiday commercials for Honda. But that’s nothing compared to his feelings for the Motor City.
“We are in love with the people we have met in Detroit,” he says. “It’s literally turned into a lovefest.”
Over the past four decades, Bolton has sold more than 50 million albums and singles worldwide. His lengthy career as a singer has spanned the sincerity of his chart-topping ballads like Love Is a Wonderful Thing and the self-parody of his guest role as Captain Jack Sparrow in a well-known Saturday Night Live digital short by Andy Samberg’s the Lonely Planet group.
But during a recent phone interview, the 60-year-old crooner doesn’t want to talk about his hits. He’d rather focus on the documentary that he hopes will spread the message that Detroit is poised for a comeback.
Where others see a bankrupt city on its knees, he sees a city where the entrepreneurial spirit is thriving, particularly real estate mogul Dan Gilbert’s revitalization plans.
Bolton’s project arose from his 2013 album, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough: A Tribute To Hitsville, U.S.A., which came out in February. A love letter to the Motown music he’s loved since he was a kid of 9 or 10 growing up in Connecticut, it contains classics from the Detroit-grown empire like Tracks of My Tears and Nowhere to Run.
“All the feel-good the country needed was coming out of Detroit,” he says of the Motown era.
Bolton and his production company team had planned to make a video about Hitsville USA as a companion to the album. But after getting permission to shoot at the Motown Museum on West Grand Boulevard, they started getting phone calls “about this building that’s going on in the center of Detroit and a guy named Dan Gilbert and Quicken Loans.”
As Bolton explains, the focus of the project shifted to the entire city as he and his manager and executive producer of the film, Christina Kline, became captivated with Gilbert’s plans to revive the downtown area and spread the progress outward.
He was given access to film behind the scenes with Gilbert. “We went up to the planning rooms. We saw the walls full of stores they’re planning, the restaurants they’re planning, how many square feet. Everything had been taken into consideration, the demographic, the appeal of downtown.”
On the day of his phone interview, Bolton was preparing to see a 90-minute version of hundreds of hours of footage shot during several trips to Detroit. In addition to the time spent with Gilbert and his brain trust, that footage includes “a fascinating interview” with Aretha Franklin as well as moments such as Bolton performing live with Smokey Robinson and talking to other music luminaries.
Bolton hopes to add other stars to that list, such as Bob Seger, whom he opened for in 1983. He also wants to visit Michigan Motion Picture Studios in Pontiac to talk about the upcoming Batman-Superman movie that will film in metro Detroit, an opportunity he says is tremendous.
As a producer and executive producer of the project. Bolton says he’s had a hands-on role, making at least four trips to Detroit for filming. “It’s been much more in-depth than I originally intended, but I’m grateful for that.”
The film will speak to what he describes as his roots as a kid from a middle class family where the American dream was at the core of their belief system.
It also taps into broader concerns he’s had about the fate of the cities he saw while crisscrossing the heartland on his tours. “I’m seeing things in Iowa that I’ve just seen in Nebraska or in Southern states, where windows are boarded up, and there’s three generations of successful family business people and now they can’t afford to keep their doors open. It’s painful to see.”
Bolton says the 2008 recession hit urban centers like an economic tsunami. “Believe me, Detroit is not alone,” he says.
He’s eying September 2014 as a possible premiere date, either on television or possibly in a theatrical release. Although he didn’t set out to bring the movie to theaters, he’s had three or four companies express interest in buying the film for global distribution.
“If it goes theatrical and winds ups being able to raise money, we’re going to wind up coming back to Detroit to do some events for whatever the heart of Detroit is at that time, which probably from what I can see is going to be at-risk youth and music programs for young people.”
Bolton makes it clear that he’s in this for the long-term. “Not only are we not going to be finished once the movie comes out, but we’re going to be looking at trying to help the process of growth.”
Detroit has plenty of local cheerleaders. Now it has a new adopted son ready to show the city some love and tenderness.
Says Bolton: “I got quite a lesson being there. When I left there, I became like, I’m waving the Detroit banner. I want it to come back. I want it to succeed. I want it to be the pinnacle. I want it to be the poster child of what the American dream has always been meant to be.”"
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Next posts that are relevant is when we find out Michael is in Detroit and there is a picture of him with Bruce Schwartz and we find out he has done an interview for Live In The D and as you can see Petra found the link for us and this one still works folks:
Reply by Petra on
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/live-in-the-d/Live-in-the-D-Mich...
And here's the video you're looking for! 10 minutes! Enjoy!
Petra (Germany)
........ and here is another post from Petra where she has placed link to an interview:
Reply by Petra on
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detroit/index.ssf/2014/06/michae...
Here is an article about the interview of WDIV from 11th June 2014.
Petra (Germany)
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I have gone as far as September, 2014 and am not coming up with any thing else so I believe possibly started adding posts directly to the Motor City thread at that time.
I have gone into my page on FB and have picked this post up from August which I am pretty sure would have been reported on old thread. New songs Michael must be referring to are ones I bet we reported on in the "Michael in the Recording Studio from 2013/2015" thread when we got the hints of him working with various people.
"On MICHAEL BOLTON's Q&A session on Pledge Music have to let you know that he said after the Premiere of his Detroit Documentary he hopes to release the live Hitsville show from The Venetian, Las Vegas. He also had this to say about the soundtrack for the Documentary:
"the Detroit documentary soundtrack will have a few originals i wrote while i was inspired making the film, and it will have some songs that were part of my tribute to Hitsville, and it will have songs from all kinds of Detroit artists - classic and new""I was sure there was an article about the Premiere, giving date and place where it was to be but unfortunately, I cannot trace that at the moment so feel my search for material that may have been included in old thread has come to an end and now "back to the good part" and the beginning of new information on the documentary film, "Gotta Keep Dreamin"
Sylvia Your wee Scottish friend
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Hi Sylvia, wow, that's quite a bit of research compiled there! Okay first, I just wanted to say that the very first hint we had of Michael doing a documentary was in an interview on May 22 2012 in Dayton Ohio. I believe it was on Activedayton.com, but sadly, the audio interview isn't there any more and there's only part of an article, saying you have to subscribe to read the rest. Michael had mentioned interviews he was doing with various Detroit artists. Now, I think the date for the premiere was put in the tour review thread sweetie. I didn't research it, but I seem to remember it was there. Well anyway, great job at regathering all the info Sylvia and glad I could help with some. Take good care. Hugs, sincerely, Sylvie Qc Canada :D
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Here is link into super article which mentions about Premiere being on 2nd October and also gives beautiful pictures of Michael in Detroit
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/2015/07/16/michael-bolton-is...
Was going to start looking for it and someone has very kindly just tweeted it .... saved my little legs and now we definitely are cooking on gas !!! :)
Sylvia Your wee Scottish friend
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Feel it necessary to say something about new website created for the film "Gotta Keep Dreamin" which is the Detroit Documentary that Michael and Christina Kline have made as starting to pick up on some sites and by messages I'm receiving that there is a little bit of misinterpretation as to what it contains. Here is link: http://gottakeepdreamin.com/ The website contains a trailer to the film plus a section called "news" where there is an article from 2014, which contains a video and which we did have on previous thread. It has been posted on new website with the date 13 September, 2015 and this is because write-up contained along with, was posted to Gotta Keep Dreamin website on that date, NOT that, that was when article was published nor that video was made in September, 2015. Just felt have to make that point as well as pointing out that photos being posted to the new FB page for Gotta Keep Dreamin are NOT new photos ..... Michael was NOT in Detroit last week !!! These photos have been taken either from his visit in February this year or from 2014.
Also contained in website is a section called "Upcoming Events" and what it says on there is that event on 2nd October is a "sneak preview" whereas everywhere else it is being called the films Premiere. It also makes a hint about an event which is going to happen on 16th December at The Grove, LA but asks you to come back to see details when they are available. Should also point out that in notice about 2nd October it does include a "click here" to join our mailing list. I have joined but it does not state if you are joining something connected specifically to what the "Gotta Keep Dreamin" team are doing, or if it is the mailing list for the Fox Theatre, which I'm inclined to believe it is.
If any other points about will post on here but in meantime should ask you to please pop into new website and check it out as well as going onto FB page https://www.facebook.com/gottakeepdreamin and please "LIKE" the page as it has been created to share information about film as well as an advertising medium for it, therefore, the more people that are reached, the better the advertising campaign, has been. PLEASE consider liking the FB page, please !!! :) Again will say that there is also a Twitter account been set up and you find that at @gkdreamin and costs nothing to show your support for Michael and Christina by "following" that account.....costs nothing !!!
Sylvia Your wee Scottish friend
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