Picking up the MB clues
Hi everyone, this blog will be an attempt to keep my friends and other site lurkers updated on what’s been going on in our little MB world. I only want to write about newsworthy items relevant to his career and life when it’s appropriate. The main reason I’m doing it is to stop repeating myself and stop having to search for previous posts. Since I’m on the site on a regular basis, I thought it would be helpful. :D Take care and hugs to all, sincerely, Sylvie :D
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Comment by sylvie boisvert on October 6, 2015 at 1:20am
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Hi again everyone, here is a very nice review of Friday night preview:
Red Carpet Preview: Detroit Documentary – “Gotta Keep Dreamin” | How Was It Detroit?
Monday, October 5, 2015
review: Detroit Documentary – “Gotta Keep Dreamin”
Concert Preview
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By Holly Myles
On Friday night at Detroit’s Fox Theatre, Grammy-award winner Michael Bolton hosted an exclusive sneak preview live event for his Detroit documentary, “Gotta Keep Dreamin”. Yes, that Michael Bolton, the one with the hair and featured on The Lonely Island’s “Jack Sparrow”, He is in love with Detroit, so much so that he’s spent the past few years working on a film focused on Detroit’s 21st century renaissance.
Photo credit: Lisa Brighton
The first time I heard Bolton was working on a documentary on Detroit’s comeback, my eyes rolled so hard I nearly went blind. It seems every month or so we hear about some outsider coming to the city to tell the story for Detroit, and at this point I’m either numb to it or annoyed. Bolton becoming one of our global ambassador’s seemed like a stretch to me. That was until I heard his story.
As a young boy living in Connecticut, Bolton was enamored, like many, with the sounds of artists like Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Eventually he discovered that a great body of work came from a little record company called Motown Records. Some forty years and many albums later, Bolton decided it was time to take a musical heritage tour to a charming house on West Grand Boulevard where he found inspiration for his 2013 project, “A Tribute to Hitsville USA”.
It was during this time that he says, “the history of Detroit started revealing itself.” Eventually he was introduced to Detroit tycoons Dan Gilbert and Chris Illitch, who helped open doors and provided access for the documentary project. But for Bolton it wasn’t just the iconic characters that drove him, it was the individual lives that gave him inspiration. As he passionately stated on Friday night, “It’s the individuals, the heart and soul here that is really worth fighting for.” This sentiment is shown throughout the segments of the film we were fortunate to preview.
The history of Detroit is told beyond Ford Motor Company and Motown music, pulling in Detroit Historical Society historians to help share the history, from fur trading and prohibition to the creation of the middle class. Interviews with Chris Illitch and Bill Ford help shape the story of work ethic and sports fanaticism. Many of the interviews with Detroit-native artists like Aretha Franklin, Alice Cooper and Mayer Hawthorne tell the stories of how Detroit shaped them. But like Bolton, it was the individual stories beyond the iconic figures that made the greatest impact for me.
This film gives voice to the everyman in Detroit. The folks that give meaning to the words used often to describe the city, such as grit, determination and resilience. From factory workers at Shinola and the Big Three to entrepreneurs and educators, the stories showcasing pride, hope, hard work and determination are in abundance. Some will inspire you, some will move you to take action, and some may even move you to tears. In fact, and I’m not ashamed to admit this, the segment on Veronika Scott’s Empowerment Plan, which hires women from local shelters to make coats that transfer into sleeping bags, made me tear up a little.
Photo credit: Lisa Brighton
Not only does the film tell Scott’s story, but it takes us on a tour of the company and introduces us to the employees who share their stories of resilience. Highlighting the need to change the perception of homelessness and to keep open minds to those that find their home and livelihoods on the streets of Detroit.
Scott came on stage for a panel discussion and the inspiration (and tears) continued. What stood out to me and really showcased what makes Detroit great, was the opportunities and support Detroit has provided to help Scott’s vision come to life. She told us that if she was not a student at the College of Creative Studies in Detroit and had the opportunity to learn how to sew and witness a clothing manufacturing facility from Detroit’s own Carhartt, she wouldn’t have been able to do what she’s doing today. The people that believed and supported her mission came in many forms, including Mitch Albom, who bought her a second sewing machine to help her hire employees.
For me, this is why Detroit is so great and what makes this film important. Detroit’s story isn’t just about the tycoons, entrepreneurs, or artists, but about the community as whole coming together as human beings and Detroiters to build something great – understanding that we’re all interconnected and we need each other.
The greatest lesson I’ve learned from this experience, and this film, is I should release the negativity and annoyance I feel about outsiders telling our stories. This documentary proves that Detroit is one-of-a-kind. It’s not a fad. It has a spirit that draws people in and gives them hope and inspiration. Detroit enters your soul and changes how you view the world. I’m learning to be grateful for those that want to share in this experience and want to help challenge misperceptions and change the negative dialogue.
Detroiters are not only those that are born and live here, but those that carry our spirit with them, share our stories and fill their souls with the passion, hard work and determination to rise that makes our city so contagious and important to the world.
As emcee Mitch Albom declared on Friday, Michael Bolton has become a Detroiter. And I’m not ashamed of it, in fact I’m grateful.
We’ll keep you posted on any updates about the documentary. Check back soon.
http://howwasitdetroit.com/2015/10/red-carpet-preview-detroit-docum...
Same thing with the link which may not work. You gotta love how nice it is to hear someone change their mind about Michael... :D That's the news for now, thanks for reading, sincerely, Sylvie :D
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Hi all, here are a couple of very nice articles Sylviafound, enjoy!
Update: Dan Gilbert Thanks Michael Bolton 'for Becoming a Detroiter' – Deadline Detroit#.VhLN8_lVikp#.VhLN8_lVikp#.VhLN8_lVikp
Update: Dan Gilbert Thanks Michael Bolton 'for Becoming a Detroiter'
By Alan Stamm
astamm@comcast.net
October 3rd, 2015, 11:00 AM
Detroit "royalty" was at the Fox Theatre for Friday night's first public look at chunks of singer Michael Bolton's screen homage to the city.
Dan Gilbert, Chris Ilitch, Mike Duggan, Debbie Stabenow and John Conyers were among guests, Brian McCollum reports at the Free Press.
"Thank you for becoming a Detroiter," Gilbert told Bolton, who is personally financing the $400,000 film. . . .
Martha Reeves, clutching a bouquet of red roses, was among the Motown figures on hand for the occasion, joining Bolton and young "American Idol" alum Jena Irene onstage for a night-closing performance of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
With Bolton and emcee Mitch Albom of the Free Press manning the stage, attendees were shown several lengthy segments from the film, which is in the final editing stage as producers aim for a run on the 2016 film-festival circuit. . . .
Footage screened Friday night included an upbeat look at downtown's revival at the hands of the Ilitch family, Gilbert and Bill Ford, alongside the stories of younger upstarts such as Shinola and the Slow Roll weekly bike excursion. A segment with Gilbert drew a rousing cheer when the Quicken Loans founder said he foresees a day that Detroit becomes the top lure for the country's smartest college graduates.
Also featured were visits to area auto plants, scenes of Corktown, the Detroit Institute of Music Education, the dPop design firm, the GM Student Corps program and a tour of Veronica Scott's Empowerment Plan, which enlists women from local shelters to manufacture coats-turned-sleeping-bags for the homeless.
Original article, Friday morning
Michael Bolton, singer-filmmaker? Hey, why not?
The focus of this entertainment icon's career expansion, aptly, is an urban icon redefining itself.
"Gotta Keep Dreamin': Detroit's 21st Century Renaissance," a documentary he's co-producing, is Bolton's effort to help change views of the city.
Michael Bolton is Detroit this summer: “This is one of the greatest comeback stories in American history.”
It isn't done yet, Brian McCollum of the Freep writes, and footage will be added from Friday night's invitation-only Fox Theatre premiere of the work-in-progress.
The celebrity producer, who's making his second movie, also serves as narrator and co-director with his manager Christina Kiline. They hope to wrap by Oct. 14, the deadline for Sundance Film Festival submissions.
McCollum reports:
The 62-year-old star was in Detroit on Thursday making the media rounds, including a news conference at the Westin Book Cadillac, where a film teaser featured historical footage and interviews with figures ranging from business heavyweights Bill Ford and Christopher Ilitch to entertainers such as Smokey Robinson and Alice Cooper.
The idea grew from Bolton’s 2012 decision to record an album of Motown songs, Geoff Edgars writes in an earlier, vastly longer Washington Post feature:
Bolton has spent three years and $250,000 of his own money in the hopes of recasting how the public views Detroit.
“This,” he says, “is one of the greatest comeback stories in American history.” . . .
The project has sparked considerable interest since Bolton began conducting interviews with everyone from Aretha Franklin and Smokey Robinson to Mayor Mike Duggan and Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert.
Charlie LeDuff, the author of “Detroit: An American Autopsy” and no pushover, doesn’t snicker.
“I’ll reserve judgment until I see it,” he says. “Come on in. Do your thing. What have you got, brother?”
Gilbert, the billionaire Detroit native who also owns the Cleveland Cavaliers, goes further. He’s impressed by Bolton’s approach.
“Look, to have somebody of his stature reach out and tell the story, the way it is and not just tell ruin porn, showing the same six burned-out shops, I like that,” says Gilbert. “He’s going to show what happened, where this city was and then all the great things happening.”
Edgars' article is accompanied by a five-minute video (above) by McKenna Ewen of The Post, taped as Bolton oversaw shooting of his documentary in downtown Detroit (including inside Quicken Loans), the Motown Museum and other city highlights this past summer.
The reporter asks the superstar whether his film "presents too rosy a portrait."
“I don’t think anybody’s ever going to sweep the blight and issues of security under the carpet,” he says. “But the reality is that the people who have come through, who have also used up a lot of valuable time, wind up going and covering only the tough stuff about the city. There are great things going on now. . . .
"All of these journalists and interested parties have come in and presented themselves as people interested in the truth and in reality, [but] they’re just coming around and bludgeoning Detroit,” says Bolton. “Why aren’t people covering the great stories, the promising stories?”
Spoiler: He doesn't claim to be trying anything of the sort.
During their 2012 album-related visit, Bolton and Kline met Dan Gilbert, among others. "Kline had taken cameras along simply to document Bolton’s Motown [studio] visit," Edgars writes in The Post.
Soon, the two realized they had a bigger story to tell, of the developers, entrepreneurs and regular people working on a Detroit revival.
On Friday night, the 170 or so Detroit Homecoming invitees got the first public look at how "Gotta Keep Dreamin'" is coming together.
Inevitably, the project already generates a familiar, tiresome trope pictured at right. Ask that question here at your risk.
http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/13335/video_see_michael_bol...
The link is only partial so it may not work. Next article coming up. Sylvie :D
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Hi everyone, here's another article Sylvia shared with us. I'm afraid my link is incomplete, sorry about that but there's nothing I can do now.
Michael Bolton's Film Screening at the Fox
By Karolina Powalka
karolina.powalka@gmail.com
October 3rd, 2015, 12:58 PM
In 2012, Michael Bolton came to Detroit while recording his album, "A Tribute to Hitsville." As part of the project, he wanted to film a piece about Motown. However, he quickly realized that Detroit has, as he puts it, “so much more greatness to offer than just Motown.” His project changed and he decided to use his platform as an internationally known artist to tell the story of Detroit.
At that time, news outlets from all over the world were swarming the city, talking about the devastation and decay. TV networks often used the blighted train station as a backdrop for reports on a city gone bad.
Bolton saw a different tale. He related to the “grit, determination and hard work” of Detroiters and he heard the stories of people doing positive things to improve the city.
Michael Bolton with Martha Reeves.
So as co-executive producer and director, he embarked on the journey, a film titled "Gotta Keep Dreamin: Detroit’s 21st Century Renaissance."
Trips to Detroit over the last three years have led him to talk to some of the players in town like Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, and Bill Ford, Jr. He also looked elsewhere to the young people in Detroit like Veronika Scott (Empowerment Plan), Jason Hall (Slow Roll) and Melissa Price (dPop).
The remarkable thing that he found was that every time he came back, there was something new, exciting and positive to talk about.
On Friday night, at the Fox Theatre, Bolton hosted a private screening of various clips from the film, which were well received by the audience.
The film is almost finished.
The story of the comeback is not. But on Friday, you could see some of the very promising aspects of it.
I looked at people like Veronika Scott who, as a junior in college, took one sewing machine and started sewing coats that turn into sleeping bags for homeless people.
Today, her company, The Empowerment Plan, has hired dozens of formerly homeless people and sewn over 10,000 coats that have been distributed worldwide. And there was Jason Hall, who as he sat next to Chris Ilitch, talked about Slow Roll, a bike ride that brings together thousands of people in Detroit every Monday night. How cool is that?
If you look around, you can find these stories like this all over the city.
Michael Bolton apparently did.
http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/13343/photos_michael_bolton...
For those who can enjoy, there are pictures with the article. That's the news for now, thanks for reading, sincerely, Sylvie :D
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My pleasure girlfriend, I just hope my blog helps you catch up. Say hi to your sister for me, take care. Hugs, sincerely, your friend Sylvie xxx
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Comment by robin rehder on October 4, 2015 at 8:00pm
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Hi girl, love the articles & interviews. All I can say is go Michael. Wow! Hob nobbin with Smoky & others. I can't imagine. Can't wait to hear the CD or see the documentary.
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GM to donate $100,000 to Detroit entrepreneur featured in Michael Bolton documentary - Crain's Detroit Business
October 01, 2015 8:00 p.m.Updated 15 hours ago
GM to donate $100,000 to Detroit entrepreneur featured in Michael Bolton documentary
NCommentsyEmail
By Marti Benedetti
General Motors Corp.GrantsHomecomingMore +
Photo by Crain's Detroit Business Veronika Scott, founder and CEO of The Empowerment Plan in Detroit, wears one of her nonprofit's coats that convert to sleeping bags for homeless people.
The Empowerment Plan’s CEO and founder Veronika Scott will be the recipient of $100,000 grant from the General Motors Foundation.
Scott and GM are featured extensively in singer-songwriter Michael Bolton’s documentary “Gotta Keep Dreamin,” on which he and his production company have been working for three years. The film will be screened at a private Detroit Homecoming event Friday night at the Fox Theatre.
“She’s a rock star in our film and a rock star in life,” he said at a news conference in Detroit on Thursday.
Michael Bolton talks about his new documentary, "Gotta Keep Dreamin," on Thursday at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit hotel. Bolton will screen the film Friday night at a private Detroit Homecoming event at the Fox Theatre.
“If Michael Bolton’s documentary is any indication, The Empowerment Plan has done great work in Detroit, not only providing a source of warmth for the homeless but further in creating a business model that is making a real difference in the workforce arena,” Vivian Pickard, president of the GM Foundation, said in a statement.
Scott’s Detroit-based nonprofit hires women in shelters to make coats that convert into sleeping bags for the homeless. Scott was a Crain's 20 in their 20s in 2013.
Bolton announced the donation and talked about his documentary, which cost about $400,000 to make. Bolton is the primary funder along with an investment from film partner 2929 Entertainment.
Bolton has long had an affinity for Motown music and its stars, which ultimately led him to make a movie on the city at a time he feels is pivotal in its comeback. “Every time I come back to Detroit, more great stuff is (happening),” he said.
Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president, global product development, purchasing and supply chain, will present the check to Scott during Friday night's festivities.
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Michael Bolton's Detroit documentary hits homestretch
By Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press Pop Music Critic 7:22 p.m. EDT October 1, 2015
DETROIT FREE PRESS
Michael Bolton hopes his forthcoming film will help change international perceptions of Detroit — making a splash as the city's comeback hits a "tipping point."
A preliminary version of "Gotta Keep Dreamin: Detroit's 21st Century Renaissance," co-produced by the pop-soul singer, will be screened Friday night for a VIP audience at the Fox Theatre. The Fox event itself will be filmed as one of the final components for the documentary, which has been compiled from hundreds of hours of footage shot since 2012. Bolton and his team are aiming to fashion a final cut by Oct. 14, the deadline for submission to the Sundance Film Festival. "Gotta Keep Dreamin" chronicles Detroit's rise and fall before tracing the city's ongoing rebound through the eyes of Bolton, said Christina Kline, his manager and fellow executive producer.
"It will allow them to fall in love with the city like he did," she said.
DETROIT FREE PRESS
Michael Bolton interviews Duggan for Detroit documentary
The 62-year-old star was in Detroit on Thursday making the media rounds, including a news conference at the Westin Book Cadillac, where a film teaser featured historical footage and interviews with figures ranging from business heavyweights Bill Ford and Christopher Ilitch to entertainers such as Smokey Robinson and Alice Cooper.
With deadline fast approaching, Bolton said his interview wish list still includes Eminem, Kid Rock and Bob Seger.
"This film will be successful to me if it reaches millions and millions (of viewers) ... and lets people see that what they've been seeing and hearing from television pieces and print is not the Detroit I've experienced," Bolton said.
Bolton, a Connecticut resident and lifelong Motown fan, began shooting footage in Detroit for a promotional piece intended to accompany a 2013 album of Motown cover songs. Kline said she and Bolton noticed "notable" improvements with each visit to Detroit, and opted to move beyond the original Motown concept to capture economic and community development around the city.
Linking up with local guides such as Phil Cooley (Slows Bar BQ) and Bruce Schwartz (Bedrock Real Estate Services), Bolton and his team found their way to projects like the Empowerment Plan, which employs previously homeless people to manufacture coats that double as sleeping bags.
The project has been financed entirely by Bolton, and Kline said she expects costs to ultimately top $400,000. Bolton said he'll pursue a limited theatrical release for the anticipated 85-minute film and will use his concert tours as a chance to push the film to new audiences.
He emphasized that his interest in Detroit is long-term, and that he's not out to "flip a house." "I'm invested by the fact that I've spent three years coming here, and (now) have dear friends here," he said.
Kline said they hope to follow the documentary with an hour-long Motown film using footage from the project.
"Gotta Keep Dreamin" already includes musical contributions from Mike Ellison, Jena Irene and students from the Detroit Institute of Music Education, alongside a pair of new Bolton songs. Kline said she and Bolton are aiming for a final soundtrack that will include vintage Motown, techno and rock.
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Hi everyone, I have a couple of video links for you tonight, thanks to Sylvia. The first one is a highlights video from the David Foster charity event on September 26:
The David Foster Miracle Concert Red Carpet
The second one is an interview Michael gave yesterday, at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel, Detroit on his documentary film "Gotta Keep Dreamin - Detroit's 21st Century Renaissance" with MLive.
Sylvia also posted a couple of articles I’ll paste in separate posts, I’m having trouble picking up the links, but you should be able to read. That’s the news for now, thanks for reading, sincerely, Sylvie :D
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Hi Robin, Michael just might have picked that one for a specific reason: maybe he sang it in bars as a teen... :D He says it's fun to sing, so I'm sure it'll show in the delivery. Good to read you on here sweetie, take care. Hugs, sincerely, Sylvie <3
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Oh, I wish he would do something other than that Ray song. Not one of my favorite but it's not my call. Can't wait to hear it though. Love heard it through the grapevine.
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