Channel 4 Live in the D
This segment from Live in the D Plus features an in-depth interview with filmmaker Stephen McGee about his documentary Resurgo, which explores Detroit’s past, present, and future through personal storytelling and striking visuals.
The hosts introduce McGee and highlight his nearly 20-year journey documenting Detroit since moving there in 2005. His film weaves together footage of the city’s changing landscapes, its people, and even his own family life, showing how deeply connected he has become to Detroit’s story.
McGee discusses presenting the film at South by Southwest, where he shared Detroit’s narrative with wider audiences and challenged outdated perceptions of the city as “declining.” He emphasizes that while those narratives still exist, they are slowly being replaced by stories of growth, resilience, and community strength.
He explains that Resurgo developed organically over time rather than being planned from the start. Key life moments—like the birth of his daughter on the same day Detroit declared bankruptcy—helped him realize he was part of a much larger story. Over the years, his growing archive and relationships with Detroit residents shaped the documentary into a deeply personal and expansive project.
A central theme of the film is shifting focus away from stereotypes and toward authentic human experiences. McGee stresses the importance of showing Detroit’s people—not just its struggles—and giving voice to individuals whose stories are often overlooked. He shares how audience reactions have been powerful, with some viewers saying the film changed their perspectives and challenged their assumptions.
The documentary also reflects McGee’s own life, including raising his family in Detroit. He explains that becoming a parent helped him see the city differently, focusing on its beauty and possibility rather than negative headlines. His family’s support has been essential to the project, making it not just his mission but a shared one.
McGee highlights major moments he captured, such as the reopening of Michigan Central Station, as well as smaller, personal interactions that he believes are equally historic. He sees storytelling as a way to preserve these moments and elevate local voices for future generations.
Ultimately, McGee hopes viewers leave the film with a deeper appreciation for Detroit and for human connection in general. He wants people to be more present, to value others’ stories, and to recognize the importance of community.
The interview concludes with details about upcoming screenings, as McGee continues refining the film and submitting it to major festivals, aiming to bring Detroit’s story to a global audience.
Transcript :17 secondsGood afternoon everyone. I'm Ky Julio alongside Tatia Mara. It is so good to be hanging out with all of you for Live 0:2424 secondsin the D plus. This is where we get a chance to dive a little deeper into some of the stories and conversations that you see on Live in the D. And you can catch us here every Tuesday at 2:30. 0:3434 secondsThe real conversation. Real conversations. 0:3636 secondsBecause Taty and I, we really like to dive into things, but unfortunately we only have an hour to do that. I know on Live in the D. So here's Live in the D plus. So earlier this month on the show, 0:4646 secondswe introduced you to Steven McGee. He's the director and photographer behind the film Rurgo. Now, it is a powerful 0:5454 secondsdocumentary that explores Detroit's past, present, and future through stunning visuals and deeply personal 1:021 minute, 2 secondsstorytelling. So, Stephen moved to Detroit about 20 years ago and began documenting the city through his lens. 1:091 minute, 9 secondsEverything from abandoned buildings and changing neighborhoods to everyday life and even raising his own family here. 1:161 minute, 16 secondsNow, all of those experiences are woven into this film. Let's take a look. I'm proud of where I'm from. 1:261 minute, 26 secondsIt taught me, you know, everything. 1:421 minute, 42 secondsDetroit has been the arsenal of democracy. 1:451 minute, 45 secondsIt's been the center of the whole economy. And it's also been at the bottom. 1:511 minute, 51 secondsI mean, two of the most dramatic ends of the spectrum. 1:581 minute, 58 secondsWow. God, every time I mean, I've seen that clip like I feel like 30 times and every time I just get little chills down my spine. Stephen, it is great to have you back here in studio with us. 2:102 minutes, 10 secondsNice to be here. Thank you so much. Yeah, it's honor. 2:122 minutes, 12 secondsOf course. Of course. Well, let's get into it. First, before I I have a whole bunch of questions I want to ask you, 2:182 minutes, 18 secondsbut since we last spoke to you, uh, you have been a couple of screenings of the film, but also you were at South by 2:252 minutes, 25 secondsSouthwest. Talk to us about how was South by Southwest. 2:282 minutes, 28 secondsYeah, South by Southwest was an honor. I was speaking at Midwest House and doing this huge portrait series for a group called Summit. So, I was able to talk to 2:362 minutes, 36 secondsa lot of people that were in kind of that conversation on of my film that is talking about the West Coast and the decentralization of the tech industry. 2:442 minutes, 44 secondsIt's a massive concept, but when you start to go pe person by person uh and discussing these larger themes, people just kind of become sponges. And so, 2:532 minutes, 53 secondsit's not only an introduction to these huge thesis, but it's an introduction into Detroit um in a way that people hadn't been considering it because I'm 3:003 minuteslike, look, Detroit is actually has a strong population and it's really poised for an incredible growth. 3:063 minutes, 6 secondsI mean, we're in the middle of it right now. 3:073 minutes, 7 secondsYeah, we really are. So, Austin was an incredible city. The food was amazing. 3:113 minutes, 11 secondsUh, and the coffees were great, but it was really the people in the at the Midwest House that were able to spread the word of my film. And uh, somebody 3:193 minutes, 19 secondscame up to me, they're like, "Do you know that you're the most talked about thing at South by Southwest right now?" 3:233 minutes, 23 secondsAnd what, 3:243 minutes, 24 secondsyou know, I give all glory to God, but at the same time, I'm also saying like this is something that's reflecting the people of the city of Detroit, and that's kind of what I'm trying to do. 3:323 minutes, 32 secondsSo, I've never been to South by Southwest. It's really cool. So, when you say the Midwest House, is that like what exactly is that? 3:403 minutes, 40 secondsYeah. So there's uh South by Southwest are are hundreds if not thousands of um activated areas of the city and South 3:473 minutes, 47 secondsthe Midwest House was uh an area where they just had programming through the day. So a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds from Chicago, from Indiana, um you know, 3:563 minutes, 56 secondsCincinnati all had their stage for 15 to 20 minutes. And so I talked about uh RGO. Nice. 4:024 minutes, 2 secondsYeah, it was pretty cool. I mean it was amazing actually. And um you know it was it was almost like 4 days of just non-stop. I also talked to 250 tech founders from the west coast 4:104 minutes, 10 secondsasking them and kind of exploring this thesis with them saying like do you think that this San Francisco is rising or um in a disinvestment cycle and you 4:184 minutes, 18 secondsknow that feedback was really actually very uh inspiring. 4:224 minutes, 22 secondsDo you feel like people are kind of losing those myths of Detroit being worn out down and out and so on? Because I 4:294 minutes, 29 secondswas watching an interview that two people were doing with someone else and they were talking about Detroit as if it were what existed 15 years ago. Do you 4:384 minutes, 38 secondsfeel like those myths are being dispelled slowly? 4:404 minutes, 40 secondsI think slowly absolutely is you know it's it's the individuals it's it's social media but largely I mean the huge part of that those visuals that you just 4:484 minutes, 48 secondswatched the emphasis of those visuals are like we have to show the most beautiful parts because we we're fighting against 60 years of disinvestment narratives you know and 4:574 minutes, 57 secondsI mean it's really the people of Detroit that we're trying to lift up here but our city is also very strikingly beautiful. 5:025 minutes, 2 secondsIt really is. Yeah. It's so true because you do see that those shots and not obviously not all of Detroit looks like that, but that's the same with any city. 5:095 minutes, 9 secondsYou know, there's the pretty parts and the ugly parts. Um, but speaking of Detroit and this film, you've been documenting Detroit for nearly two 5:175 minutes, 17 secondsdecades now. Um, but you know, that's when you moved here. I think it's 2005. Yeah. Yeah. 5:235 minutes, 23 secondsWhat point when you started documenting Detroit did you really feel like, you know, I think I think I've got something here. I think that this is going to turn 5:325 minutes, 32 secondsinto this documentary that you're making, RGO. 5:365 minutes, 36 secondsYeah. So, I mean, it's a very quick narrative arc, but two years the newspaper, three years working for international news organizations, you 5:435 minutes, 43 secondsknow, this my archive began to become larger than what I could have done on my own. It was the people asking me into those narratives that like equipped me with being able to be in the financial, 5:535 minutes, 53 secondsyou know, conversations of our bankruptcy. It equipped me to walk the Stanley Cup down Woodward Avenue. And so when I started looking at it, it wasn't really until the birth of my daughter, 6:016 minutes, 1 secondwhich happened basically on the same day Detroit declared bankruptcy, that I was like, "Wow, this is actually bringing me into a narrative that I could never have planned on my own." So at that point, I 6:106 minutes, 10 secondsjust had to kind of be attentive and patient because I still had another 11 years of documenting ahead of me. Um, so you know, it just was piece by piece and 6:186 minutes, 18 secondsI, you know, I think when something's inside your heart like this city and something's as big as this project is, 6:246 minutes, 24 secondsuh, in front of me, you know, I'm I'm I'm living in faith every single day that I'm supposed to be doing something larger than myself. And, you know, I was out in Farmington showing this film and 6:336 minutes, 33 secondssomebody in two in front of 200 people stood up and he said, "Rurggo changed the way I view who I fear." 6:416 minutes, 41 secondsRealizing I've been wrong my whole life. I mean that's huge. 6:456 minutes, 45 secondsThat's poant you know and I think if we can do that you know in this area then we can do that in this region and we can do that in this country and that's where real change happens. 6:536 minutes, 53 secondsThat's so important. Now did you set out wanting to do a documentary knowing that you would be documenting it for 20 years 7:007 minutesor is it kind of like a purpose that slowly revealed itself to you? 7:047 minutes, 4 secondsAbsolutely. I mean yeah I think it's kind of like watching my child walk and now she's running and now she just turned 13, 7:107 minutes, 10 secondsright? Like you have this first step. I moved to the city. I get into this in my film so I don't want to talk about it too much but you know I traveled the world and uh what I had seen around the 7:197 minutes, 19 secondsworld prepared me for Detroit realizing the strength of the people did not reflect was not reflected in the abandoned buildings. And so naturally 7:287 minutes, 28 secondsseparating that but then also just open ear open mic just like you guys have right like you're hearing these stories you're like oh these things are kind of connecting together in a larger 7:367 minutes, 36 secondsnarrative. Rouso is tackling a massive undertaking and I I I'm whittling it every time I can in between these 7:437 minutes, 43 secondsdifferent um screenings. I just showed Wayne State University alternative spring break crew and uh it was about 55 students and you know some of them were 7:527 minutes, 52 secondslike this is beautiful. I see myself reflected in it. And some people were like, "You aren't attacking capitalism enough." You know, and so these kinds of ideas, I'm like, "Well, this was the 8:008 minutesyoungest audience I'd had, 18 to 20 year olds." But I'm like, also, I want to hear what they care about because they're the ones that are going to be pushing this film forward 20 years from now, 8:088 minutes, 8 secondsright? And then they're the future of Detroit as well or, you know, not just Detroit, but our nation, the whole world. I mean, cuz I feel like everything is compressed, right? Through 8:168 minutes, 16 secondsglobalization, through what social media and AI has been able to do. So the world is really this big now. But um and I 8:248 minutes, 24 secondsmean the discourse is really important right and when do they have an opportunity to kind of explore these themes in the way that you're presenting them. Yeah. 8:318 minutes, 31 secondsNow speaking of themes the the film is also filled with incredible imagery that you captured yourself 8:398 minutes, 39 secondswhich is I mean you only dream of some of these kind of shots. Were there moments when filming that you stopped and you had to think 8:498 minutes, 49 secondswhere you're overwhelmed and you're thinking like history is happening right in front of me right now? 8:548 minutes, 54 secondsYeah, I'm noticing just being able to prepare for larger events. I mean, 8:578 minutes, 57 secondsMichigan Central Station opening was an event that I knew was the, you know, the the pinnacle of my entire 20 years. 9:049 minutes, 4 secondsEnded up by realizing that this building and was a reflection of my own life and feeling abandoned and empty and isolated, almost being torn down, uh, 9:139 minutes, 13 secondsgetting married with kids, having some hope in life, and then of course coming and opening June 6th of 2024. So, even 9:209 minutes, 20 secondsjust that event, I was preparing. I had 12 cameras on the building. I had a build I had a photograph uh happening from on top of the Ponobscot building 9:289 minutes, 28 secondslooking all the way into Corktown. I had images, you know, the stage when Jack White was on there. So, I was really covering the event from a massive side. 9:359 minutes, 35 secondsThere are those types of moments, but then there's also smaller moments where I'm realizing larger themes and I'm like just just lifting up Marsha music and 9:439 minutes, 43 secondsand bringing that voice to the crowd and and talking about her in Austin. You know, those to me are the historical moments and I'm like when Jessica Carmore is a household name, when Bill 9:519 minutes, 51 secondsHarris is a household name, to me we're writing history that people are going to reference 50 years from now. 9:569 minutes, 56 secondsThat is so cool. I just think like back I used to be obsessed with the train station like even before when it was ruins and I would take pictures of it 10:0410 minutes, 4 secondsbut little did I know what it was going to be and so it's just so cool like how you literally bought a house right across the street from it. Uh his story 10:1210 minutes, 12 secondsis incredible but it really is not just Detroit story the film it's the story of your family as well. Uh you were raising 10:2010 minutes, 20 secondsyour kids in Corktown while documenting all of this. Um how did that shape the way you approach this storytelling? I mean, I love when you just said my 10:2910 minutes, 29 secondsdaughter was born basically the day that Detroit announced declared bankruptcy. 10:3410 minutes, 34 secondsLike, and I'm a new parent, so I can't really imagine being like, "Okay, we're going to raise this this baby in this city that just declared bankruptcy, but you did it." And that's so cool. 10:4410 minutes, 44 secondsI mean, having a child uh shows you how beautiful life is and you're not thinking about the oncoming bankruptcy or the headlines. 10:5210 minutes, 52 secondsAnd I just realized that people have been doing this in the city for decades, 10:5510 minutes, 55 secondsyou know, and I'm like, if they're raising families here and it looks that beautiful, we're about to do the same. 11:0011 minutesShout out to my wife who had three home births uh at the Garden Court. Super shout out to your wife. One, two, 11:0811 minutes, 8 secondsthree times. That's amazing. 11:1011 minutes, 10 secondsYeah. I mean, look, she had three and uh on the seventh floor of the building that they uh film Martin in. Uh you know that Yeah. And so I was like on Jefferson. 11:1911 minutes, 19 secondsOn Jefferson. Yeah. Yeah. And uh you know, I mean, the birth records lady was like, "I think you have this wrong." And I'm like, "Nope, they were home births." 11:2511 minutes, 25 secondsAnd uh you know, it was fun. I mean, we each time it was fun for for some of us. 11:3011 minutes, 30 secondsYou know, she's she's the first woman to do a backflip on a bike. And so, she's already uh you know, a BA and uh 11:3811 minutes, 38 secondsand you know, she travels the world pushing women's sports forward. So, I feel like that just this film wouldn't be possible with every single part of 11:4611 minutes, 46 secondsit, right? like the people my wife um saying yes to moving uh to Detroit to follow um and fall in love and me fall in love 11:5311 minutes, 53 secondswith her and just kind of accept you know this idea of this you know in 2010 when we first started dating in Detroit 12:0112 minutes, 1 secondlike yeah I mean it didn't seem like any of this was on the horizon and this film could have gone any number of ways and that's kind of we were discussing about other cities Memphis um 12:0912 minutes, 9 secondsdidn't go through bankruptcy and they haven't seen the same revitalization uh efforts um in terms of the financial sectors um like that. Detroit has in 12:1812 minutes, 18 secondsBaltimore and Memphis have both reached out because of this project saying, "How do we do that here?" And so I'm kind of noticing just people wanting to own their own narratives, people wanting to 12:2612 minutes, 26 secondslift up their residents that have, you know, held their city up, but having this like ma massive narrative kind of combating that effort. And so I think 12:3412 minutes, 34 secondsthis project really is just becoming um something that it's even bigger than just this film. Well, it's incredible that you're able to serve as kind of 12:4112 minutes, 41 secondslike an example to cities like Memphis and Baltimore that have very so many similarities to Detroit, but um and have this narrative, but there are all these other sub stories that never get told, 12:5212 minutes, 52 secondsnever get appreciated, people who have been there through thick and thin and want people to know that this city is still here just, 13:0013 minutesyou know, experiencing some difficulties through the process. And I love the family aspect of the documentary because I know you struggle with that. Like, you know, as a journalist, you never want to 13:0813 minutes, 8 secondsmake the story about yourself, but I feel like it gives you credibility because it's like how can you tell the story about Detroit if you were living outside of Detroit, 13:1813 minutes, 18 secondssomewhere else, right? That I mean, also a big part of my film, a big part of my film is my family and 13:2513 minutes, 25 secondsjust kind of navigating what my children are asking me or sometimes what I feel like the audience asks. Also, they're like, you know, are you still trying to 13:3313 minutes, 33 secondsmake this movie? Like, yes, I'm still trying to make this movie. 13:3613 minutes, 36 secondsI'm not trying to make this movie. I'm making this movie currently. 13:3913 minutes, 39 secondsI know. I know. But I mean, my, you know, my daughter, I would snuggle her to sleep every night and I would just have the phone cuz we'd have these beautiful little conversations. 13:4613 minutes, 46 secondsAnd so, all the audio in there is just this like really intimate time between me and her. And um she's like, "You're broadcasting it to the world." I was 13:5413 minutes, 54 secondslike, "I know. We're living for a bigger thing." But you know these ideas though that um we are all connected by these very simple questions you know and it's 14:0214 minutes, 2 secondslike if we can get to if we can ask them together then maybe that helps. 14:0514 minutes, 5 secondsI love in the beginning of the film when one of your kids is like you bought the house for just $1. 14:1214 minutes, 12 seconds$1 a house in Cork Town. I mean, it needed a lot of work, 14:1614 minutes, 16 secondsbut and I think that's kind of a catch. 14:1814 minutes, 18 secondsLike, it's really easy in Detroit to um have these kind of punchy headlines like a home about a film about a $1 house, 14:2514 minutes, 25 secondsyou know, but I'm not like I feel like that sensationalism is what I'm trying it was really hard to navigate and became easy when I realized that the the $1 house was actually this conduit, this 14:3414 minutes, 34 secondsum uh ability to talk to people on the West Coast who obviously cannot fathom a a home for under $200,000, if not even 14:4114 minutes, 41 seconds$500,000. And so I bring it up to their attention by saying, you know, I bought a $1 house because of what narratives were out there. 14:4914 minutes, 49 secondsWhat narratives do we miss along the way? You know, these the the narrative of Detroit devalued a home to the price of almost worthless. And so in my mind, 15:0015 minutesthis film brings up the narratives that were missed along the way. And and you know, we're just getting started. Okay, 15:0515 minutes, 5 secondsspeaking of which, we are just getting started. 15:0715 minutes, 7 secondsWe are just getting started. We do need to take a quick break. That's right. We'll be right back. 15:1715 minutes, 17 secondsWelcome back to Live at the D+ everyone. 15:1915 minutes, 19 secondsIt's good to continue hanging out with you. 15:2115 minutes, 21 secondsThat's right. And we want to continue our conversation with Steven McGee. He's the director and photographer behind the film Rurgo. All right. So, we've been 15:2915 minutes, 29 secondshaving some great conversation about the film. Um, but I wanted to ask you after somebody watches this film, what do you hope they walk away with a feeling of 15:3815 minutes, 38 secondsDetroit? because I know you're showing it to so many different types of people. 15:4215 minutes, 42 secondsSome people who are watching it, they already love Detroit, but some people are are unsure. So, what's is I mean, is it a different feeling for a different type of person? 15:5115 minutes, 51 secondsYeah, that's a great question. I feel like uh after every film so far, the test screenings we've had up to three-hour question and answers. And so, 15:5815 minutes, 58 secondsit does really bring out a lot of feelings. Grown men are crying. Uh you know, people are very thankful. Some people are wondering um why don't I 16:0716 minutes, 7 secondsinclude uh maybe some people who have invested a lot of money in the city you know as a part of thing I feel like what I noticed through all of the question 16:1516 minutes, 15 secondsand answer is that people come in with something and they are they in two hours we have this shared experience 16:2216 minutes, 22 secondsand they feel more thankful to live in Detroit they feel more thankful to know Detroititers and and that kind of 16:2916 minutes, 29 secondsfeeling is I guess what you know how I felt filming I want people to walk away with this idea of 16:3816 minutes, 38 secondsum maybe the next person I talk to is a very important person. I'm just going to give them everything I have. Wow. So, is that something? 16:4516 minutes, 45 secondsYeah. No, that's a great answer. 16:4716 minutes, 47 secondsI think it it's a combination of two things as you say that it makes me think of. Right. So, it's going to inspire people to want to be more present and 16:5516 minutes, 55 secondsactually see the person that they're talking to. Yeah. But it seems like this movie is also giving a chance for people who really need to be seen to have the 17:0317 minutes, 3 secondsopportunity to finally be seen. And every human being has that desire in my opinion. 17:0817 minutes, 8 seconds100%. I mean, I'm, you know, addressing that I'm a white Californian moving into the blackest city in America, saying 17:1617 minutes, 16 secondswhen I was invited into these narratives, they were talking to me as an outsider. and the way that people were talking to me and telling me stories and the enthusiasm and love that 17:2417 minutes, 24 secondsthey shared me. I felt a responsibility to that, you know, and that responsibility compounded over 20 years. 17:3117 minutes, 31 secondsAnd so I'm saying when Marsha Music talks to me about her father's house and and record shop in Black Bottom, I want to be able to give my 100% Hollywood 17:4017 minutes, 40 secondsattention, my 100% documentarian attention to lift this and make this the most compelling film. Not only just to have Detroititers be like this is something that represents us correctly, 17:5017 minutes, 50 secondsbut to have people on the outside also have a view of just the togetherness that we have as a country. I think. 17:5717 minutes, 57 secondsMhm. I saw on your website it was a quote from somebody that said, "As a black man from Detroit, you've done us proud." 18:0318 minutes, 3 secondsYeah. I've gotten that twice. And so I feel, you know, I'm just That says a lot. Detroiters just don't hand out compliments. Exactly. Especially like that, right? 18:1118 minutes, 11 secondsI feel like, you know, and and that's just I mean, it's Yeah. it. I'd like to just have this like clear glass right here right now when he says that because 18:1918 minutes, 19 secondsto me he's seeing himself represented by strong black men in the film which exist in our everyday society but are often in 18:2718 minutes, 27 secondsmany places uh not just black men but people in general are marginalized by the lens that we approach them with. And so, you know, when I would get 18:3518 minutes, 35 secondsassignments from different news media organizations, it would always be a lens of struggle. 18:3918 minutes, 39 secondsAnd I'm like, but these people are succeeding. They have great homes, you know, and I think just that kind of breaking down, having worked for everyone, having um, you know, three 18:4918 minutes, 49 secondskids, it all I mean, this is my family's mission like is to tell this story and be a part of this community. 18:5418 minutes, 54 secondsYeah. because we were talking about that off camerara a bit like obviously I can tell by the what the work that you've created and by the way that you talk about it this was part of your purpose. 19:0419 minutes, 4 secondsYeah. 19:0419 minutes, 4 secondsBut it also has to be your family's purpose. You need buyin from the whole family to say we're going to live in Corktown across the street from Michigan Central. Watch it be rebuilt. Have my 19:1319 minutes, 13 secondskids here. Oh, by the way, my wife is here too. We're going to have home births on Jefferson, you know, and we're going to do all of these things. You 19:2019 minutes, 20 secondsguys had to have seen the vision possibilities. 19:2519 minutes, 25 secondsI would love to say I would like to give us that uh that award of of previsioning but I mean it really is I mean living in 19:3219 minutes, 32 secondsfaith you just have a day you have what in store in front of you right now and there's a lot of moments that um I felt empty and not even sure even right 19:4119 minutes, 41 secondsbefore one screening I had just you know you get really low sometimes you're like does this actually mean anything? does this actually is my effort even going to 19:4919 minutes, 49 secondsbe uh amounted to it's not the stages I'm looking to win awards or anything like that. I think it's just, you know, 19:5619 minutes, 56 secondsat the end of the day, we all want something to to work for and work towards. And if I've done this right, I think it'll be successful. If if I'm 20:0420 minutes, 4 secondssitting on top of this building, it's not because I'm trying to get a better view. It's because I'm trying to show them at the highest level I can. You know, I mean, lifting up Detroit's 20:1220 minutes, 12 secondsvoices literally led me to the top of the world. And, you know, there's some things that we're supposed to see that we're supposed to live. And I've had a 20:2020 minutes, 20 secondscamera in front of me. And this is a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's a big film. By the way, I love this shot right here. 20:2720 minutes, 27 secondsThis was the day of the concert and that I was reporting that day that rainbow. We woke up and it was the most 20:3620 minutes, 36 secondsamazing rainbow over Michigan Central Station. It was like it knew that it day was one of those little divine winks. 20:4520 minutes, 45 secondsYeah, 20:4520 minutes, 45 secondsit was I mean that was a kind of a fun story too because I had prepared all those 12 cameras and uh so many moments I was not really 20:5220 minutes, 52 secondssleeping that night and I accidentally left the dog outside. Oh no. 20:5620 minutes, 56 secondsAnd our dog and there was a lot of people and uh my dog was barking at 5:00 a.m. and I'm like gosh I don't want to wake up the kids and I went outside and 21:0421 minutes, 4 secondsthere was a rainbow over the train station and it's like you know it's just those things that you know sometimes we have cameras, 21:1121 minutes, 11 secondssometimes we don't but they're special either way. Yeah. Gosh. Wow. So, would you say then that, you know, faith fueled the purpose? 21:1821 minutes, 18 secondsAbsolutely. I mean, like, you know, I I always hope that like the love of God somehow reflects through the camera towards the people. You know, I feel 21:2621 minutes, 26 secondslike I hope I'm just this transparent being that's like here's exactly how um I feel we're all loved. And if I can do 21:3421 minutes, 34 secondsthat through a camera and and in a short amount of time, uh then I think it'll be then the result will be a 2-hour film that hopefully goes around the world. 21:4321 minutes, 43 secondsBut, you know, this is to me just step one of three. I feel like I have two more that I need to do to fulfill the story. All right. What are the tasks? 21:5221 minutes, 52 secondsIn this film, you get to know me very well and you get to hear me a lot. In the next film, I don't think I need to say much. You know, I really appreciated 21:5921 minutes, 59 secondshow NPR kind of taught me just that audio audible storytelling where the journalist says a little thing and then you get to the bigger thing and then you 22:0622 minutes, 6 secondskind of jump in and out of that. So, I'm going to work my way out of my own job hopefully in the next two ones. Okay. So that's step two. Yeah. 22:1422 minutes, 14 secondsAnd then step three, if we have flying cars, I might need to retire. But like, 22:1922 minutes, 19 secondsyou know, I feel like, you know, I think that our nation has to go through a lot of things. I think the West Coast is on the brink of this disinvestment cycle that I saw. Um, when I was, you know, 22:3022 minutes, 30 secondswhen I was in the historical society's archives when I was researching for this film, the different billionaires and banks I've worked for across this 22:3722 minutes, 37 secondscountry. I'm looking at this tech narrative. You know, Detroit's kind of absorbing some of the tech as well as Albuquerque and Idaho Falls and Santa Fe 22:4622 minutes, 46 secondsand to Austin, just what I saw in South by Southwest. But when you look at Seattle, Portland, 22:5122 minutes, 51 secondsSan Francisco, LA, Hollywood, each one of those downtown cores are hollowing out. Their core industries are leaving 22:5822 minutes, 58 secondsum their home prices are becoming astronomical for most people. And so the decentralization, depopulation, and 23:0523 minutes, 5 secondsdisinvestment cycles that hit the rust belt when you look at Buffalo down to Syracuse, over to Pittsburgh, down to Cleveland. You know, I feel like history's on the brink of repeating 23:1423 minutes, 14 secondsitself, but it's going to go a lot faster on the West Coast. And I know I'm bringing up a lot of stuff right now, 23:1923 minutes, 19 secondsbut I think that what I've seen in Detroit, I'm like, you got to have the conversations because you can't fight for your state if you don't know your neighbor. And what I've noticed in Detroit is a network of neighborhoods. 23:2823 minutes, 28 secondsYou know, Jefferson Chalmer's that people know each other on the block. 23:3123 minutes, 31 secondsthese block clubs that have held the city up during the large disinvestments that I'm like, you know, 23:3623 minutes, 36 secondsrespectfully, there's billionaires stepping over homeless to save the rainforest. And I'm not saying saving the rainforest is bad, but on the West Coast, like there's some issues that they aren't dealing with. And in 23:4423 minutes, 44 secondsDetroit, I'm just ready to like talk to the most, you know, difficult situation possible because of how I've seen people address difficult situations here, 23:5223 minutes, 52 secondsright? And I know I I could talk for another hour. Um, but we only have a few minutes left. You've got screenings coming up. You can't just um see this at 24:0024 minutesyour home right now. You are doing private screenings. There's a reason for that. 24:0324 minutes, 3 secondsYeah. So, the film is being released uh in a way where we're doing test screenings and I'm also trying to bring the voices of Detroit to the largest 24:1124 minutes, 11 secondsstages at the same time. So, I'm entering it into the largest festivals in the nation. Whether or not they get accepted, it does not mean is the film good or not. But right, uh I'm waiting 24:2024 minutes, 20 secondsback to hear back from Tribeca and can in France and it'll go all enter into TIFF and all these festivals that really mean a lot to a lot of people. and 24:2724 minutes, 27 secondsmyself. Um, so right now, April 10th at Senate Theater on Michigan Avenue is the next screening. Um, and we're also going 24:3524 minutes, 35 secondsto show it at the uh up in Traverse City at the film festival up there on May 3rd. Um, and you can go to the detroitfilm.com to uh look for more screening listings. 24:4524 minutes, 45 secondsThat's cool. 24:4524 minutes, 45 secondsA a little drive up north. Little something. Yeah, that sounds fun. 24:4924 minutes, 49 secondsThe Senate Theater is also awesome as well. 24:5124 minutes, 51 seconds700 seats, so it's going to be a big one. 24:5324 minutes, 53 secondsIt's going to be good. Thank you so much for hanging out with us. Thank you for the work that you're doing. It's there's so many layers to it. Like Kim said, we could go on for another hour. We really 25:0025 minutescould. Yes. And thanks for representing our city so well, honestly. Cali boy coming up. 25:0625 minutes, 6 secondsThank you. You're a Detroiter. 20 years a documentary. It's official. But thank you all so much for joining us for Live in the D Plus. We'll see you tomorrow morning on Live in the D at 11 a.m. Sync to video time