The rally on Friday night was a huge success. Jack Rabbit, Malik, and others descended upon a notorious drug house in the neighborhood, brought the press, scared the crooks away, entered the home with the police, and recovered a shotgun and a pile of drug paraphernalia. But it took work and patience and luck to get the shots, shoot the scene, and have it make sense in the overarching narrative of the film. You see, by being on the ground with these people for over a year, there were all kinds of events and conversations that led up to the rally that I was privy to. As both journalist and story-teller, I need to know when and how to capture the daily goings on in this neighborhood in a way that will make sense in a 2 hour film. One can’t just show up, shoot a random scene, then take that scene and place it in a film. Work must be done to set up the situation, place the event in a context, and create a world filled with people who you know because you’ve spent time with them, developed bonds with them, and built trusting relationships with them. Street Fighting Man is powered by real people who have graciously agreed to participate in this 2 year process with me.

One thing I’ve discovered during the past year and a half is that my chosen career affords me the rare (and wonderful) opportunity to walk in the shoes of people who are different than me. Whether that be in Detroit, Utah, or Ecuador, I have something to learn from each person that I meet. Being a documentary filmmaker is not glamorous. Its hard work. It requires patience and empathy. It means living meagerly and getting paid very little.

So why do it?

Its a form of activism, personal expression, and journalism. I do it because I love people and I care about the plight of the worker, the common man, and the displaced peoples of the world. I would argue that the most important part of the filmmaking process is building relationships with those you work with. Unless honest, truthful, and loving relationships can be built with your subjects, your film will suffer, and perhaps more importantly, you won’t grow as a person. I’ve found that getting that one shot that you need, or being able to capture the most dramatic, most vulnerable moments in a particular person’s journey, is directly linked to spending time with him or her, earning their trust, and actively caring about them.

One thing I always try to stay cognizant of is not exploiting people for personal gain. Documenting someone else’s life has the potential to become completely and totally exploitative, which is why strong relationships and transparency are the foundations upon which any good project should be built. Collaboration with your subjects is key. Complying with personal demands is essential. Respecting the boundaries of your subjects is the very least you can do when asking people to live in front of a camera and be vulnerable. Knowing when to turn the camera off is a skill that every documentarian should develop. But again, knowing your subjects well is the first step in developing that understanding. This is why I am here every day, and why I live in Detroit—so I can be close to the people I am following, documenting, and learning from.

Two weeks ago, several of the stories being featured in my forthcoming documentary, Street Fighting Man, crossed paths in a profound way at Jefferson & Chalmers in response to violence in the area, and its not over yet. Tonight, the Detroit 300, Minister Malik Shabazz, Jack Rabbit, and others, will be marching on at least two drug houses in the neighborhood in an effort to close them down once and for all. With a growing number of drug houses and drug-related crimes in the area, people are fed up and temperatures have reached a boiling point. I’ll be there, documenting the story as events unfold and doing my best to be safe. After a year of shooting, could this be the climax of the film? More details to come!

Tomorrow night, four seemingly disparate stories will cross paths as the Detroit 300 and the residents of the Jefferson/Chalmers area unite for a peace rally in response to the murder and attempted murder of two young men from the neighborhood. Jack Rabbit, Malik, Myrtle, and Lucas will be in attendance to march down Chalmers and make a statement to the community that enough is enough. We’ve been following these people for over a year and their stories have taken us from burned out neighborhoods to community meetings and beyond. We we there when Lucas lost his home to a fire. We we there when Jack Rabbit responded to reports of dead bodies and late night intruders. We were there when Myrtle organized community workshops in her garden and started progress on a green, sustainable home. We were there when Malik and the Detroit 300 searched through empty apartment buildings and burned out neighborhoods for a serial rapist. And now, these people and their collective stories are crossing paths at Jefferson & Chalmers, the very place where this documentary began.

This past weekend was a brutal one. Sixteen people were shot, including the home of one our subjects. Had he been in his apartment at the time, he could have been number 17. Something is definitely in the air in Detroit. Violent crime is up. Young men are killing each other every day. Drug activity is on the rise. In fact, five young men who grew up down the street from Jack Rabbit have been charged with murder in a drug-related case that broke during the past week. Sadly, these young men were once a symbol of hope to the neighborhood. They came from strong families. They were members of the youth block club. Their picture even graced the front of a neighborhood newsletter about ten years ago. Now, they face murder charges and significant jail time; a sober reminder of how strong neighborhoods tend to disappear in the D.

But amidst all the news of violence and despair, there is a growing movement of community activism that demands to be heard. And their collective voice is the heart and soul of Street Fighting Man. This is not a film about brutality and violence. This is not a film about Detroit’s problems. This is a film about five amazing people who are doing their damnedest to make a difference. And I am awestruck by their courage, strength, and power.

Stand up, Detroit. Stand up!

Last night, I had the opportunity to join the Detroit 300 in their search for a man who beat and robbed an elderly woman on Detroit’s East side. This is the second time I’ve participated with them. Back in January, I joined them in their search for a serial rapist, also on the East side. These two events have yielded some of the most exciting footage of the film so far. But first, let me take a step back. Who and what are the Detroit 300?

The Detroit 300 is a group of men and woman in Detroit who have joined forces to take a stand in combating crime in the city. Despite some reports to the contrary, they are not vigilantes. They work with the police and have the support of many city officials, including Mayor Dave Bing. They do make citizen’s arrests when necessary, they do march in the streets with megaphones and fliers, and they do talk to members of the community to earn their trust and glean information. Not only are they fighting crime, but they are fighting anti-snitch culture as well. They provide members of the community an outlet other than the cops to report crimes to. Many people in Detroit don’t trust the police and the Detroit 300 serve as a kind of mediator. This model has turned out to be quite successful. In fact, the Detroit 300 have a 100 percent success rate. They get the bad guy every time.

One of the subjects of our film, Minister Malik Shabazz, co-founded the group with two others, Raphael Johnson and Angelo Henderson. They initially started out as 300 men, but now boast a membership in the thousands. Look for a glimpse of the Detroit 300 in our upcoming teaser trailer for Street Fighting Man.

A busy and productive week in Detroit was marked by the story of Simon’s Pizza, a family owned restaurant in Cobo Hall that was inexplicably forced to close after 30 years. Several of our subjects were involved in the protests that ensued, and we were there day after day following the story as it developed. At one point, the Simon’s had their locks removed and replaced by Centerplate, the company responsible for not renewing their contract. Things got pretty heated, and it looks like a lawsuit is going to be filed. This is a classic example of corporate interest trampling on the rights of small business owners. Click here to read an article from the Detroit Free Press.

In about three weeks, we are relocating to Detroit to help facilitate the production of Street Fighting Man. We will be there through October as we try to finish shooting the film. Pickups will probably be needed in the fall/winter after we head back to SLC, but the plan right now is to try and wrap principal photography by November 1, 2011. That being said, it all depends on how the story develops. If something unexpected happens that requires us to shoot longer, we will. Real life is unpredictable and we are ready to go where the story takes us. Adventure awaits.

DETROIT — ”Turn yourself in. Turn yourself in, right now. Do the right thing.”

This is the plea of the Detroit 300 to two assailants who attacked an 85-year old woman Nov. 21 on Detroit’s northeast side. 

On day three of their patrol, Nov. 29, the group who organized earlier this year to “take back their city” after multiple attacks on senior citizens set out in the Conant Gardens area to knock on doors and hang literature asking for anyone who has information on the attack to come forward. Crimestoppers is also offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the assailants.

Detroit 300 members say they’re close to catching the attackers and are turning their leads over to the Detroit Police. The attack is the third attack on a senior citizen in the area this year.

“We have a description of both individuals from some of the locals,” Raphael Johnson, a community activist, told the Michigan Citizen.

The two men, ages 20-30 and 40-50, left the woman, who many call Ms. Mary, for dead after viciously beating her. She remains in the hospital with a fractured shoulder and collapsed lung. The beating occurred in the early afternoon of Nov. 21 after the men raked the leaves from her lawn, bagging them neatly, some say. After paying the men, they attacked and robbed her, taking jewelry, her purse, credit cards, and coins.

Ms. Mary’s attack came only days after a similar attack on an 87-year-old woman in the same neighborhood who was beaten with a shovel after paying two men to cut the bushes in her yard. 

“They’re preying on our elderly under the guise of lawn work,” Minster Malik Shabazz said.

Although there has been no direct link to the two attacks, Shabazz says the assailants are making it hard on those who provide lawn service and snow removal in their communities as a “righteous hustle.”

“People need to get out and tell what they know — if you want a decent neighborhood you gotta do something to defend it,” said Parnell Willis of the neighboring Kraitz Woods area. 

Willis, who has lived in the area for 10 years, says crime has accelerated in the past two-to-four years. According to Willis, the block clubs have been building a coalition prior to the recent attacks. “It’s going to take citizen patrols. [That’s] the only thing that’s going to make a dent,” he said.

“We’re sick and tired of it,” said Patricia Pulliam, a long-time Detroit resident and member of Detroit 300. “They take things away from the good things … from those that want to do something [good].”

The Detroit 300 was joined by over 50 community members, including the newly formed Detroit Coalition Against Violence; the North Central Block Club Association; members of the NAACP, the Nation of Islam, the new Marcus Garvey Movement and the United Washtenaw Moors; and other community groups and Detroit residents.

“This is a life-and-death situation. And, we’re out here to make a difference,” said Barry Ross of the Detroit Coalition Against Violence.

Ross, whose family has been in business in Detroit for over 90 years, says he started the DCAV in July after the Russell Woods attack where a 90-year old woman was beaten and raped. “The citizens are leaving in fear,” Ross said.

Shabazz says the group is not only after those attacking the elderly but those participating in any form of crime, bringing down Detroit neighborhoods, “selling drugs, stealing hub caps, breaking and entering.”

“We’re shutting it down …” he said.

He’s encouraging the people of Detroit to come forward with information on any criminal activity in their neighborhoods.

“Don’t snitch, just tell,” says Shabazz.

Shabazz says it’s important for people to know the difference. He refers to snitching as being an accomplice of a crime and giving information to the police to lessen ones punishment, and telling as seeing a crime take place or knowing of a crime that has taken place and giving information to the police.

“We plan on catching them,” Shabazz said.

(Source: michigancitizen.com)

The past three weeks have been emotionally draining. One of the subjects of our upcoming documentary, Street Fighting Man, is dealing with a major crisis and I had to fly to Detroit a week earlier than expected. I ended up being in Detroit for three weeks, including the week of Christmas and a few days following. Turns out, most of our subjects were dealing with one kind of crisis or another and I ended up shooting much more footage than I anticipated. It was a cold and tiring trip. I had to borrow boots. I was wearing long underwear day and night. I arrived in Detroit on the coldest day of the year. Sadness and despair were everywhere I looked and it definitely comes out in the footage that I captured.

In September, Detroit Lives, a three-part documentary produced by Palladium Boots, was released for free on the rugged footwear company’s website. The 30-minute film starred Jackass’ Johnny Knoxville cruising around in an old Cadillac convertible with Phil Cooley (from Slows Bar BQ), and exploring the decrepit Eastown Theatre with members of garage-rock band The Dirtbombs. Some praised it as the antithesis of Chris Hansen’s Dateline special on the city. “You see a lot of bad stuff in the press about Detroit,” Knoxville says in the opening. “I can’t believe there’s nothing positive here; we came to see what else is going on.”

Others tagged Detroit Lives as just another way to display the city’s majesty of abandonment. “It’s a real easy thing to decry ruin porn, but still show it,” says Erik Proulx, a former advertiser who turned to documentaries after being laid off. “I haven’t gone through the exercise of counting the shots in the Palladium piece,” he wrote on his blog, “but it seems to me that at least two-thirds of the b-roll was dedicated to the very same ruin porn they were railing against.”

Whether it had merit or not, Detroit Lives unofficially kicked off a flurry of forthcoming documentaries of various caliber, about — or set in — Detroit. Proulx, for one, is filming Lemonade: Detroit, a follow-up to his first film, Lemonade, which featured individual stories of people around the country who’d lost their jobs. Proulx’s synopsis for the sequel: “When a city can’t rely on one industry anymore for its livelihood — where it goes from there.”

But why Detroit?

The former ad man from Massachusetts seems to be crafting a PR pitch for the city. “I want to sensationalize hope as much as Michael Moore sensationalizes poverty and despair,” he says. Lemonade: Detroit will feature interviews with Claire Nelson, from the Bureau of Urban Living, Chazz Miller, an artist who paints murals around the city, and others. Proulx says he’d like to release the film online, rather than taking it to film festivals, but it’s still in pre-production stages.

The desire to see and tell the story of people actually living in Detroit was also the catalyst for Street Fighting Man, a documentary by Salt Lake City-based filmmaker Andrew James (see related story on page 39). “The film is our attempt to paint an honest portrait of a community that’s trying to survive, and also trying to improve things for themselves,” James says. “I decided that I wanted to focus on people who are trying to make a difference, not just on, ‘Oh, look how bad it is.’ ”

But can he and the others nail the narrative of a city whose problems are so complex?

“I think being an outsider actually helps the film a little bit,” James says. “So many people here are hyper-sensitive about Detroit’s image, and they might go to great lengths to make things too positive. I’m really hoping to come in with an outside, objective viewpoint.”

(Source: hourdetroit.com)

For the past month, I have been in Detroit shooting more footage for Street Fighting Man. Not only did we capture more great material of Jack Rabbit, but we found the rest of our subjects as well. The film will be following 4 more subjects as they look to expand community gardens, repair old crack houses with refurbished materials, earn high school diplomas, volunteer for the homeless, build homes for the poor, and clean garbage from vacant lots. It was an exciting time to be in Detroit. 87 fires swept through the city, the Mayor’s office initiated town hall meetings with concerned citizens all over town, drug-related shootings echoed down Chalmers, and block club meetings were in full force. We worked long hours and were constantly on the go. In fact, there was so much going on, it was often hard to know where to go next. I’ve been back in SLC for about a week now and the footage is almost ready. I will be working on a new trailer and a 20 minute preview that should be available in November. More details to come!

This week’s profiles of projects in various stages of production spotlights “Oz” star Lee Tergesen in a story of a dark couple who use their talents for a diabolical game. Other projects look at the interaction between indigenous and environmental movements, a rock band big in Japan, community action in Detroit, and a tale of American musicians in Argentina.

Street Fighting Man

Logline:  A gritty, ensemble documentary featuring stories of community action and survival on Detroit’s east side.

Production Team:  Director/Cinematographer:  Andrew James; Producer:  Katie Tibaldi

About the film:  “Instead of focusing on the broader question of why Detroit is suffering, ‘Street Fighting Man’ will hone in on the specific struggles of individuals as they fight for the future of their community. One man who personifies the day-to-day struggles of the East Jefferson community is James ‘Jack Rabbit’ Jackson, a retired cop who’s lived in the Chalmers neighborhood on the east side of Detroit for most of his life. With the recent closure of the local police station, Jack Rabbit has begun to fight back.  Armed with a video camera (and a firearm when necessary) Jack Rabbit cruises the streets of East Jefferson, intimidating criminals, recording evidence, and making his presence known. He’s a community activist, a post-modern sheriff, and according to some, a ‘socially conscious vigilante.’

“Jack Rabbit is a complex and interesting figure. He’s a father, a mentor, a boyfriend, a tow-truck driver, and a deeply committed member of the community who spends 24 hours of every day in the service of his neighborhood.  ‘Street Fighting Man’ will also follow several other subjects in the community as they struggle to survive and/or fight for the future of their neighborhoods. Each subject will bring a unique perspective to the story and provide different insights into the landscape, the problems, and the possible solutions. We have made contact with many different people who we are interested in participating in the project, including local business owners, pastors, homeless teenagers, drug dealers, community activists, and urban gardeners. Our goal as filmmakers is to paint a multilayered mosaic of this fluctuating landscape using real people and real stories.”—Andrew James

(Source: indiewire.com)

So our new feature-length documentary, Street Fighting Man, is running a fairly successful Kickstarter campaign at the moment, but we need even more support if we are going to reach our goal by September 3rd. We need to raise about 3000 more dollars to reach our goal. If we don’t hit it. well, we won’t get any of the money. For you skeptics out there, let me say this: running a Kickstarter campaign takes a lot of work. Its not like you can sit back, relax, and watch as the money starts pouring in. We’ve been in effect, working for the money that has been pledged so far. It takes time to properly market your project and reach out to friends and colleagues. Even though we are asking for donations, we are working extremely hard to raise interest and awareness. I probably spend 3 or 4 hours a day trying to promote the film and I would spend even more time if I could.

There are a number of ways to approach promotion, social media being the most obvious. But the best way to promote your project is though personalized emails. You can’t just spam everyone and expect results. Facebook and Twitter can be great, but don’t underestimate the power of personalized communication. The idea that Kickstarter is somehow free money is a myth. Its a great platform and so far I’ve been very pleased with how it works, but you definitely get what you give.

Last week, we lauched a Kickstarter campaign for Street Fighting Man. We are trying to raise 6500 bucks to help produce a preview of the film to show investors and funders. This is a great project and we need some help to get it going. All donations are handled through Kickstarter, a crowd-funding website where donors are offered rewards for backing projects like this one. For example, if you donate 30 bucks, you will receive a special thanks credit in the film, a limited edition still frame from the film, and a DVD copy of the film once it is complete. If you donate 50 bucks, you get all that plus a little more, and so on and so on. If you are strapped for cash, you can even donate as little as 1 dollar. The idea is to get as many people as possible to contribute. The Kickstarter website is very secure. It has been featured in the NY Times and has a long track record of success. All donations are handled through a partnership with Amazon. So all you need is an account with Amazon to donate. The account is free, and it is one of the most trusted and secure ways to spend money on the internet. You can learn more about Street Fighting Man and even become an executive producer on the film by visiting our Kickstarter page.

The guy was coming to shoot up Jack Rabbit’s house in the middle of the night.

He’d already fired on other homes in the old east side neighborhood to scare residents he’d suspected of calling the cops on him.

It turned out the gunman was a drug dealer, and when neighbors had called the cops on him, or had gotten in his way, he retaliated by shooting up their houses.

Earlier that day, James “Jack Rabbit” Jackson — a retired Detroit cop — parked his car in front of the dealer’s house and pointed a video camera at him in a blatant effort to disrupt his business. It drove the guy away for the day.

Now he was coming back for Jackson. And Jackson was waiting for him.

A car turned from Jefferson onto Chalmers. It drew closer, then slowed when it reached Jackson’s house. The headlights panned the front of the home until they revealed the ex-cop sitting there on the otherwise dark porch, staring back.

He had a shotgun in his lap. 

Jackson knows that, in Michigan, the law says that if your life’s is in danger, you have a right to use deadly force to defend yourself. That’s why he keeps a baseball bat stashed on his porch. That’s why he sat there late one night, waiting with that shotgun.

He had seen the old Chevy before, and knew the drug-dealing gunman was inside it. The car belonged to a guy in the dealer’s posse. But it didn’t stay long. Between the armed ex-cop and the video camera mounted above the porch, the dealer had few options. The Chevy backed out of the driveway and left the same way it came.

Jackson is the de facto leader of the neighborhood, like an unofficial sheriff. He’s 63, burly and slower-moving in his retirement. Everyone here knows him, and everyone here calls him Jack Rabbit, a nickname he has had for years. He’s president of the Jefferson-Chalmers Homeowners Association, president of the Jefferson-Chalmers Citizens District Council, and he’s on the Jefferson East Business Association’s board of directors. He plows snow from the wintertime streets and sidewalks with his truck. He’s the neighborhood lookout, and, through his homeowners association, he offers a monthly reward for local crime tips. He’s the one who urges everyone in his neighborhood to stay vigilant, the one who confronts criminals on the street and videotapes them.

“These guys are cowards,” Jackson says. “They’re not going to fight anyone that’s going to go toe-to-toe with them.”

The people who live here, like residents in dozens of similar Detroit neighborhoods with block clubs and associations, are battling to keep theirs from falling like so many others in the city. And guys like Jack Rabbit lead the charge.

(Source: metrotimes.com)