Scene In Detroit: 'After The Factory'

By Amelia Kanan, CBS Detroit Blogger

Detroit, for most young people, is a real-world playground where one can run free, build, create, experiment, risk and venture into their passions.

Philip Lauri and Steve Oliver are two of these souls. Lauri has been a vital member of the Detroit community with his well-established Detroit Lives! brand, however it's his and Oliver's most recent collaboration that has me so super stoked. Yeah, I said it. "stoked".

"After The Factory" is a not just a documentary that highlights innovative things going on within Detroit city limits, but also strengthens the relevancy of Detroit's economic situation by comparing it to a city in Poland with a similar story. The synopsis and the opening line of the trailer say, "The end of the Industrial Age is not the end of the World...We have the power within us to create the World anew." Perhaps that says it all.

Lauri and Oliver are childhood friends from a Owosso, MI, a city not too far from the state's capital. They both attended Michigan State, Lauri in business and Oliver in communications.

The two separated even more when Oliver put thousands of miles between them and moved to Los Angeles upon graduation. There, he delved into "the industry" where he became a television writer and directed a few films, one including his first documentary. Lauri at this time, was laying the groundwork for what has become Detroit Lives! through blogging, making T-shirts and being an active member within the Detroit community. 

Then, in February of 2011, the idea hit. In April a Kickstarter fund began. This online mecca for artists, filmmakers, curators and investors alike went on to raise almost $11,000 which bought airplane tickets, equipment and all those elements that go into making a film.

Oliver got rid of his apartment, put his car and belongings in a friend's garage and flew to Poland to meet up with Lauri where their production began. It hasn't even been a year since the pre-production began and the film is all ready for its premier next week, February 2 at 7 p.m., at the DIA. You can reserve your tickets here. The run time is 48 minutes and will be followed by a panel discussion with Lauri and Oliver, community leaders and subjects of the film.

Get ready Detroit. Get ready to feel inspired, excited, proud and hopeful. Need even more incentive to go see it? I'll be there and could possibly be seated right next to you.

Amelia Kanan is freelance writer/photographer and a returning native of Detroit. A graduate of Columbia College in Chicago, she wrote for an Emmy nominated sketch comedy show and pursued her passion for documentary filmmaking in Los Angeles. An incomplete list of her loves: books, human rights, improv, the smell of new shoes, talking to strangers, libraries, France, yoga, furniture, music, sociology and pushing the limits.