Is Detroit doomed to fail or on the brink of rebirth? One filmmaker is on a mission to find out.
Ben Howe, founder and creative director of Mister Smith Media, is investigating the Motor City in his latest project.
“Someone needs to cover both the dangers that Detroit faces as well as the uplifting stories,” says @BenHowe
The film, currently under the working title “The Detroit Project,” is a follow-up to Howe’s previous documentary, “Bankrupt: How Cronyism and Corruption Brought Down Detroit,” released earlier this year.
Detroit was once the most prosperous city in America and the manufacturing capital of the world.
Centered around the automobile industry, the city boasted fabulous mansions and hotels and was home to an extraordinary amount of wealth.
Then everything changed.
>>> This Once-Prosperous American City Went Bankrupt. Who’s to Blame?
According to Howe, as the companies failed to address their “systematic issues” and adapt to changes in the auto industry, the city “stepped in to help in a very crony-ish way.”
“The government colluded with corporate interests rather than letting the free market work,” said Howe. “Frankly, the unions didn’t help either.”
Now, the Motor City is bankrupt and almost $20 billion in debt. Jobs became few and far between as companies failed. Designed to accommodate 2 million residents, its population has shrunk to 600,000.
Howe said his latest project is a way to “tell the story of Detroit:”
“Someone needs to cover both the dangers that Detroit faces as well as the uplifting stories of entrepreneurs and life-long residents hoping to rebuild the city into what it used to be,” he said.
“The previous one was about the rise and fall of Detroit,” Howe added. “This one is about where they are going from here.”
In an interview with The Daily Signal, where he serves as a contributor, Howe called Detroit’s problems “symptomatic of America.”
Howe said Detroit’s embrace of government handouts rather than free-market solutions should serve as a warning sign for the rest of the country because the city is simply “farther down the path.”
Howe wants to document “positive efforts” being made to revitalize Detroit and to discover which solutions work and which don’t. He is in the process of interviewing residents and city officials and crowdfunding the film.
“The city council and planners brag about all this awesome stuff being done, but what is actually happening?” asked Howe.
Howe said he wants to show viewers how the policies that destroyed Detroit could affect them.
“Conservatives talk about being ‘culturally relevant,’” said Howe. “This is what that looks like. We can only change hearts and minds through storytelling. Not to trick them, but to tell them compelling stories that are true. … As Andrew Breitbart used to say, ‘Politics is downstream of culture.’”
Howe hopes that by telling the true story of the history of Detroit, it can go through a “true renaissance” rather than “yet another rebirth.”
Can Detroit become the most prosperous city in America again?
“The only way these areas can come back is entrepreneurs,” said Howe, “because the people decided they wanted to trust themselves to rebuild.”
Howe said that the name of his company—Mister Smith Media—is an homage to the classic Frank Capra film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”
“I’m not in Washington,” said Howe. “We pride ourselves on doing things differently.”
Howe said he hopes to start filming in the spring and release the film to DVD in the fall.
The Detroit Project is a sponsored project of the Moving Picture Institute. You can learn more about the film on its crowdfunding page.
