BURN Trailer from Tremolo Productions on Vimeo.
Many of you have seen the rather riveting trailer for a proposed documentary on the Detroit Fire Department. Firegeezer, among others, told the story last month about the producers looking to raise money and get the doc shot as soon as possible (click here for the message directly from the producers).
It looks like money may not be the only obstacle in telling the story. In late July Mayor Dave Bing fired Warren Evans, his police chief of a year. Among the reasons cited by Mayor Bing is Evans’ decision to be featured in a reality show called “The Chief”. According to the Detroit Free Press, “The footage showed the chief holding an assault rifle and declaring he would do whatever it takes to clean the city’s streets.”
Mayor Bing also recently canceled a two year relationship with the A&E series, “First 48″. This one shadows homicide detectives in a number of cities. More from The Free Press:
Critics of Detroit’s participation have said that officers may be showboating for the cameras. They point to the use of a flash-bang grenade in some raids, including the one early May 16 that left 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones dead from a police officer’s bullet.
After that incident, Bing nixed the A&E tagalongs.
It is all about image. Mayor Bing thinks these reality shows (and even an ABC police drama based on Detroit homicide detectives) could be portraying Detroit in a negative fashion. The Free Press article quotes a spokesman for the City of Baltimore who says they are still dealing with negative image problems from the HBO series “The Wire”.
All of this is now apparently having an impact on efforts to feature the Detroit Fire Department in the documentary “Burn”. Crain’s Detroit Business reports that getting permission from Detroit officials could be a problem:
We are re-evaluating our policies and practices as it relates to film opportunities, citywide and inclusive of (the Detroit Police Department),” Karen Dumas, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s chief communications officer, wrote in an e-mail to Crain’s. “We look forward to having practical guidelines in place soon.”
I admit it is a dilemma when you are talking about something as important as a city’s image. But to me it always seems a better idea to fix the problems rather than spend the time, effort and money to manipulate and sanitize the message. While you certainly don’t want showboating for the cameras and having the film alter the reality of something as important as public safety, don’t you think in some cases you will also be preventing a very positive message from being heard and seen by the public?
What I often see in these ride-alongs from Detroit and elsewhere is, despite all of the decay and heartbreak surrounding them, there are still dedicated public servants who get the job done with expertise and compassion. I think of the video a Detroit journalist shot while riding with Engine 23 and the great interviews with the firefighters like Walt Harris, who died in the line-of-duty before the year was out (the video does not seem to be online anymore). Similarly, Firehouse USA’s up close and personal views that included those phenomenal moments with Boston’s Lt. Kevin Kelley, who died last year in the crash of Ladder 26. To me the world would be a little less tolerable without those videos bringing a little sanity and understanding of the bureaucracy and chaos of city life.
Remember, it is what it is. You aren’t going to change it by hiding behind a curtain. And a major TV series or movie shot in city brings money and even jobs. Both, if I am not mistaken, are things that are desperately needed in Detroit, Michigan.
Also on STATter911 …
- Detroit reporter Charlie LeDuff at it again. Finds donated tower unused & Highland Park’s mayor begging for it. – May 8, 2012
- UPDATED – On day with 16 fires in 6 hours Detroit’s mayor laying off 20% of firefighters. Audio from arson spree. More than a third of investigators to be cut. – June 26, 2012
- Detroit TV reporter says state now investigating firehouses. Charlie LeDuff sounds off on what real story is after confrontation with fire official. – June 2, 2012
- UPDATE: Detroit fire commissioner says banning firefighters from climbing aerial ladders will only minimally impact firefighters’ ability to extinguish fires. – February 4, 2013
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Basically the same excuses Worcester, MA used to give COPS the boot when they arrived to start filming- after the local “community leaders” (ie Al Sharpton wannabes) organized a protest at HQ.
Too bad that the Mayor wants to Micromanage the DFD in what is shown.
The reality is, Detroit is loosing what tax base it has due to arson in the abandonded buildings. Which impacts the city’s
ability to maintain it’s funding and so on. It’s a never ending down hill slide.
Those of us in the fire service who know about the DFD and its problems,(brought to light in the Detroit Free Press’ 24 part article about six years ago)have watched as the roller coaster at city has provided less funding and equipment to the
DFD, expecting more to be done with less.
According to the articles, the brass fire poles were sold for scrap years ago.
How desperate can the mismanagment at city hall be to have this happen?
The video needs to be made.
As I see it, the video is a means to show how the DFD is managing to still get the job done.
Image says the mayor? Obviously the man knows nothing about public relations or marketing.
His city is destroyed and dying more by the month. He should be all over any kind of attention anyone offers, especially cable channels like A&E and their contracted production partners.
As for the video, sad. 9 out of 10 fires arson seems to me the city should consider cross training fire personnel as bulldozer operators and set them lose on abandoned properties.
The DFD is a forgotten FD when people talk about the great Fire Departments in the US. You always hear about the FDNY, D.C.F.D, Chicago FD, Boston FD & the L.A.F.D, But not the DFD.
The DFD does more with less then anyone else in the business, Give them a slap on the back for hanging in there and doin the job & dealing with a city Goverment who doesn’t seem to care about them or the city. I for one see nothing but the good that this documentary will do, It will open the eyes of those not in the fire service and in the federal goverment.
Good luck on the documentary and good luck to the brothers & sister in the DFD, Keep up the good fight.
“…the City of Baltimore who says they are still dealing with negative image problems from the HBO series ‘The Wire’.”
Baltimore (has and)will always have an “image problem” if they keep electing crooked Democrats as Mayor.
The headline on the original Crain’s Detroit story (that this story refers to) is very misleading, and has caused us some serious headaches in the past few days. (And we’ve received no response to our e-mails to the editors.) We had complete permission to film our trailer. We went through all the proper channels, and had the okay from both the mayor’s office and DFD HQ. In fact, both offices were instrumental in getting the piece made. The city is rightfully wary of the media right now, but we went through all the proper channels at the mayor’s office and the DFD, and will continue to do so! We have had no reason to think we’ll have any problem moving forward.
Please go to http://www.detroitfire.org and watch the trailer, comment, donate, and share.
You can also follow us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/burnfilm
Thanks so much for your support.
Brenna Sanchez, producer, BURN
Tom Putnam, director, BURN
Hi Brenna and Tom,
Sorry I also have not been able to get back to you. I am in and out of Internet connection on a family vacation.
We have no doubt you had permission to do what you have done. Your work has caught a lot of attention. I totally support your efforts.
That said, I think the climate in Detroit right now might be working against you in trying to complete your work in a timely fashion. This is from someone who is reading between the lines from the various articles and has no inside knowledge except my experience as a reporter.
I wish you good luck in your efforts to finish this worthwhile project, but I will not join you in believing the media is the problem in Detroit. I direct you to Charlie LeDuff’s article in February of this year documenting the waste and neglect by city officials when it comes to DFD. I am sure you are aware of it. Charlie did the research, asked the tough questions about millions of dollars thsat were supposed to be spent making capital improvements. Instead of answers he got the run-around from the current administration. http://tinyurl.com/yky537x
If you can’t answer direct questions with direct answers you are leaving the impression you have something to hide and can’t share the truth with the taxpayers. From my vantage point that doesn’t help your cause to improve the city.
Much luck and we are here to help you.
Statter
Today Dave posted a clip from DFD. The where else in the county are you going to find such strong work,please not trying to put anyone else down.
I think we must admit that DFD is one of the top 3 departments in the county in reference to FIREMEN getting the job done.
I am sure we all could learn a lesson or two from the good FIREMEN in Detroit. Gods speed !!!
The unanswered questions regarding the Charlie LeDuff article is:
Where did the money go? Who is Accountable for failure to follow through on what was bid on and non completion of the contract.
The DFD has slowly been choked by “Tammney Hall” Politics not just under the current Mayor but also those of the past.
Mayor David Bing may have a a grasp as to what is happening in the DFD and his not wanting the Documentary made
may be his attempt to “keep this under wraps” as once it makes the Media Sources the major questions that will be asked is:
A. When it’s 2010 why is the DFD so cash starved? Where did any Federal Monies go that were obtained to upgrade the FD?
B. How come it is behind Fire Service Industry Standards in some areas compared to like size fire departments?
C. Why are some of the tools and tactics “Behind the Times”
much like Charleston, S.C., before the Sofa Super Store Fire.
Mayor Bing may feel if the DFD’s problems are not disclosed to a Nationwide Audience, he can keep up the “Illusion” that
all is well in the DFD.
His “Rose Colored” Glasses don’t hold up to the vision as seen from the “Street Level” firefighters and the citizens they serve, which he seems to have forgotten about.
The Documentary needs to be made irregardless of what he wants.
News has broke today of a fire where some members of the DFD were injured after a fire/collapse and are in serious condition. Hope for a full and speedy recovery to those injured.
Lets see what the mayor has to say about them risking their life today for the city? I guess he (the Mayor)doesn’t want the public to see on Tv that these brothers & sisters of the DFD are the true heroes and the ones working everyday to save the city, while the mayor sits in his chair and makes his pockets fatter..
Did this become a documentary??