FIFTH THIRD PRIVATE BANKING
The film cost $200,000 plus a lot
of in-kind help and freebies. To
shoot on the streets of Detroit,
Schulze was aided by Detroit
police, who cleared several down-
town streets for the film.
"I also found great locations that
reflect the theme, like gorgeous old
cathedrals falling apart in Detroit,"
Doug said. In addition, Detroiters
might recognize the Troy police sta-
tion and Detroit's Pitcher
Elementary School.
But one experience in Detroit
turned out to be almost as scary as
the film.
Racing down the Lodge freeway
to get to their film site, the Schulzes
were pulled over by Detroit's finest.
It got strange, Doug said, when a
cop looked in the back seat of the
car and shouted, "Gun!" The other
officers surrounded the car and
pulled their weapons, pointing them
at Julie and Doug. The couple was
handcuffed until the police realized
the guns were props and not real.
Embarrassed, they escorted the cou-
ple to their shoot.
\\Then not filming or teaching at
Cranbrook Educational Community
in Bloomfield Hills, the Schulzes
keep busy teaching at the Motion
Picture Institute of Michigan
(MPI), which Doug founded with
Kurt Eli Mayry in 1997.
"After making our first film,
Eastern Michigan, my alma mater,
kept calling for us to speak about
independent filmmaking," Doug
said. "Every kid who came would
ask us afterwards, 'How do I start?'"
A professor suggested they
license their talk. Instead, they
opened MPI.
The couple also held its first film-
making summer camp for kids ages
9 to 11, called Cine Club, a collabo-
ration between Cranbrook and MPI.
Their next project, a larger-level
film, is more controversial from a
spiritual standpoint, Doug said.
The story was inspired by the grow-
ing problem of suicide bombings
and is especially concerned with the
religious zealots who sacrifice them-
selves in the name of their god.
"The film is a dark tale set in a
fictitious farming community in
Michigan," he said. "It has to do
with human sacrifice, a bit Stephen
King-ish,"
Stay tuned for updates. II
"I take Private
Banking personally."
— Leo Maxbauer,
Managing Director
„,.
Call Leo Maxbauer
today at 248-603-0519
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PLATINUM •
OCTOBER 2004
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