“At the same time, they must have
commercial potential. Distribution
is harder than ever, and there are
more movies with the same number
of screens.”
Gilbert, a University of Michigan
business graduate, recalls youthful
weekends often spent frequenting
local movie theaters, such as the
Berkley Main, Northland and Royal
Oak Main.
“I loved the experience of sitting
in a big room with tons of other peo-
ple and watching a movie on the big
screen,” says Gilbert, then joined by
his brother, Dan Gilbert, friends and
Katzman cousins. “I remember see-
ing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid, Papillon, Alice Doesn’t Live Here
Anymore, The Sting and many others.
“Stanley Kubrick is one of my
favorite directors because he was
extraordinarily successful in com-
pletely different genres, and Damien
reminds me of him. Damien’s first
feature film, Whiplash, which is a
thriller, couldn’t be more different
in terms of genre than La La Land,
which is a fun musical.”
Gilbert’s professional work initia-
tives began when he was just 21 and
on summer break before his senior
year at U-M. His brother asked him
to get involved with starting a small
mortgage brokerage, Rock Mortgage,
with their childhood friend Lindsay
Gross. It soon became Rock
Financial and later Quicken Loans.
“It was as if he were asking me to
cut lawns for the summer,” Gilbert
says. “I had no idea it would become
my life for nearly 15 years.”
In late 1999, Intuit (Quicken)
acquired Rock Financial, and it was
then that Gilbert decided to move
from Michigan and pursue a career
devoted to filmmaking. He remained
an investor as the Detroit-based
financial enterprise was repur-

chased by his brother and grew as a
family of companies.
Part of deciding what to do in a
follow-up career involved the enjoy-
ment Gilbert experienced through
motion pictures. Avoiding any
investment for 18 months, Gilbert
made film industry contacts and
learned about the business while
splitting his time between New York
and Los Angeles.
Garden State became his first film,
which was written and directed by
Zach Braff, who also starred in the
film, as a Jewish character, with
Natalie Portman. While working
together, Gilbert and Braff devel-
oped a friendship that still exists
today.
Jewish connections have been
important to Gilbert, who had
his bar mitzvah at Congregation
Beth Achim in Southfield and con-
tinues his commitment to Metro
Detroit Jewish causes. He and wife,
Charlotte, the parents of two young
daughters, have supported programs
benefiting the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit, the Anti-
Defamation League, JARC and Yad
Ezra.
Commitments to the larger com-
munity have placed him at Detroit
Homecoming business forums.
“I’m working on my first televi-
sion series,” reveals Gilbert, also an
owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“It’s called Counterpart, and it stars
J. K. Simmons, who also is from
Detroit. It’s about parallel universes.”
The thrust of the series focuses on
experiencing individual lives pan-
ning out in two ways simultaneously.
It’s a science-fiction project that
propels Gilbert into his own simul-
taneous and parallel entertainment
universes — one with more Oscar
possibilities and one with Emmy
possibilities. •

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TOTAL
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La La Land’s 14 Oscar nominations fall into the following categories:

Best Picture; Actor in a Leading Role; Actress in a Leading Role; Cinematography; Costume
Design; Directing; Film Editing; Music; Music (Original Song) with two contenders;
Production Design; Sound Editing; Sound Mixing; and Writing (Original Screenplay).

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Choreographer Mandy Moore hired more than 30 dancers for this Jerome Robbins-esque
sequence in the film.

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February 23 • 2017

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