Making "Lemonade" After Losing Livelihood
It's opening night for the new documentary movie "Lemonade." Scenes from the movie describe the moment of shock when people find out that that they've been fired from their jobs.
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CBS News correspondent Seth Doane reports that feeling is all too familiar for the more than 15 million unemployed Americans. But this film is no sob story. "Lemonade" tells the tale of 16 folks from the advertising industry who lost their livelihoods, but found their lives.
The tagline from the movie says: "It's not a pink slip. It's a blank page."
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The film's creator, Erik Proulx, is an advertisement executive who knew little about filmmaking - but knew a lot about unemployment. Looking for work after being laid off for the third time, he turned to the Web and found people who were actually thankful that they'd been fired.
"I have to get people talking about how losing their job ended up being the best thing that ever happened to them," Proulx said. "It's really hard to see that when you're in the middle of it."
Proulx was in the middle of it, right along with his family and a mortgage. Still it was his wife who convinced him to follow his newfound passion and make his movie - even though it meant draining their savings.
Proulx said he was, "robbing Peter to pay Paul. Debt on top of debt is not something that's easy to crawl out of."
"There's a reality to losing your job that's quite frightening," Doane said.
"Absolutely," Proulx replied.
So he's living on faith that "Lemonade" will make it big, land a distribution deal and make money. Meanwhile he and the others in the film feel lucky exploring new dreams. Some are painting full time, or opening yoga studios.
Instead of just making do, it's a do over - hitting the reset button and seizing the chance to start anew.
