Making "Lemonade" After Losing Livelihood

(CBS)  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."

Erik Proulx's Blog
Lemonade Movie Site
Lemonade on Facebook

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.

[Marossia]

It will be great to watch Blue Man Group, i have bought tickets from
http://ticketfront.com/event/Blue_Man_Group-tickets looking forward to it.

[savvmari]

Unemployment numbers are in the double digits. For every job there are 65 applicants. How can people stay afloat when they are losing their homes, their jobs, their livelihood? The everyday American people are dealing with financial crisis never seen before and need to know where to go for help.

For those apathetic to their situation, please disregard this comment. For those that need help. Check out what a Colorado woman is doing to help families, business and agencies in her community to survive these difficult times. Read her article, "Aurora Woman's Survival Guide Grows In Popularity".

http://cbs4denver.com/local/Carla.Backmon.SaVvmari.2.1371610.html

[pubsrtoast]

Interesting comments on both sides. I believe we can all agree though that the underlying theme for the most part, is that generally speaking, downward mobility is the lemonade from those lemons.

[tmittelstaed]

"...You went into further debt for a documentary when television is ALREADY full of this type of garbage already?! Reality TV is by far the STUPIDEST CONCEPT I've seen to date..."

Your stupid yourself to diss his movie without seeing it. Yes, TV has done this a million times already. Just about all of those millions of times are garbage.

What he's trying to do here is extremely difficult to do in such a way that it's interesting and people aren't yawning halfway through it. It's all in the editing and making the interviews not too short and not to long, and selecting the interesting stories and weeding out the dreck. If he pulled it off, then kudos to him. Plenty of other people have tried and produced trash, and even more tried and ran out of steam halfway through. If making interesting documentaries was so easy then Michael Moore wouldn't be a millionaire.

The story says he's been fired 3 times already, I am guessing all 3 of those former jobs were "ad exec" jobs. That ought to tell you something - it ought to tell you he's probably a pretty poor ad exec. So if he goes and does something different then at least he's recognizing that he hates his career and sucks at doing it, which really goes hand in hand, in fact - most people that suck at their jobs tend to hate doing them. So he probably couldn't do any worse at documentary moviemaking than at just taking another ad exec job, and most likely he would be better at it.

And as far as the content goes, the fact of the matter in employment is that there's always been 2 classes of employees in America. One class is your typical blue-collar employee who doesen't have a college degree, doesen't have a lot of schooling, and is pretty much at the complete mercy of the job market, since they only know how to do one thing and have to retrain to do some other thing, these people have to take what work they can get, when it's available, and just pray that they manage to get enough money together during their lives to have a "few decent rooms and a bath" as was so eloquently stated in the movie "It's a wonderful life"

The other class are the college-educated types who know the advanced stuff, and can shift from career-to-career with minimal effort. This recession/depression we are having is the first one in a long, long time to be putting a significant number of -them- out of work, and moreover is also puncturing their net worth, as most of it is tied up in paper wealth like home equity, retirement accounts, etc. The Michael Moore kind of documentaries always focus on the first group of people, as it's very easy to grab the heartstrings with them, and thus easy to make those films. But, there's not a lot of documentaries out there that focus on the second class of people, because it's so difficult to show them in a sympathetic light - few people can feel sympathy for Americans who had decades of making 6 figures and now are facing bankruptcy. If Erik is able to pull -that- off, then he's really a true wizard.

[StL_Melz]

"The story says he's been fired 3 times already, I am guessing all 3 of those former jobs were "ad exec" jobs. That ought to tell you something - it ought to tell you he's probably a pretty poor ad exec. So if he goes and does something different then at least he's recognizing that he hates his career and sucks at doing it, which really goes hand in hand, in fact - most people that suck at their jobs tend to hate doing them. So he probably couldn't do any worse at documentary moviemaking than at just taking another ad exec job, and most likely he would be better at it."

I beg to differ. Advertising is a very volatile industry. Being laid off 3 times is not necessarily an indicator of this man's competence OR how much he does or does not enjoy the work. It IS an indicator of the current economy. Companies have slashed their advertising budgets, so there are fewer advertising dollars available. Execs and managers are often near the top of lay-off lists.

As for the comments on 6-figure-making people who are laid off not getting sympathy: they show a deep cynicism and resentment of people who have busted their back side to educate and train themselves to work in those positions to begin with.

Being laid off from ANY job is life changing, regardless of the type of position that was lost. All humans have to have time to process that type of situation. Anyone with an ounce of compassion would be able to recognize that.

[ejproulx]

Thank you for your comment. Two things. First, THANK YOU for coming to the defense of the film. Everything you said about exactly its intent. So I appreciate that.

Secondly, I have to come to my own defense as an adman. I got laid off three times, sure. One was because my company closed. One was because the agency fired the guy who hired me. And the third, most recent layoff came during this recession, and my account (an automobile manufacturer) cut their agency billings by 50%. Not to mention, the layoff came right after my direct boss had told me I was getting a raise and a promotion. So at least someone thought I was doing a good job.

But the bigger issue - that maybe my skills are more applicable to another industry - are certainly valid. It's something I've given much thought to over the past year. --Erik

[SocietysNightmare]

You went into further debt for a documentary when television is ALREADY full of this type of garbage already?! Reality TV is by far the STUPIDEST CONCEPT I've seen to date! Yes, I mean you thousands of kids who stand in line for a chance at American Idol, and the fools that suffer GOD knows what on SURVIVOR, AMAZING RACE, and all that other BS that's suppose to teach you how to interact with people. Trash .... and I suspect the same of this documentary. Glad to here free TV may go the way of the dodo bird. Good. People need to stop tryin' to "escape", and deal with their problems realistically.

[CBSTV]

Please watch before judging; and please improve your spelling and communication skills beyond those of a first grader.

[ShortStop72]

Reality TV and Documentaries are quite different. Reality TV is manufactured as it goes and almost never really "reality". This documentary is real life, these are real people and they all experienced these realities before anyone was watching.

[dmimcg]

Carylyn said, "I work for the State of WI in Madison at the Dane County Job Center. We are the hidden and often overlooked success stories of President Obama's economic stimulus dollars! I'm wrting to see if it might be possible to receive a complimentary copy of your documentary".

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND OR JUST A MORON! So, you are a Madison, WI SUCCESS story of President Obama's stimulus dollars and you want this guy who is trying to make something of his life by selling tickets to his movie and you DON'T WANT TO PAY HIM ANYTHING FOR HIS WORK! You want him to DONATE his movie to you. I have a question for you Carolyn. Do you donate your time at the State of WI or do you get paid? Exactly.

It's people like you that show why this country is so screwed up. You don't make any sense. It's ok for another person to donate to you, forgetting that if you don't PAY him with dollars, HIS family will go hungry. This type of liberal stupidity is what gives progressives a bad name and gives people like Rush Limbaugh plenty of ammo.

If you really want to help this guy and others in financial straits, buy them a meal, or donate money TO THEM! That's change we can all believe in, because that will put food on his table and isn't stupid.

don
Madison WI (And not proud of it after reading your post)

[carolyntadder]

My colleagues and I work for the State of WI in Madison at the Dane County Job Center. Our Job Center and those throughout the U.S. are the hidden and often overlooked success stories of President Obama's economic stimulus dollars! Dang it all, we work soooo very hard to help the citizens of our State(s) and Nation that it's a shame all of us, along with the other unsung heros working in civil service positions never seem to get any press about the REAL and EVERY DAY differences we are making in America.

I'm wrting to see if it might be possible to receive a complimentary copy of your documentary. Twice a week at our Job Center we do Re-Employment Orientation Sessions (RES) for 200 + in our area who are collecting unemployment compensation after having lost their jobs. These 2-3 nhour sessions share information regarding the programs and services they have in our community to help them become re-employed in today's ciompetitive marketplace. We also share with them the tools, strategies and basic skills they need to SURVIVE unemployment.

Our Job Center provides internet computers with printers to 3200 - 3600 individuals every month to help them with their job search efforts. This does not include those who attend our workshops or those who see our Veteran's Counselors. I am so touched with news of your documentary because it offers such a ray of sunshine and hope amongst all the awful stories we see covered in the media these days.

I personally was unemployed for about 18 months, and many of my colleagues have faced the very same challenges of unemployment as well. We're testiments to the fact there is HOPE. I would so very much like to offer those we serve another beacon of hope in having your permission to showcase your film to the 200+ folks per week we send letters to attend our Re-Employment Sessions.

We're not politicians giving those we see a lecture......we've been in the trenches with them and we've survived. YOUR FILM SHOWS THERE'S LIFE AFTER UNEMPLOYMENT. It's another beacon of HOPE these very good folks need to hear. It's heart-breaking to see how these economic times have challenged individuals and families. If you will please allow us permission to share your story with those we see each week, it will help us to keep the message alive that there is life after unemployment.

KUDOS to you and everyone who had a part in bringing your film to life. It's such an important message for everyone to hear. I applaude you and THANK YOU for doing this for me and everyone in our country. God Bless You!!

Sincere greetings from a CheddarHead in Wisconsin!!
Carolyn

Carolyn Tadder
Employment & Traikning Specialist
Dept of Workforce Development - Job Service
State of Wisconsin

[ShortStop72]

Any effort that inspires as this has is a productive effort. People need to see proof that there is light at the end of their unemployment tunnel. Is it so offensive to see uplifting segments in the news? Personally, I welcome the change.

[sjc_1]

Ask the ethical question "can we all do it all of the time". No, 15 million of us can not get cameras and film one another being unemployed. This is not a productive effort, it is more entertainment and we waste too much on that already.

[maiingan]

Your question is actually a version of Kant's Categorical Imperative. Thanks! Also, it's wrong to assume that everyone with a job is living in some fog of earning a good living but not being aware of what their real dreams are. Many Americans have excellent clarity about who we are and how we can be fulfilled economically, whether working or not. Can't do it properly if you can't make ends meet, and need a work opportunity to make your contributions.

[sjc_1]

It is my belief that we depend on a system that we can not depend on. Our economy needs to be designed, developed and maintained for optimal operation. What we have now is a hodge podge that collapses every 10 years.