InZer0, a 12 episode video series created in Detroit was completed last month, with plans to begin production immediately of feature length film “InZer0: Fragile Wings” based on the series.

Thought Collide Productions, responsible for the series & feature film, is presenting episodes 9, 10 & 11 of “InZer0″ on April 3, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. during the Mitten Movie Project at the Main Art Theatre (118 N. Main Street, Royal Oak, MI 48067).  Episodes 9-11 are considered to be the best episodes of the series so this is the perfect opportunity to watch them all on the big screen.
And not to miss a party, a director’s reception precedes each showing beginning at 6:30 and an afterglow party immediately follows in Cinq (in the basement of Bastone — 419 S. Main Street, Royal Oak).

When the green stuff is mentioned, don’t waste time, especially when it comes to making Detroit shine! The Detroit Metro Visitor & Convention Bureau, or DMCVB, would like to give up $10,000 to a videographer that can put together a 2 to 4 minute video podcast that creatively and positively captures one of Detroit’s strong suites: cars, culture, gaming, music or sports. Besides the money, being able to say your video is the city’s choice to draw millions of visitors to the ‘D’ wouldn’t suck either! The visitors bureau wants to reach 21 to 34-year-olds, and what better way than to get into their iPods?
Here is how it works:

The Detroit video podcast must be between two to four minutes long, and the creator/s must be 18 or older. The 2 to 4 minute video podcast must creatively and positively capture at least one of these five major categories: cars, culture, gaming, music and sports. Of course, more is always better right?

To enter your video podcast, the DMCVB asks you to complete the online registration form at visitdetroit.com and follow directions for uploading your video entry on YouTube.com by April 20, 2007. A panel of judges assembled by the DMCVB will select one winner by May 4, 2007, and that winner will be notified no later than May 18, 2007. The winning podcast will be incorporated in the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau’s marketing campaign.

To view complete contest rules, go to www.visitdetroit.com. Questions should be directed to: contest@visitdetroit.com

Make sure you are allowing popups or use one of our links here, because otherwise you will think the flash contest icon on the left is broke!

I know that human nature being what it is, we always tend to gravitate toward the worst in life, the train wrecks, and then we dwell on them. Media being what it is, ratings are dependent on what people want to know about, so we get what we want - lots of focus on the negative. All the newspapers have been flooded with one catastrophe after the next hitting our automobile manufacturers and their labor forces. The most recent of which is of course the announcement that Daimler Chrysler is making more cuts, and that it may even be up for sale. This is certainly not reason to celebrate. And I certainly don’t want to try to put frosting on a dog turd, but there really is some perspective to put on this. The auto industry is of course going through a major transformation, and on a broader scale, all of manufacturing world wide is going through massive change. But our auto brethren are not alone. Back in September, a giant in another major industry, semiconductors, and specifically CPU’s, Intel, cut over 10,000 jobs as a part of their restructuring. Yet no one is claiming the end of American dominance in CPU’s, computers or their related industries. More and more chip production has moved off shore, yet the design and the leadership stay here. There are many more examples of these changes to the world economy that are reflected in job cuts in a variety of industries, each highlighted primarily by the communities that they most affect, and each part of the rapid transformation and globalization of those industries.

But if you are a subscriber to the Great Lakes IT Report, to Model D, Metro Mode or other newsletters that shine the light of perspective into the darkness, then you know that there is also opportunity here in this rapidly changing Detroit economy. We are seeing unparalleled real estate development in Detroit, we have several creative and technology sectors that are booming, and we have leadership in the region that are committed to making our economy successful in this new century. It is important to keep a balanced perspective and try to share it with those that are getting hit with these changes.

I am confident that as a community we can find ways to empower this newly freed talent pool to engage in our new economy.

DM Films are still looking for talented actors and actresses to co star alongside Clifton Powell , Rah Digga , Trick Trick and the original cast of Project 313 in DM Films new movie “The Bricks”. Auditions will be held Feb. 10th at Hoop City Grill. 25333 W. 12 mile, Southfield, Mi 48034. Auditions will start promptly at 3:00 and will stop taking applicants at 6:00” STAY AND NETWORK @ THE AFTER PARTY. FROM 10 til 2 AM

 

Today’s announcement by Google and Governor Granholm (read the Detroit News Article here) of 1,000 new jobs is welcomed news for Detroit’s creative class. From the Detroit Free Press article (read full article)

“The jobs will vary in skill demands and pay. The average salary for new hires is expected to be $47,000 a year.

“This is a huge, huge, huge, huge thing,” Granholm said Monday. “It’s a tremendous statement about Michigan having a cutting-edge workforce.”

David Fischer, Google’s director of online sales and operations, said Monday that the company’s focus is on hiring bright, motivated people.

“We worry less about experience than raw talent. We’ve had tremendous success hiring people straight out of universities, with majors from engineering to art history.”

While tax incentives and government assistance are crucial to attract major investments by such companies as Google, “raw talent” is mentioned as one of the deciding factors to locate this new facility in Ann Arbor. This is further proof that talent attracts investment by new economy companies. If we are to become and remain competitive in the global economy attracting and retaining talent to our region must be the number one priority.

Our region is in a painful but ultimately necessary time of transition. With tremendous losses in manufacturing in our state we continue to push forward with gains in knowledge-based jobs. While smaller in number than the thousands of reported job losses in manufacturing, the gains in “creative class” jobs are vital and yet often go unnoticed. Hopefully Google’s announcelment today will be an encouraging sign of an upward trend to potential creative class workers considering relocating to or from the Metro Detroit region.

Job Description Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID)
Title: Exhibition Director Part time (Potential for full time position within 1 year)

Reports to: Director

Job purpose: The Exhibition Director provides administrative, planning, scheduling, marketing and promotional support to execute exhibitions and related programs at the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID). The Exhibition Director must be familiar with the CAID’s facilities and address technical issues that may arise prior to and during an exhibition. The Exhibition Director oversees the scheduling and management of staff and volunteers for exhibitions and related programs.

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