Hi folks, Brenna here! I’m headed back to Detroit for two months with director of photography Matt Pappas to knock out the rest of our filming. Waiting for us is our awesome local crew: Joel Knoop (camera/audio), Scott Loudon (audio), Logan Siegel (PA/Additional Camera), Kyle McPhail (PA).

I’m definitely excited to finish filming. But, I have to be honest, the idea of coming to the end of this project weighs heavily on me. It’s definitely been the most difficult film I’ve ever made, but absolutely the most worthwhile. It’s been a three-year uphill battle, but I feel like I’ll miss it when it’s over.

There’s been some confusion recently with other film crews being mistaken as BURN crews.

To be clear: If you ever see a film crew, it’s only BURN if Brenna Sanchez or Tom Putnam is present. If you get a request from a production, it will always come from Brenna or Tom. We are not associated with the History Channel.

If there’s any further confusion, or if you see a film crew you think might be us, but are unsure, please let us know. Our e-mail address: detroitfirefilm@gmail.com

Thanks so much!

Brenna Sanchez & Tom Putnam, Producers, BURN

The firefighters themselves are shooting some of our best video! Here’s a little piece we put together to showcase the amazing Contour HD helmet cameras that our firefighters have been wearing for BURN.

BURN – Helmet Cam Teaser (Shot with Contour HD) from BURN on Vimeo.

For more information about Contour HD cameras, please visit: contourhd.com

We’ve been filming the documentary since December and, if fundraising keeps rolling, we’ll be filming until fall for a 2012 Spring film festival release.

Please donate and share. Thanks for your support!

The Huffington Post digs our helmet cam video. Read the full story here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/toby-barlow/watch-spoiled-firefighter_b_832834.html

It’s official — General Motors has come on as BURN’s Signature Partner! The folks at GM watched the trailer, and immediately agreed with us that the story of Detroit and its firefighters is an important one, and has to be told.

They’ve made a donation to the film and are providing logistical support on the ground in Detroit.

GM’s enthusiasm and support for the film has been terrific. This is a huge boost for us, and is getting us up and running. But we’re not yet fully funded! So please, continue to spread the word and donate now!

We have “Rad Web Guy” (RWG) Shawn Johnston to thank for our awesome new website! Shawn has “a tremendous amount of respect for what firefighters do,” so was eager to help with the site. He was a breeze to work with and is clearly very talented. And, the site is WordPress-based, so we can manage the content from here on out. He got us up and running on our schedule, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.

We couldn’t recommend him more highly!

You can find him here: http://shawnjohnston.ca/

The Cinereach Foundation named BURN among its 2010 Summer Cycle grant winners! We’re thrilled to be part of this resourceful and respected organization, and doubly thrilled they believe, as we do, that this important story needs to be told. Read more about Cinereach and the other grant winners here.

ABOUT CINEREACH: Cinereach is a not-for-profit film production company and foundation that champions vital stories, artfully told. Created and led by young philanthropists, entrepreneurs and filmmakers, Cinereach empowers fiction and nonfiction filmmakers from all over the world through Grants & Awards, The Reach Film Fellowship, an internal Productions department, and through partnerships with the Sundance Institute and other organizations. Since 2006, Cinereach has disbursed over $4 million to more than 80 projects at the intersection of engaging storytelling, visual artistry and vital subject matter.

“The ‘BURN’ clip offers the tantalizing prospect of a well-made film unflinchingly examining Detroit and the considerable hurdles in front of it without ignoring some of the city’s most impressive qualities: perseverance, resilience and survival.”

— Mike Rubin, LA Times

(Read the full story here.)

“There is an amazing personal story with the firefighters that we want to tell. They don’t get the press they should. There’s much more to this city than bunches of burned out buildings. The firefighters are the ones who are out there, putting it all on the line and trying to save the city one building at a time.”
— Director Tom Putnam, at Firehouse.com

(Read the full story here.)

Blogger Dave Statter at Statter911 picked up a news story in Crain’s Detroit Business that we found misleading but, unfortunately, all too easy to believe. Both Crain’s and Statter911 suggested, because of recent negative media attention in Detroit, that BURN producers were being stonewalled by the mayor and DFD. (You can read the Statter911 story here.)

Untrue! We started our relationship with the city in 2009 before filming the trailer. We were granted complete permission to film our trailer. We went through all the proper channels, and had the okay from both the mayor’s office and DFD HQ. In fact, both offices were instrumental in getting the piece made. The city is rightfully wary of the media right now, but we went through all the proper channels at the mayor’s office and the DFD, and will continue to do so! And though it’s been a slow, long process (as these things generally are), our progress with the city has been constant since we decided to come back to Detroit to film.

We can’t comment on the experiences of other producers, but both the mayor’s office and DFD HQ are actively working to move us forward.