Robert Fox's vision for his latest film -- a documentary -- began with a journey to Hell and back.
Laughing, he explains it happened on his way to a christening for a friend's baby.
"I thought it was an amazing little quirky town," said 25-year-old Fox, an English teacher at Allen Park's Cabrini High School who moonlights as an independent filmmaker.
MAKING A HELLUVA DOCUMENTARY Independent filmmakers Robert Fox and Jowsh St. John are looking for interview subjecys for their documentary called "The Essence of Hell," about life in Hell, Michigan. If you have an interesting story or event to share, call (313) 945-1148 or e-mail [email protected]. |
Fox and fellow filmmaker Josh St. John, 22, will spend the next year in the southern Livingston County hamlet of Hell in an effort to capture live anecdotes from the people who call this place home. The documentary, entitled "The Essence of Hell," will be produced by Fox's company Makeshift Productions.
"We don't want to make just a travelogue of Hell, but more of an in-depth look at the people who live there to literally capture the essence of Hell," said Fox.
"Our goal is to be able to get invited to people's birthday parties in Hell."
The two Dearborn residents haven't had to look very far for content. Since shooting first began Oct. 26, the two already have come across Hell's very own backyard wrestling federation, where kids intentionally inflict pain on one another for sport, as well as two wrestling Santa Claus' and one of the biggest events ever to come to Hell -- a Halloween broadcast live with weatherman Tony Perkins of ABC's "Good Morning America."
Fox and St. John hope the material will just keep on coming until they wrap-up after filming for a year.
"It's quite an unknown for me," said St. John, who works as a cook during the day. "I think anyplace named Hell has got to have some interesting stories tied to it and I'm hoping we can go there and tap into those."
Fox's first short film, a 1999 silent feature about avoiding Jehovah's Witnesses called "Jehovah's Unwitness," was played both at the Detroit Filmmakers Coalition and the 2001 East Lansing Film Festival. St. John was the group director for a short color film called "After Hours."
By Kasey MacAllister
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
