PRESS RELEASE

JULY 7, 2022

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Filmmaker Danny Grinnell and Friends of Woodward co-founders Steven Reifman and Ben Stanczyk have produced a documentary, Sparks: Detroit’s Friends of Woodward, about the efforts of a community of social activists during the 1990’s.

 

In 1992 The Friends of Woodward organization was founded to help sustain the city life scape in the Woodward corridor of Detroit City. A small group of Detroit-city-loving-zealots pooled their resources together to try to spark redevelopment. The Friends of Woodward was determined to be a small catalyst in the hoped-for turn-around of the once great city they so desperately love.

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Each year for a decade the Friends of Woodward awarded individuals at an annual gathering for contributing hope, funding, redevelopment and genuine love for the city of Detroit. Then by the turn of the century the cumulative efforts gradually led to a stunning present-day resurrection of the former Renaissance city.

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Sparks follows the journey of The Friends of Woodward as they joined together in hopes of somehow bringing the city back to its famous glory of yesteryears. Times were very bleak at the beginning of the 1990’s. But the Friends of Woodward organization persisted for a decade—just a small catalyst of hope in a depressed city. That small hope of a seed was well placed. Many years later and the Woodward corridor is revitalized as the anchor to the resurgent city of Detroit.

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Hope, optimism, and vibrant energy are the new order of the day. Renewal and revitalization are spreading everywhere seemingly. Fun social experiences beckon the masses with a lure not seen in this state since the bustling 1950’s. The new Q-line cements a foundation on Woodward that pulses down the tracks like the heartbeat of a newly resuscitated Detroit City.

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Crazy? Yes! Impossible? No!  Coming soon, a positive cultural awareness documentary, Sparks: Detroit’s Friends of Woodward!