STONE BRIDGE Productions shares the same vision and passion as MOVE Communications for stories worth telling.
It was a call from Brian Belanger in the spring of 2008 that started the ball rolling. Brian, a producer/director/composer from Royal Oak who I’ve worked with over the years, shared with me the story, “November Requiem”, that he was writing and beginning to shoot in the sleepy town of Rogers City, Michigan. It was just the kind of story I love to shape. And it was a few short weeks later that we were editing the trailer, in order for the producer, Anne Belanger Marlowe (Bon Ami filmworks), to use as a tool to raise grant money to proceed with the project. November Requiem tells the story about the community of Rogers City, and the effects and healing following the loss of 23 of its sailors that went down with the Carl D. Bradley November 18, 1958.
The trailer was edited using Final Cut Pro, on a MacBook Pro, at the STONE BRIDGE Productions Milan location. John Kaley (MotionPixel Images) added his AfterFX magic to several of the scenes and title sequences of the trailer (you can watch it at YouTube). John later composited the flashback scenes in the final film. The full-length documentary was edited at the Ann Arbor location, under the same roof as MOVE Communications, with the addition of a Mac Pro workstation.
The much anticipated film debuted at the Rogers City Theatre November 18, 2008 to the community which had suffered the loss of 23 of its fathers, brothers, and husbands 50 years earlier. Rogers City held a week of commemorative events remembering the men lost on the Carl D. Bradley, and the debut of the film was one of the central events. It was met with tearful gratitude for the telling of a story, which had been repressed, but not forgotten, for so many of the town’s people. The recovery of the ships’ bell in 2007 was featured in November Requiem, and family members were able to see it, touch it and ring it, for the first time in 50 years. For those whose loved ones were never recovered from the wreck, they were able to experience closure that they never had before.
Congratulations to everyone involved in November Requiem for being honored with a Golden CINE award this June. What an honor and privilege to tell the story of such an intensely personal event that changed the lives of so many people in a small close-knit community. My gratitude goes out to Don Hart at MOVE Communications for his years of mentoring and support to enable me, and my endeavor of STONE BRIDGE Productions, to undertake a project of this scope and import. Here’s to many more.
David Peterson
STONE BRIDGE Productions