Let’s Have Some Church Detroit Style
A Film by Andrew Sacks and Patrick Murphy
An Overview
In the challenging environment of Detroit, Michigan an all-volunteer group of singers has been working together since 1990, under the direction of their founder, Dr. E. LaQuint Weaver, to bring their music of praise, spirituality, and hope to thousands of people.
Producer Andy Sacks and choir director LaQuint Weaver met when Andy asked to shoot some still images for stock in the mid-ninties. When LaQuint's cousin saw one of the photos in a social studies textbook years later, Dr. Weaver was impressed.
Growing up in a fifties suburban household, Andy's exposure to choral singing started and stopped with the Mitch Miller LP's his father bought and loved. Except for the housekeeper who seemed to have an endless repertoire of spirituals she sang while ironing in the basement laundry room.
Our film will shine a light on the gumbo of traditions woven into the work of the Hallelujah Singers, and the lives of the singers who energize the group.
Casting a wide musical net to appeal to young and old, the music they create blends black and white, old praise and new hip-hop styles. Living in Detroit, the choir members do not conform to the portrait of the city presented in the national news media. Yes, its members live in a troubled city bankrupt by arrogant leaders of the past. And yes, the group has their own personal and organizational problems. Yet this is still a good news story. The film explores and describes the work and achievements that are the product of the hearts and pipes of a wide range of talented metro Detroiters.
This project has been underway since May 2010 and was recently completed in 2015. It made its world premiere at the Freep Film Festival on March 22nd at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
The next screening of the film will take place on June 20th at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor Michigan.
Tickets here.
We are currently in the process of submitting to other film festivals and hope to have the film shown to a wider audience.
An Overview
In the challenging environment of Detroit, Michigan an all-volunteer group of singers has been working together since 1990, under the direction of their founder, Dr. E. LaQuint Weaver, to bring their music of praise, spirituality, and hope to thousands of people.
Producer Andy Sacks and choir director LaQuint Weaver met when Andy asked to shoot some still images for stock in the mid-ninties. When LaQuint's cousin saw one of the photos in a social studies textbook years later, Dr. Weaver was impressed.
Growing up in a fifties suburban household, Andy's exposure to choral singing started and stopped with the Mitch Miller LP's his father bought and loved. Except for the housekeeper who seemed to have an endless repertoire of spirituals she sang while ironing in the basement laundry room.
Our film will shine a light on the gumbo of traditions woven into the work of the Hallelujah Singers, and the lives of the singers who energize the group.
Casting a wide musical net to appeal to young and old, the music they create blends black and white, old praise and new hip-hop styles. Living in Detroit, the choir members do not conform to the portrait of the city presented in the national news media. Yes, its members live in a troubled city bankrupt by arrogant leaders of the past. And yes, the group has their own personal and organizational problems. Yet this is still a good news story. The film explores and describes the work and achievements that are the product of the hearts and pipes of a wide range of talented metro Detroiters.
This project has been underway since May 2010 and was recently completed in 2015. It made its world premiere at the Freep Film Festival on March 22nd at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
The next screening of the film will take place on June 20th at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor Michigan.
Tickets here.
We are currently in the process of submitting to other film festivals and hope to have the film shown to a wider audience.