When life gives you a layoff, make 'Lemonade'
Even though everyone at his Boston advertising agency knew layoffs were coming, Erik Proulx was still shocked when he lost his job as senior copywriter last October.
With no steady salary and lots of free time on his hands, the 30-something husband and father of two fired up his computer, created a Web site, and began blogging about his experiences. "I've heard so many people express some kind of despair after losing their jobs. I was one of them," Proulx says. "It was important for me to discover in myself that this could be the best opportunity of my life -- with the right attitude."
Soon his site (www.please feedtheanimals.com) was attracting hundreds of laid-off ad professionals who contributed their own experiences of projects they'd undertaken. Proulx was so intrigued by their stories that he ended up creating a 40-minute documentary about life on the other side of layoffs. In a strange twist, Proulx found fulfillment in unemployment by filming the stories of people who found fulfillment in unemployment.
"I've been exercising this belief that I have that when you do what you love, money just seems to fall in line," Proulx says. "That's fairly cliche, but it's the truth." In its final edits, the film -- called "Lemonade" -- has been sent to the Sundance Film Festival.
"Lemonade" revolves around the lives of Proulx and 15 others who were laid off from the ad industry. Instead of focusing on how unemployment crimped their lives, the film looks at how their unexpected downtime allowed them to follow lifelong passions.
"There's a real 'Who am I?' moment when you no longer have your job as an identity," says Michelle Pfennighaus, who's featured in the movie.
Pfennighaus' moment came after being forced to leave her job as senior art director at Arnold Worldwide, a Boston ad agency, in March. Today, she is a yoga instructor and holistic health counselor who talks about her life with a twinkle in her eye.
"The best part is making a living doing something I'm passionate about," she says.
It is clear that these individuals' lives aren't simple. Their days are full of challenges they never knew they'd have. Sometimes, they've not known when the next paycheck would arrive.
"I'm happy. I'm also still a little unsettled," says Kurtis Glade, who was senior vice president at McCann Erickson until March. Glade, whose daughter was diagnosed with a severe disease said to be inherited, created a short film that called attention to the natural saline treatment that surfing offers for the disease. Now he is raising funds for a longer film on the subject for the nonprofit Mauli Ola Foundation, which organizes surf camps for children.
Like many in "Lemonade," Glade does free-lance advertising work to support his family. His average day is a game of "bumper cars," he says. "But at least I'm driving."
Documentaries of its caliber can cost more than seven figures to produce. Proulx raised $400 to pay for odds and ends throughout the project. Everything else was donated, including the directing skills of Marc Colucci of Picture Park, a Boston-based production company.
"It's rare, I think, that someone has an idea like this that is very timely," says Colucci, who volunteered after finding out about Proulx's project from a Web-surfing colleague who read his blog.
The documentary offers insight into the world of living one's dreams and the inspiration that comes when people believe in themselves, take risks, and prepare for the fight of their lives.
"If nothing else," Proulx says, "I just want people to know that when you lose your job, life could just be beginning -- not ending."
Christian Science Monitor