It's hard to think of something other than bagpipes and kilts when Scottish culture comes up. But a new video series will shine a light on the real role of the Scottish in American history, and it's going to be produced right here in metro Detroit.
Last November, Troy's St. Andrew's Society of Detroit won a $15,000 grant from the Michigan Humanities Council for its "Preservation of Scottish American Cultural History in Storytelling and Dance" project. St. Andrew's selected Ferndale's M-1 Studios to make a series of three half-hour videos on the thme, to be finished over the course of a year.
"It's a very exciting moment for local Scots," said St. Andrew's Trustee Bob Giles. "I haven't found any other Scottish organization that's undertaken such a challenge -- we're making a little history here."
Giles said his group selected M-1 Studios in part to "buy local" and support Michigan's economy.
Though M-1 Studios has developed a strong background in industrial and commercial work since opening in 2008, it's not the production company's first time working with a cultural association. M-1 also produced a series of videos for Heritage Works, a Detroit organization that promotes youth and community development with cultural programming focusing on the arts of Africa and the Diaspora. "We approach each project with open eyes," said M-1 Studios Operations Manager Mike Madigan. For the new series, "the idea is to capture the essence of Scottish culture."
The films will use a St. Andrew's-supported lecture series as a jumping-off point to then look at storytelling, history and dance traditions.
"It's important that Americans understand their own Scottish history," Giles said. The society plans to make the videos available to the public, as well as institutions like libraries and schools.
The first of the three videos is set to be done in May and will premier at St. Andrew's in June. For more details on the videos, see Ferndale Patch.
Below, see a a video M-1 Studios created for Heritage Works: