What's it like for a woman living in Detroit? Not necessarily what you might think.
The new short documentary "A Girl's Guide to Detroit" profiles six youngish women who live in the city and seem to love it. They're focusing on their careers and creative projects, whether working as a reporter or DJ.
"We feel that there are a wealth of opportunities here for young women, perhaps more than most cities," co-director Amanda LeClaire told The Huffington Post in an email. "The story of the assertive, creative female has been neglected in the media's reports of Detroit. We wanted to offer a glimpse of some of the women who strive to succeed here."
The film was produced by Dearborn, Mich. ad agency Team Detroit's creative arm, 4exit4. Team Detroit The firm's Chief Creative Officer Toby Barlow was executive creative director and LeClaire directed with Andrew Miller.
Barlow said the film, which focuses entirely on positive aspects of Detroit life, was meant to show women who were potentially interested in living in the city why they might want to call the Motor City home.
“It would be great if some student in Ann Arbor or Austin, Texas or even Royal Oak looks at this and says, ‘That’s the place for me,'" Barlow said.
The film doesn't overtly address a concern of many young women choosing a place to live -- safety, which, with Detroit's high crime rate, is hard to overlook.
"Women's safety is always an issue, whether the discussion is about New York, LA, London, or anywhere else," LeClaire said. "What we wanted to show is that despite the precautions that -- unfortunately -- all women need to take wherever they reside, women in Detroit have a strong community and we look out for one another."
The subjects of "A Girl's Guide to Detroit" seem to agree.
"I think that because you have to be more aware, just in general in this area, women tend to watch out for each other a little bit more and they tend to form closer bonds," said one of the women profiled in the film. "A lot of strong women personalities reside in this area, because you can. This is where you come to make your own."
Watch "A Girl's Guide to Detroit" above.
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