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Farmington Hills Man Debuts Documentary to Sold-Out Screenings

Karl Rausch pursued his passion for music by working on the documentary film "Louder than Love – The Grande Ballroom Story" and gets to meet filmmaker Michael Moore.

Karl Rausch said he would never forget filmmaker Michael Moore shaking his hand and introducing him on stage at the 2012 Traverse City Film Festival, which Moore founded.

Rausch, 45, of Farmington Hills, edited the documentary film “Louder than Love – The Grande Ballroom Story,” which was produced and directed by Tony D’Annunzio. It is described as an all-access pass to the 1960s Detroit Rock Music Scene.

“I donated my time to edit the whole thing. And it has taken four years,” Rausch said.

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The Grande Ballroom was the start for rock musicians in the late 1960s. “While the West Coast was grooving to the sounds of the “Summer of Love” in 1967, Detroit was pumping out a hard-driving, gritty, raw sound,” according to the film’s web site.

“Louder than Love” was screened in July at the Festival for a sold-out audience at two theaters. Rausch's family – his wife, Terri, 17-year-old son Evan and 15-year-old son Avery – witnessed it. Rausch said that getting approval from Moore, director and producer of "Fahrenheit 9/11," was a sign that he had done his job well.

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Rausch has lived in Farmington Hills for 14 years and worked as a professional video editor for 16 years at Forest Post Productions, a media services company in Farmington Hills.

Rausch, who grew up near Grand Rapids, said he didn’t know the Grande (pronounced like candy) Ballroom story, although he was born the year it opened.

“But certainly I’d heard of the music,” he said.

First Time Editing a Film

“I’ve never editing a film before this one,” Rausch said.

Because it was self-funded, he said he used Forest Post Productions' equipment and the help of their staff.

D’Annunzio had gotten the project rolling before he had someone in mind for editing. Rausch said D’Annunzio saw that he had albums all over his walls and felt a good vibe about working together.

Rausch put together a trailer of D'Annunzio's first interviews to show others it was a legitimate project.

He said people started contacting D’Annunzio, like American rock legend Alice Cooper, to be in the project.

Crowded and Sold-Out Screenings

The film was also sold out at all of the Spring 2012 Festival Screenings: Detroit, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Nashville and at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“It started in Detroit,” Rausch said. “Detroit asked us if they could premier it at the DIA on April 5.”

The editor-producer pair received the award for Best Documentary at the Las Vegas Film Festival in July.

“It was a great achievement for us,” Rausch said. “We didn’t go into this thinking we’re going to make a ton of money. We were telling the history of rock ‘n’ roll … and have people learn about the Grande.”

The Start for Rock Stars

“It was really the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll,” Rausch said. “The people that would come through, no one would have heard of them before.”

Rausch said that when Led Zeppelin performed at the Grande, their name was misspelled on the concert poster.

Rausch went through more than 60 hours of interviews with artists and fans who remembered the Grande.

The Grande Today

The Grande today is empty and in disrepair, and it hasn’t been used since 1977 when it closed, Rausch said.

“When I saw the footage of the current-day Grande and what it looks like now, I had an inspiration,” he said.

Rausch edited the film to show the old footage as if it were being played on the Grande stage in its current condition.

The next step of this whole project, he said, is to get the music rights to distribute DVDs and soundtracks of the film for sale.

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