Private Project

Land Grab

Land Grab manages to do something very few documentaries have done in recent years – find a success story in the broken City of Detroit. By showing it honestly and uncompromisingly through the lens of both the 1% and those struggling at the bottom, producer and director Sean O’Grady crafted a film which is at times alarming but surprisingly humorous. O'Grady invites the viewer on Detroit resident and business mogul John Hantz's tumultuous ride to acquire one square mile of blighted Detroit neighborhood and his battle with the Detroit City Council and local residents to convert the land into one of the world’s largest urban farms. With roughly $30 million of his own fortune and an inscrutable plan to beautify the city - and at the enmity of many politicians, grass-roots organizations and individuals - Hantz managed to achieve what few others have: help resurrect Detroit through altruistic means.

  • Sean O'Grady
    Director
    In A World, Big Sur
  • Sean O'Grady, William Stertz
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 2, 2016
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Sean O'Grady


Prior to founding Atlas Industries, Sean was a producer at independent feature film development and production company 3311 Productions for over 3 years where he produced Sundance Film Festival Official Selections BIG SUR and IN A WORLD..., both of which saw worldwide theatrical, digital, and television release. He also developed numerous television projects with 3311’s sister company Giant Pirates Entertainment, as well as Trigger Street Productions. Prior to that, Sean was a partner in development at Mark and Michael Polish's company, Prohibition Pictures, where he produced FOR LOVERS ONLY, which is widely regarded as a landmark of digital film distribution. Sean has worked in various creative roles including producer, director and editor for brands and agencies such as: Gap, TransAmerica, Oscar Meyer, PacSun, Quicksilver, Old Spice, JWT, Virgin Atlantic, Mike Morse Law Firm, Carhartt, and Hantz Farms. He has also worked on television projects for Sundance Channel, Cooking Channel, Spike TV, AMC, Warner Bros. TV, Discovery, The Intellectual Property Corporation, Lifetime, MTV, E!, SyFy and NBC. LAND GRAB, Sean’s debut feature as a director, premiered at numerous festivals in 2016 and will premiere on multiple platforms around the world in 2017. Currently, he is working on his second feature as a director.

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