Chris Mundy, writer and executive producer of the cable TV Detroit cop drama "Low Winter Sun" that begins shooting nine episodes April 29, hadn't seen the city before his first visit last year. He came back six more times for an immerdsion totaling about three months, he tells Jim McFarlin in a Metro Times cover story,
“We’re doing our best to get it right, you know?” he asserts.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Mark Strong in the show's first episode, shot here last fall.. [Photo by Alicia Gbur of AMC]
Here's some of what the Los Angeles producer says about Detroit:
Pride and hope: "I wanted to set it in Detroit and seal a sense of place. I always thought [the show] was a lot about second chances, what people are willing to do to get a second chance, and I wanted the backdrop to reflect the same thing; the pride and hope, the perseverance of a place — and I like Detroit because Detroit has that, as I’ve seen.”
Visual surprises: "I didn’t realize how beautiful the infrastructure of Detroit was. Some of the buildings are so much nicer than I expected, then there’s a bunch that are so much worse than I expected.”
Tour guides: “I was actually lucky enough to have a few different cops who really took me under their wing and showed me the city."
Mark Strong on the roof of the old Wayne County Building downtown. [Photo by Alicia Gbur of AMC]
