Sweet and sour: Documentary shows the positives of being laid off

Boston – Thousands of people around the world lost their jobs when the recession hit, generating thousands of grim stories. Lemonade, the new documentary by creative director and copywriter Erik Proulx, features positive tales about 16 advertising professionals – including himself – who were laid off.

‘I’ve heard so many people express some kind of despair after losing their jobs. I was one of them,’ Proulx says. ‘It was important for me to discover in myself that this could be the best opportunity of my life – with the right attitude.’

For each of Lemonade’s 16 protagonists, redundancy provided time and space in which to reinvent themselves. One adman becomes a coffee roaster, another an artist. One woman retrains as a yoga teacher. Keeping true to its spirit of being a project by and for those who have been affected by unemployment, all resources for the film were donated.