Detroit Burning
Bringing America's forgotten city back from the ashes


Tom Putnam—Director
Tom Putnam is an award-winning director, producer, and editor who specializes in telling emotional, cinematic stories about the triumphs of everyday people. His adventures have taken me into burning buildings with America’s busiest firefighters, stranded him in an unmarked minefield in Alaska, and sent me on tour with notorious rappers Insane Clown Posse.
His past short films and features have played more than 500 film festivals, from Sundance to Cannes, been released theatrically worldwide, and won more than 50 major awards including two Spirit Awards, the Grand Jury Prize at the SXSW Film Festival, and the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival.
My most recent feature, the comedy/adventure THE DARK DIVIDE starring David Cross and Debra Messing, with music by The Avett Brothers and Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, was the first feature film from REI Co-Op Studios.
His documentary features include producing and directing the Detroit firefighting film BURN, one of the highest-grossing documentaries in history; producing the critically-acclaimed MARWENCOL; and producing, directing, and editing THE UNITED STATES OF INSANITY.
Brenna Sanchez—Producer/Director
Detroit native Brenna Sanchez is an award-winning documentary filmmaker specializing in powerful, character-driven stories, from conception through delivery. As a founder of TBVE Films, she developed viral and award-winning content for General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Kimberly-Clarke, CMC Rescue, and MSA, among others.
She was a producer for Academy Award-winning director Morgan Neville. She produced, directed and distributed the critically acclaimed documentary BURN, which is one of the highest-grossing and widely seen self-distributed films of all time. The film was funded and distributed primarily through her social media and crowdfunding leadership. The throughline in her career has been finding and developing stories, working with a team, and beating the odds. She values critical thinking, inspiration, collaboration, efficiency, candor and drive in the workplace.
She has spoken on documentary, directing, social media, crowdfunding and distribution panels for: Sundance Institute, Los Angeles Film Festival/FILM Independent, Tribeca Film Festival, FIND Documentary Lab, FIND Directors’ Lab, International Documentary Association, Directors Guild of America, and USC School of Cinematic Arts. She has appeared as an authority on the fire service and Detroit's bankruptcy on NBC Nightly News, Bloomberg Business, MSNBC and more.