Project Description

An award-winning mini-documentary featuring Jane Blain and Mick Gilbertson.  Jane and Mick are the moving forces behind the Blain Gilbertson Family Heritage Bridge, constructed in Downtown Janesville, Wisconsin.  This pedestrian bridge spans the Rock River and joins the Town Square’s East side with its West side.  Drywater Productions captured nearly 500,000 time-lapse photos, videos, and drone videos over the course of 3 years.  This film shares the challenges and joy of what is now a Downtown Janesville landmark.  Where once a crumbling 400-space parking ramp stood, now stands the finished pedestrian bridge, but it is quickly becoming much more.

In the center of the Blain Gilbertson Family Heritage Bridge is “Resilience,” a beautiful structure that is the centerpiece of the bridge at the heart of the city.  At night, it is illuminated.  The name, “Resilience” represents the resilience of the community.

Resilience & The Building of The Blain Gilbertson Family Heritage Bridge is honored with a 2022 Bronze Telly Award and 2022 Gold Viddy Award.

One of the challenges of the $2M bridge project was the river flooding, which paused construction and postponed other projects up river, causing further delays.  Then the COVID-19 Pandemic caused another setback.  Capturing content for this mini-documentary had its own challenges.  Our team always had to be ready to get cameras placed if the schedule suddenly changed.  We had thousands of files to sort and organize every week, so it was an ongoing project.  With a mini-documentary like this, we knew much of the footage would end up on the cutting room floor, but we have plans to release some of the spectacular time-lapse scenes in the future.

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