– photo by Pamela White

What’s your layoff story? Most of us have at least one. Some of us were lucky and took those lemons to make lemonade, and Erik Proulx squeezed out an inspirational film about layoffs in the advertising industry that mixes one part happiness with one part dedication, mixed together by a wooden spoon of calling.

It’s not a pink slip. It’s a blank page.” really says it all, for Lemonade the Movie. Advertising execs, writers, designers, strategists – one by one these creative types tell their stories about seeing someone from HR come in with a hatchet, but each one also talks about how they felt when they came to. Tom vanDale said quite proudly, “The day that I walked out, I walked into my own company.”

And that’s how it began with these folks who lost their jobs but found their calling. Curtis Glade reflects:

“Getting laid off was not a bad thing; it’s now like the world of possibilities. So, making a movie is just one of the things. Who knows what else is going to happen?”

This really is a must-see for entrepreneurs. Find screenings in your city and or buy the dvd, but be sure to watch this film, because there are few better feelings than making lemonade from layoff lemons. Here’s a preview: