Chapter 1: Detroit, 1995. The Mo. The Big D. Murder City. A Fallen Empire No matter where we live, no matter who we are, we're all bound by borders . .. some real, some imagined. Many of us are content to live within these borders. Others are forced to. But some of us need to break out, burst through, even if what lies on the other side is both frightening and unknown. 8 Mile is a story about these boundaries that define our lives, and a young man's struggle to find the strength and courage to transcend them. From Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson, director of L. A. Confidential and Wonder Boys, and Academy Award winner Brian Grazer, producer of A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13, the Universal Pictures-Imagine Entertainment production 8 Mile stars Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, Omar Benson Miller, Evan Jones, Eugene Byrd, De'Angelo Wilson, Anthony Mackie, Taryn Manning and Michael Shannon. Scott Silver wrote the screenplay. The film was produced by Grazer, Hanson and Jimmy Iovine, with Carol Fenelon, James Whitaker, Gregory Goodman and Paul Rosenberg serving as executive producers. The director of photography was Rodrigo Prieto, the production designer Philip Messina, the costume designer Mark Bridges, and the film editors Jay Rabinowitz and Craig Kitson. A Detroit Story Detroit, 1995. The Mo. The Big D. Murder City. A fallen empire. Once affluent neighborhoods have been left to decline in the wake of white flight as the opportunity and optimism of this once thriving city have evaporated. The shining promise of Detroit's industrial majesty has collapsed into a heap of economic and racial polarity following one of the worst riots in American history. 8 MILE Road, the city's perimeter, is now a dividing line between urban and suburban, between black and white. But bubbling beneath the surface of Detroit is a long history of pressure-cooked creativity, much of it emerging in music. From the Motown sound that dominated the popular music of the 60's to the gospel artistry of Aretha Franklin, and on through the "Detroit sound" of such rockers as Mitch Ryder, Bob Seger and the MC5, the music of the city has always come from its blue-collar guts, an unfiltered authentic expression of life's realities. Detroit's hip hop scene is no exception. Survival is key in the harsh lower depths of Detroit, and for many, the current emotional life preserver is hip hop. As an art form, rap music is impromptu and fast-paced, topical and insightful, requiring skills of language, nuance and keen observation, as well as emotional truth. For people like Jimmy Smith, Jr. (Eminem), hip hop is the only thing standing between him and the void. In the absence of nurturing parents, Jimmy and his friends - cool and charismatic Future (Mekhi Phifer), optimistic dreamer Sol (Omar Benson Miller), aspiring activist DJ Iz (De'Angelo Wilson) and slow but steady Chedder Bob (Evan Jones) - have created their own family. Jimmy and his "crew" (Three One Third), live on hopes of "getting that big deal soon," while struggling to eke out a living at their dead end jobs and navigating the minefields of their turbulent personal relationships. As Jimmy so bluntly puts it: "we're all broke as shit and living at home with our moms. " At night, they feed their dreams in the hip hop clubs of Detroit where the city's best rappers battle each other with emotionally abusive rhymes as they vie for the respect of their peers. In the un-poetic world of Three One Third, rhyme is wielded like a weapon with words meant to wound. And victory belongs to the quick-witted.  Next Page: Jimmy Needs to Channel His Anger Into His Music