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New life on Main Street

Photo: Hip Hop star Mazara was filmed on the roof of Main Street Life by Russell

But what’s most exciting are the specifically dedicated common areas on every floor for creative collaboration. Fashion designers, artists and filmmakers can freely create in these areas to their hearts’ content; they are made exactly for this purpose.

The whole development is being filmed and the clips are streamed online. “The creation of the building’s own online media channel, Main Street Life TV, is the perfect way to map out its development, and show people what life will be like living in the city,” says Red Team Go’s director Russell Grant, who lives inside the building, and documents everything he sees. He’s in charge of marketing Main Street Life, and so far he’s doing a damn good job of it.
“Imagine then what this site will become ... once people have moved in, we will have an entire building to collaborate on content, that will be displayed right here on this site!” says Russell (24).

Main Street Life is undergoing major construction, as developer Jonathan Liebmann races towards his June deadline, when development will be finished.
Liebmann is the brains behind Arts on Main; it and Main Street Life all form part of the Maboneng Precinct, and the two places will complement each other rather than compete. Liebmann has actually moved into a penthouse in Main Street Life – and his mother has one too!

If you visit http://www.mainstreetlife.tv/  you can catch funky, short shots of how the building development is progressing, shots of the house-warming party held on the roof, great snips of the band 340ml playing in the basement and much more. The videos are short, very easy to download, and have funky backing music supplied by music producer GwaZa JuSe in between the dialogue.
The site is also able to share content with other Red Team Go projects, like www.jobusy.com, one of the most exciting sites exploring Joburg today.
In one jobusy clip, Russell visits the Ethiopian area in town known as Little Addis, in another he visits trendy urban wear shop Dope Store; Russell effortlessly manages to show how cool central Joburg can actually be.
“Many people are too shit-scared to come into Joburg, so it’s important to show them, they can ‘experience’ it before they actually come here. I’m trying to show people that this stuff exists – and I’m saying, come on, get out of your little self-made bubble.”
Jobusy is building up a catalogue of all sorts of places throughout Joburg, and Russell is also profiling creative friends and public figures, following them to their favourite spots.
“Everyone has their own ‘secret little finds’ in Joburg, which we are revealing through Jobusy. It’s a sort of a guide for foreigners, and sometimes it gives a bit of history as well as what is happening right now.”

Red Team Go has also been the force behind the Bioscope, which shows cooking independent movies at Arts on Main. You can visit the site at www.thebioscope.co.za  or go to www.redteamgo.tv 

You can also follow Russel’s twitter for Main Street Life at www.twitter.com/russelsbedroom