Michigan Filmmaker Chronicles 'Empty America' During Pandemic

America has never looked like this before, and hopefully, it never will again. A Metro-Detroit Filmmaker has driven over 8,000 miles in the last couple of months in order to chronicle life in an 'Empty America'.

Barry Walton is a documentary filmmaker from Rochester Hills. In April, he grabbed his camera and headed out on the road in order to capture what life is like during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It's so much bigger than just a virus -- it's so eye-opening," Walton tells WDIV. "Even now I get chills. I still haven’t been able to process it all.”

Walton's travels took him to Chicago, Washington DC, Mt. Rushmore, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and virtually everywhere in between.

He describes his trek across America as eerie.

"Vegas was a ghost town, that was kind of scary for me," he said. "I felt like a bomb went off, I wanted to leave, I didn't want to spend a lot of time there."

Barry observed more than just a virus. He noted that the virus has fueled a political war and has fractured the population into groups of people that want to stay home and people that want to work.

Walton has concluded his journey as now back at home in Rochester Hills assembling his story. The working title is 'Empty America -- COVID-19 and The War for Right'.

A release date for the project has not yet been set.