ECONOMY

HOME BREW

PROFESSIONALS

Keeping the Curtain Raised
on Nascent Film Industry

Consultant fights Lansing's proposal to
cap industry tax incentives at $25M

By Jackie Headapohl

'ennifer Shane is one of a rare breed: an L.A. transplant
working in the film industry who moved back home to
(J Detroit and built a successful business.
Shane, 37, who returned to Detroit in 2002 after her
mother was stricken with cancer, was working locally as an
events planner when her furlough from Hollywood came
to an abrupt end, courtesy of Michigan's film industry tax
credits.
Shortly after the country's most generous state tax
incentives were offered in 2008 — up to 42 percent of a
crew's in-state production costs — Shane began receiving
phone calls from former colleagues in Los Angeles who
were contemplating location work in Michigan.
"People had heard through the grapevine that I had
substantial film industry experience," Shane said. "Random
offers to consult started to come in. I was able to help
some people I had worked with in L.A. get to the right
people in Michigan for their projects."
Within a year of the incentives' enactment, the former
development executive at Los Angeles-based Artists
Management Group founded Michigan Film Source, a
resource locater for out-of-state film and TV productions.
"We help promote local, Michigan-based crew and
production services — everything that's based here in
Michigan, from caterers and prop houses to armories and
music license libraries," said Shane.
Helped in part by CommunityNEXT, the Jewish Federa-
tion of Metropolitan Detroit program that actively tries to
retain young, Jewish talent in Michigan, Shane received
free office space in Bingham Farms for one year.
Detroiter Marjorie Rudick was working at Communi-
tyNEXT at the time.
"I'm an L.A. transplant who
worked in the film industry and
came back home to Michigan
as well;' Rudick said. "Jennifer
and I struck up a friendship,
and she referred me to the
production of Close Quarters,
where I became the assistant to
the executive producer."
Shane, who is a Detroit
Country Day School alum, has

Seeking Common Ground

Mediator helps untie the knot.

By Yaakov Schwartz

built a database of local film crews. She's helped people
land jobs on big-name films, including Transformers 3,
Salvation Boulevard and Hostel: Part III, among others.
Carl Ballou, owner of Novi-based Axis Media, had his
name in Shane's database and landed work as a digital
imaging technician on the film Family Weekend, starring
Kristin Chenoweth and slated for release in 2011.
"She connected me with people I never would have
been able to meet before," said Ballou. Those contacts are
helping him grow his company, which does short features,
music videos and promos.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's recent budget proposal
to cap Michigan's film incentives at $25 million per year
threatens her film business, Shane said, and moving back
to L.A. isn't an option.
"It's hard to raise a family there," said the Birmingham
resident and mother of two, adding that following Snyder's
announcement, she instantly saw a drop-off in business.
"Within days, several production companies I was working
with put their plans on hold," she said.
Now, actively working to save the industry, she has
teamed up with other film industry professionals to lobby
lawmakers. Shane is emphatic that the incentives are still

MICHIGAN FILM SOURCE SEE PAGE 14

HERE AND NOW

Rent-a-Royal for Your Kid's Party; Eye Spy Some Hot Tees

Boutiques, businesses and brands you may not know — but should.

By Lynne Konstantin

GIVE

ANO GET

We love a lovely tee, and Project Iris has loads of them just
launched for spring — buttery soft ring-spun cotton, form-
fitting cuts with one-of-a-kind floral prints — perfect for
yoga or hanging with the kids.
But the watercolor images of lotuses, vibrantly hued
Queen Anne's lace and other nature-inspired and gorgeously
detailed designs are more than just a pretty face. The
Cincinnati-based brand was developed with a purpose — to
give back.
Project Iris makes it easy to
contribute to causes that help
other women, says president
and CEO Neil Hoynes."With
this line, we intend to raise
awareness, and funds, to posi-
tively impact world hunger, mal-
nutrition and the health of women
and children in developing countries;'
like Honduras and Guatemala.
The company has partnered with
World Food Program USA (wfp.
org ), the largest humanitar-
ian agency fighting hunger
worldwide, to contribute 5
percent of each sale toward
providing nourishing meals
for new mothers and their
children in the most
poverty-stricken parts of
the globe.
We love it even more.
Project Iris tees range from $39-
$59. Log on to projectirisclothing.com
to place an order. f:_;-„-

:''egotiation has been a common theme for a
good portion of Aviva Gordon's life.The Oak
L Park mother of three children — 17, 19 and
20 — who is 14 years into her second marriage and
achieved 31 years of employment with AT&T before
retiring, has culled her years of compromise skills
for a new venture, The Mediation Advantage, as-
sisting couples reach an amicable divorce.
Spurred on by her own divorce, Gordon drew on
the experience of that process, the skill it required
to keep her home life moored and her familiarity
with mediation (she and her first husband were
able to resolve their differences quickly through a
mediator) for inspiration.
"When you're running a home, you're sort of
running a small business,"Gordon says."You're
negotiating all day long; you have differences of
opinion so you need to have strategies, and your
kids all have different needs."
Of course, running a business and running a
household aren't really the same things, but when
your business is the orchestrated dismantling of
a couple's home, in both real and metaphorical
terms, the differences between the two can under-
standably blur.
To borrow a buzzword from the touchy-feely set,
Gordon's approach to mediation is more"holistic"
than operational. Even though her personality
screams "all business" it belies the velvet glove
touch she employs with her clients, many of whom
bring their visceral pain to the negotiating table.
"I maintain a close business relationship with
smart, caring attorneys, accountants, clergy and
psychologists, who often reduce their rates since
they are taking on a more relegated role;' she says.
The holistic facet of her practice is particularly
effective, she says, because a sense of responsibility
toward her clients' emotional needs provides a level
of comfort that is largely absent from the court-
room. She shared the story of how one couple's
negotiation went so well they decided to give their
marriage another shot. "To the best of my knowl-
edge, they're still married," she added.
Sure, it's not always uplifting work. The preva-
lence of divorce is not lost on this Orthodox woman,
who knows the premium placed on maintaining a
union. But, as she is painfully aware, divorce hap-
pens. And if its collateral damage is the division of
property and child custody, its oxygen is money.
"The average couple with $500,000 in assets is
spending a 10th of that — $25,000 a piece — on
20, 30 or even 40 hours of legal counsel; she says."I
can resolve all of their issues in 3-10 hours, and at
one-third the price."
Despite her religious conviction, or maybe due in
part to it, Gordon feels she is doing a community ser-
vice, ensuring her clients' identities are kept private.
"My top priority is to maintain my clients' dignity,"
she says. "They don't necessarily want to be airing
their dirty laundry in front of a bunch of strangers'
Having a mostly Jewish clientele, many of whom
are worried about the process of the get or Jewish
divorce document, Gordon helps couples under-
stand exactly what obtaining it entails and can help
facilitate acquisition when necessary.
She says she wants to help others who may be in
the same situation she was at age 35.1 just want to
give back to the community;' she offers.
But, don't let that soft side fool you. Gordon, for
all her caring and compassion, is still a business-
woman.
"I don't want to hear any excuses — let's make a
deal," she says."We need to get down to business
so you can get in, get out and get on with your lives
— without paying me more than you need to pay
me:'

,

PRINCESS CHARMING

For a princess, Mikki Frank has to put in
a lot of work hours; and, like Cinderella, she's not
complaining. Since Frank started her business, the Singing
Princess, in July 2010, she hasn't had a single weekend off.
When Frank goes to work, she usually dons a tiara from
her collection, a custom-made gown that's the stuff of fairy
tales — and a fanciful coif. She dusts off a magic wand or a
mermaid's tail then heads off to make many a little girls' —
and boys'— dreams come true.
As the Singing Princess, Frank visits children's birthday
parties and gives them the show of shows. She arrives in
full costume as the Little Mermaid, Belle from Beauty
and the Beast, Snow White, Rapunzel or a host of
others (including a few she's developed her-
self), depending on the birthday girl's whim.
Not to be left out, boys can choose from
a pirate or a prince, who will serenade the
group with a guitar to accompany the
princess. She has written scripts for each
character and will sing a magical story in her
sweetly gorgeous voice, interactively engaging the group
as she goes.
She then provides arts and crafts, plays games, sings
"Happy Birthday" and allows plenty of time for posing for
photos with all the little guests. Depending on the package
parents choose, Frank may be accompanied by a Tinker Bell
or Fairy Godmother assistant — and will give princess make-
overs with plenty of sparkle.
Frank, mom to 4- and 7-year-old daughters and a 2-year-
old son with her husband, Ivan, says she's had a passion for
singing since her bat mitzvah and continued to sing and
act throughout high school. While studying psychology at
University of Michigan, Frank participated in two a cap-
pella groups, Amazin' Blue and Kol HaKavod, a Jewish group

–

RENT A ROYAL SEE PAGE 14

12 May 2011 I

RID TIMM

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