Michigan Film Source was founded in 2010 by former Hollywood Development Executive, Jennifer Shane. Having returned home to Michigan from a successful career in Hollywood to be closer to family, Jennifer's entertainment industry experience has allowed her to build a wealth of connections and insider knowledge, putting her in the unique position to become a valuable resource to the Michigan film community.
Jennifer’s vast knowledge and connections mainly come from her years working with legendary Hollywood agent/producer Michael Ovitz’s groundbreaking venture, Artists Management Group (AMG). After completing the infamous Trainee Program, Jennifer rose up the ranks of AMG’s film division, Artist Production Group (APG), where she oversaw the busy Story Department and worked with the development team in shepherding to the screen such projects as Michael Crichton's Timeline, Godsend starring Robert De Niro, and The 51st State starring Samuel L. Jackson. In her role as Creative Executive, Jennifer served as the chief arbiter of incoming material, analyzing hundreds of screenplays, books, and magazine articles to determine what projects to acquire to fill the company's development slate.
Prior to joining AMG, Jennifer served as Story Editor at the renowned production company RKO Pictures (King Kong, Citizen Kane), where she was responsible for providing creative direction to current projects as well as mining the legendary RKO archives for potential film remakes. Working directly with writers, producers, and studio executives proved to be invaluable as the experience allowed Jennifer to learn the ins-and-outs of the movie business from the ground up.
After the film incentive was introduced in Michigan, Jennifer set herself up as a film consultant and launched Fork in the Road Consulting, helping vendors, services and film schools get work on productions coming to the state. After experiencing the value that Fork in the Road Consulting provided to productions, Jennifer saw there was a demand for a more defined service to the industry and thus launched Michigan Film Source.
The main focus of Michigan Film Source is to be the premiere resource provider to productions that come to the state of Michigan. Jennifer works closely on vetting the most appropriate Michigan based production services and crew to promote to incoming productions. It is a win-win for everyone involved. Productions from out of state are incented to use Michigan based services with a 40-42% tax rebate on applicable Michigan expenditures. With Jennifer being in the forefront with incoming productions she is able to get Michigan based businesses noticed by the decision makers on the film, increasing their chances of new revenue they may not have been able to get on their own.
Jennifer was the product of the state losing its creative talent to another state (California). One of Jennifer’s goals with Michigan Film Source is to help build the state’s film industry and retain as much of the young creative talent and businesses from Michigan as possible. Jennifer knows this is only the beginning of something big for the State of Michigan and is excited to be on the ground floor.
Jennifer graduated with a degree in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin and attended high school at Detroit Country Day School.