Posted: Feb. 6, 2010

Fraser firm aims for tops in props

Hundreds expected to be hired

Former TV news director Mort Meisner and his business partner Jack Grushko have become minority owners of Scenic Design Group in Fraser and hope to transform the company into the state’s largest builder of props for movies and TV shows.

The business, now called Scenic Prop and Design, anticipates hiring several hundred workers over the next year, mostly graduates of Meisner and Grushko’s year-old Center for Film Studies in Madison Heights. “The movies continue to truck props in from California,” Meisner said. “We can help stop that.”

Meisner and Grushko have formed a company, Michigan Associated Producers, to manage Scenic, which plans to sell its services in other states that offer film-industry tax incentives. “Why not bring some manufacturing back to Michigan?” Grushko asked.

Scenic was launched a few years ago by Jonathan Krueger, who invented the company’s proprietary coloring processes and other trade secrets. Scenic made the 20-foot-tall Styrofoam bowling pins used on the reality show “Crash Course” as well as props for two episodes of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” It has also done work for Sea World, the heavy metal band Black Sabbath and auto shows, among others.

Scenic has six employees but subcontracts a lot of its work. It has been training students from the Center for Film Studies, teaching them set construction and prop design.

For now, Scenic plans to continue operating in Fraser, but Meisner said the company is discussing relocating to a local production studio, whose name he declined to reveal.