New production company targets green issues

A garage is an unlikely place to produce anything especially beneficial to the environment. But when Donald and Brenda Spicer transformed their Blouin Avenue carport into a recording and editing studio, the engine of their new venture was revving at last. Both are longtime photographers and artists, but last year the Spicers decided to create documentary films with a purpose. They chose the name motiveART. It would be a production company with an activist bent, Brenda thought—something to shine a light of awareness on modern environmental issues. One month later, through a chance connection with director Mai Iskander, the Spicers became financial backers of her award-winning documentary called Garbage Dreams. The Baton Rouge family’s funding helped prep the final cut of Iskander’s film for an acclaimed debut at the South by Southwest music, film and interactive media festival in Austin. Brenda Spicer even coordinated interviews and press coverage for the director and one of the film’s stars, who flew from Cairo to attend the premiere. Find out more about how this homegrown studio is making worldwide change in this month’s 225 magazine here.