Today we’d like to introduce you to LeAnn Roughley and Elin Schran.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
We met while working on the 2001 U.S. Figure Skating Championships here in Boston. I was producing the opening ceremony and Elin was the founder/director of the Boston Ice Theater, which was featured in the production. It was our first “creative experience” together and, in spite of many challenges, we delivered a great show.
I was so impressed with LeAnn’s creativity and “get the job done” attitude when we were working together on the 2001 U.S. Figure Skating Championships opening ceremony. From that moment on I sought out opportunities to work with her. I nicknamed her Aspirin because she took all my headaches away! Together we were able to create a lot of exciting performances that I couldn’t get off the ground alone.
In early 2004 we decided to form a production company together and focus primarily on creating skating shows for outdoor venues.
We have had so much fun bringing our love of skating, high energy performance, beautiful costumes, and upbeat music to audiences of all ages. We hope to inspire people to find joy in the beauty of winter, and ice, and snow as we do – through skating!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Our number one struggle has been the economy. When we started working together, companies were spending a lot more on special events for their employees, private functions, and community outreach events. Over the years we’ve seen a dramatic drop in spending. Budgets got very tight – and remain so today. As a result, our budget is tight also.
Our performance fees go directly toward paying our production costs and our performers. This creates another challenge for us, which is not having the funds to hire a dedicated sales/marketing director. We’re a two-person company that design and create its own shows from top to bottom, which leaves us very little time to focus on other areas of development. Having someone to tackle sales/marketing would be a welcome addition.
It means a lot to us to be able to provide professional opportunities to skaters since the number of performing jobs within our sport have dwindled. We hope to be able to grow over the next few years so we can continue to be the top skating show for professional skaters in New England.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Frozen Frog Productions – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We’re basically a small, local production company started by two friends that share a love of skating and performance. We specialize in creating high-energy, family-friendly ice skating shows – shows that make skating accessible to everyone. We don’t like to take ourselves too seriously, and our productions are known for being fun to watch. We’re very proud of that. We love to see the audience having a great time during our shows. Our goal is to create entertaining productions with great skating, awesome music and beautiful costuming. Our litmus test is “If we have fun making the show, the audience will have fun watching it.”
We’re extremely proud to have amazing skaters performing with us. Our shows feature professional skaters that have performed across the globe in such notable productions as Disney on Ice, Holiday on Ice, Ice Capades, Moscow on Ice and Royal Caribbean cruise ships. They have appeared in TV reality shows including Torvill and Dean’s Dancing on Ice, Skating with the Stars and the box office smash hit Blades of Glory. We are also incredibly honored to feature former Olympians and World competitors in our productions.
We have developed wonderful long-term relationships with many of our clients. We produced shows for 9 years at the Boston Common Frog Pond, 8 years for General Electric’s Employee Holiday Party, and are currently in our 13th year of producing the Community Skating at Kendall Square, “Holiday on Ice”. We were also the number one choice for producing the skating shows at RiverWalk Resort in Lincoln, New Hampshire and are entering our third year of employment with them.
People say they enjoy working with us because we are positive, hard-working, and always ready to pitch in and help in any way we can. Our love for what we do and our belief in teamwork has helped us forge many lasting professional relationships.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are ready to grow. We are in a good position now to add shows to our yearly roster, and to realize some of the creative dreams we have had over the years we’ve worked together.
Contact Info:
- Address: 153 Garden Street Cambridge, MA 02138
- Phone: (617) 905-9514
- Email: frozenfrogproductions@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Stu Rosner
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