Built on a belief that extraordinary businesses deserve marketing that matches what they have built.
Some agencies want your retainer. We want to be part of your story.
Built on a Belief
Michael Franz grew up in Portland, Oregon with a simple but stubborn belief. That creative people who work hard and build something real deserve to be seen. That belief has taken him some interesting places.
The First Three-Page Cover in TIME Magazine's 91-Year History
In 2014 Michael co-conceived and helped execute one of the most technically ambitious editorial photographs ever made. Shot from the top of One World Trade Center using a custom engineered panoramic rig, remote capture software built specifically for the project, and four separate panoramas stitched together over three hours while shadows shifted across lower Manhattan below.
Michael was controlling the camera remotely from a laptop. Watching each image load into its panoramic position in real time. When they came down off the roof and gathered on the hotel patio that evening, a collaborator did a quick stitch on his laptop. They sat there with drinks in hand watching something nobody had ever done before start to materialize on a screen...
That was the moment he knew it had worked.
A Career Built Across Industries and Continents
Michael is an Emmy Award-winning executive producer for digital innovation. He spent five years as a licensed real estate agent. He has produced video content for a digital health platform for nearly six years, delivering close to 200 testimonials at a fraction of traditional production costs. He has worked with businesses across the United States, Canada, Australia, the UK, and China.
Why Urban Umbrella Exists
In every industry Michael worked in he kept seeing the same thing. Businesses that were extraordinary at what they did with marketing that did not come close to matching what they had actually built. Not because they did not care. But because they got into business to do the thing they loved.
You didn't come this far to only get this far.
Urban Umbrella exists to close that gap. Not as a vendor. As a partner who sits across the table from a business owner who has given everything to build something real and means every word of that line.
Built for the Long Game
Michael started Urban Umbrella to build something lasting. A company his kids can one day take over. A body of work he is proud of. A legacy built one client at a time.
If you have built something worth talking about, we would love to be part of what comes next.
The Team
Urban Umbrella is built around a core group of specialists. Every person was chosen because the best work happens when the right person is in the right seat.
Michael Franz
FOUNDER & CREATIVE STRATEGIST
Leads strategy, digital marketing, AI systems, and client relationships. Co-conceived the first three-page cover in TIME magazine's 91-year history. Emmy Award winning executive producer for digital innovation.
Susan Franz
FOUNDER & CREATIVE STRATEGIST
Twenty years of corporate experience ensuring clients get results and stay that way. Leads client retention, account management, and long-term relationship development.
Chad Copeland
DP / CINEMATOGRAPHER
Production experience from Discovery and National Geographic. Wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Adventure Calls, a six-episode series on Central Oregon.
Lester Tsai
PHOTOGRAPHER / VIDEOGRAPHER
Specializing in commercial product and lifestyle. Nearly twenty years of collaboration with Michael Franz. Extraordinary attention to detail and uncompromising standards.
Kevin Jurgens
BRAND STRATEGY & CONTENT
Specializing in brand strategy and content development, working at the intersection of how a business wants to be perceived and the content that builds that perception.
Corbin Franz
WEB DESIGN / REAL ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHY
Specializing in real estate and commercial work. Translates brand identity into sites that perform. Primary web developer for Urban Umbrella client engagements.
Alicia Hunt
MARKETING ADVISOR
Career spanning Gigapan, Elemental (acquired by Amazon), Koan (Senior Director), and Fountain (VP of Marketing). Led marketing for machine learning and AI products at Amazon. Deep enterprise marketing and AI industry expertise.