Born in the Soviet Ukraine, I arrived to the USA in 1979 and went on to graduate the University of Pittsburgh to become a Construction Engineer. An insurance adjustor by day and a writer by night, I live in San Francisco Bay Area with my family. Since 1987 I had been an avid student of Eastern religions and had achieved some fame as a psychic healer. My writing career started in 2008 with the publication of my first novel, Friends of Fred, available on Amazon and elsewhere. My first Sci-Fi novel, The Fifth Battalion, an adventure-filled auto-biography, The Golden Fleece, as well as several of my short stories, marked by lighthearted view of life and a spark of spirituality, are available on Amazon.  I have recently released a collection of my selected short stories, The Roto-Rooter. Now I am about to release a psychic healing guidebook, You Are Psychic, The Healer’s Handbook, the first ever attempt to train anyone into a psychic. I am also working on the screenplay for The Fifth Battalion and the sequel under the working title The Baltizor Conspiracy.

The unique concept which creates the most influence is why I consider ANYONE a psychic and claim that I can train anybody into one despite it taking me personally 31 years and a highly elaborate and esoteric route through 28 religions and life-threatening adventures.  

What happens when you mix psychology, quantum physics, and spirituality with fun entertainment, intrigue, and a meaningful story? 

A: You get Mind The Gap - the film.

A CHAT WITH FILMMAKER

ILANA MARKS

llana Marks is a writer, international lecturer, and TV / radio host, working in Boston and Sarasota for over twenty years. She trained as a stage actress in London and acted professionally in addition to writing, producing, and directing theatrical productions. 

Ilana wrote The G-String Theory, a book about her hilarious trip through the paradoxical sensuality of India, and she recently wrote Mind The Gap, a story and concept which first came to her in a dream.  

Mind The Gap is a psychological comedic film which explores the nature of reality & perception. A spiritually profound independent film.  

What happens when you mix psychology, quantum physics, and spirituality with fun entertainment, intrigue, and a meaningful story?

A:  You get Mind The Gap - the film.

The synopsis of the film goes like this …

Adi, a 38-year-old off-Broadway actress, is on the verge of success when her playboy husband walks out on her. As a single mother with little income or support, her relationship with her young daughter becomes strained & her life begins to unravel.

While working in London, Adi has mind-bending experiences which spark off her journey into the gap. She begins to peel away the façade of personal dramas, finding answers & reclaiming her life. As she moves into a new reality, the audience follows her deeper down the rabbit hole, encountering hilarious twists & turns along the way.

Mind the Gap

Directed by Ilana Marks

Written by Ilana Marks

Produced by The Umbrella Project & 

Valencia Motion Pictures                               

On TV and radio, Ilana Marks has interviewed hundreds of authors, musicians, celebrities, politicians, and has moderated debates at a state and national level. 

Ilana founded The Umbrella Project LLC which is producing:  

 ~ Mind The Gap, a feature film

 ~ In The Gap, a documentary film explaining the science and philosophy behind MTG with some of the top thinkers in the field of physics and metaphysics

 ~ Yogini, Ilana's animated children’s books and digital games 

The Umbrella Project in association with Valencia Motion Pictures

Ilana speaks four languages and from living, working, and traveling in five continents, she brings an authenticity to her work drawing on her many wonderful and mystical adventures all around the world.

Here are what the industry experts are saying about

Ilana Marks new film …

MIND THE GAP

“The world is readying itself more and more for your kind of consciousness. Your film should be trending well. You’re an inspiration.” 

-Senior VP, Universal Studios International

“There is a great movie in this. I like the reveal, and the specifics of the characters will be key when the ‘twist’ is revealed. This is exciting!

-Warner Brothers Executive

“Ilana Marks is a vibrant and thought-provoking woman who brings valuable and penetrating Insights.

-The Dailey Telegraph, London UK.

“I love it. It’s so grounded, emotional and real. Very beautiful and meaningful. Such lovely writing and real living characters. I am very excited about your movie.”

-Editor, “Parenthood” & “Manhattan”

“This is a beautiful film, you’re truly inspiring.”  -Emmy Award Winning Editor”

Founder Neveen has a passion in fashion, beauty, community development and entrepreneurship, and is currently on a Foundation Domination World Tour 2018-2019, sharing her Flawless Makeup, Skin Care Kits, and Cosmetic Business Essentials. She has an inspiring story!

Hailing from South Sudan, Neveen Dominic often struggled to find cosmetic products made for her ebony skin tone. With so many cosmetics companies touting their foundations' "wide range" of skin tones, Dominic was often let down when she found that these same companies' color ranges so often stopped short at "mocha."

She remembers the days she struggled to find any products to suite her skin tone and although she was passionate about beauty, the limited product choices made it hard to achieve that glam look every girl dreams of. The job of perfecting the complexion is even more daunting for dark skinned women, who often have to perfect intricate makeup techniques or are left without being able to wear makeup at all.  She noticed that even professional makeup artists shied away from taking clients with deep skin tones because of the limitations in their own product offerings. When Neveen saw other dark skinned women turn towards extreme methods such as skin bleaching to fit more Eurocentric standards of beauty, she knew that the issue was more than skin deep.

Fed up with having to compromise, Mrs. Dominic created Neveen Dominic Cosmetics with the goal of making all women look and feel beautiful, regardless of skin tone. The philanthropist and entrepreneur had a vision for celebrating and embracing multifaceted beauty and making accessible cosmetics for diverse women.

Naveen is the author of "Beauty from the Ashes of War: Testimony of God's Love and Dreams Come True", and the recipient of the True Beauty Foundations's "Woman of Inspiration and Impact Community Spirit Award", and one of 23 finalists for the 2018 Mompreneur awards.

MARK LAISURE

Mark Laisure is CEO of Vortex Immersion Media, Producer and Co-Host of The LIFE CHANGES Show and an award winning entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker.

His passion thrives in service of others and amongst life changing technologies and conscious immersive content. Mark spent his early career around Wall Street as principle with Firms such as UBS Paine Webber and Wellington Shields & Co.  and has been a guiding force within several start-ups, takeovers, and turn-arounds most notably; Inktomi Corporation (acquired by Yahoo!), Emmy Award winning Teranex (video processing), Mesh Networks (mobile WiFi, acquired by Motorola,) Theseus Logic (clock-less semiconductor acquired by Camgian Networks,) Skycross (award winning antenna technology,) Zeros & Ones, Inc. (digital convergence) and ONEHOPE Wine (cause centric commerce).

Mark has received numerous awards as an entrepreneur and inventor including; A Prime Time Emmy for technological innovation in film and television processing, R & D 100 award (The Oscar’s of Inventing) and Businessweek Magazine Product of the Year.

Recently, Vortex teamed with James Hood to produce “Mesmerica.”  James is renowned as a vital and versatile musical pioneer. His lengthy and varied musical resume includes playing drums in “The Pretenders,” an ongoing two-decades-plus run as mastermind of the visionary ambient/electronica act “Moodswings,” and an expansive array of production and soundtrack projects. Mesmerica is a musical journey that will take you deep into the beautiful space that is your higher self.  James will be touring “Mesmerica” globally in 2018 with performances planned at planetariums and immersive domes worldwide. 

Terry Hollimon also known as T-Holla, grew up with in an athletic family. Both him and his brothers played college football and his dad played professional football. Having a passion for acting and entertaining, his peers remembered him as a thespian in high school. With football being his number one passion, acting and entertaining would be considered his 1-A. His family fully supports the Barbershop Movement for what it represents and because they know how much entertaining and football means to him. His family considers it a blessing that Terry gets to enjoy doing what he loves for a living.

It was tough at first in the beginning to have people understand their vision and to see what they were talking about. They wanted to create a platform where they can talk about sports in a fashion where it is understandable to the average person. The average soccer mom can understand a football game better by listening to the Barbershop then they can from someone who has been talking football for the last 15 to 20 years. That was their biggest hurdle.

His long term goal for the Barbershop is to see it grow and to be on television with a worldwide audience

Fun Facts: He got to meet Marcus Trufant through his younger brother who played football with Marcus in college. Terry is a HUGE family man!