Dena Robbins found the perfect pad for - well, she can't really say, you understand, but a star, a BIG star, acting in a major motion picture production shooting in Philly.
Jack Nicholson, perhaps? Reese Witherspoon? Owen Wilson? Maybe Dev Patel? They're all involved in movie shoots this summer, right?
She's not telling. "It can't come from the film office," she says as she visits luxury hotels and a house that might work for an art director.
The 70-year-old Robbins is the Diva of Domiciles at the 10-person Greater Philadelphia Film Office, a role that requires exemplary discretion. She's as hush-hush as the Secret Service, or the staff at the Four Seasons.
Officially director of resources, she's the go-to gal to find the perfect Main Line manse or Center City condo for that demanding A-list actor or that "above-the-line" (read: important) director who must have a gourmet kitchen.
"They have definite fuss points," Robbins allows.
Without naming names, of course, she offers tidbits: One actor took a condo in Center City because it was a walk to the grocery store. He wanted to cook his own meals and connect with fans.
Others have preferred the secluded mansion on 25 acres. Views matter. Many require connecting suites for security. Some just want fresh air.
"You'd be surprised," Robbins says. "A number of people will not stay in a hotel where the windows don't open."
When asked about over-the-top requests, she first shrugs off the question. "After doing this so long, I don't find any of the requests over the top," she says.
There must be something, Dena. Details!
Well, she had one client who wanted a house with an elevator, a gym, and a brand-new kitchen. Another wanted an indoor swimming pool.
No matter. Robbins can deliver all through a deeply cultivated network of friends and associates that keeps her in the know: who's away, who's on the market, who's interested, and therefore what's available.
Her part-time gig goes into overdrive when a major movie, or several, are due to arrive, as in the last several weeks. (The Last Airbender, The Best and the Brightest, and Stringbean & Marcus have been shooting, and an untitled James L. Brooks project arrives this week.) Then she spends all of her time ("I've worked 10 days in a row") scouting accommodations for everyone from the stars to grips.
"What I do is so much about relationships," she says.
Philadelphia is one of only a few U.S. film offices to have staff dedicated to housing for cast and crew, movie sources say. Neither New York nor Miami, both film meccas, has such a position.
"When productions come in and I tell them we have a housing person, they say, 'What?' " says local Jason Pinardo, line producer for The Best and the Brightest.
"It's an absolute asset," he says. "You have talent and producers used to a very specific standard of living, one not easy to come by in the short term. They have to be made comfortable."
Robbins' gift is access, Pinardo says. When Nicolas Cage (National Treasure) needed a place to crash, Pinardo said, "Every penthouse in the city, the doors were thrown wide open. It had nothing to do with me. It had very little to do with Nicolas Cage. It had to do with Dena. People like doing business with her."
As the city's silver-screen industry has flourished, Robbins has had to work the phones from her winter retreat in Florida. She recently got an assistant, daughter-in-law Skosh Robbins, who scours the far suburbs.
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