Good Advice Helped Showbiz Talent Survive Pandemic

Principal and Business Manager

Abacus Financial Business Management  

With the pandemic disrupting employers, Anakwenze finds that talent pay that used to arrive in weeks can now take months. “It’s creating cash-flow issues,” she says. “Clients have to be prepared and get in front of it.” Her clients include Jay Ellis (“Top Gun: Maverick”) and “ET” co-hosts Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner. Anakwenze also reps behind-the-camera film/TV talent, actors, digital influencers and executives in events and concerts.

Avoiding the squeeze: Even wealthy talent can get squeezed if their money is locked down in investments. Los Angeles-based Anakwenze counsels creating living-expenses reserves and, of course, pressing employers to pay up.

Krant: Managing and Founding Partner

Levin, Lee: Managing Directors

Goldstein, Stark: Partners

Hoffman: Senior Partner

Adeptus Partners

Clients include John Legend and his wife, Chrissy Teigen, Jessica Simpson, Imagine Dragons, Wyclef Jean, Derek Hough, Edie Falco and fashion designer John Varvatos. The practice led by Krant spans entertainment, sports, media and fine arts. He is joined by Levin, Lee, Goldstein, Stark and Hoffman. They handle individuals, productions, music touring, valuation work including for music catalogs and non-profits. The firm’s base is in Manhattan, with offices in Asbury Park, N.J.; Jericho, Long Island; Marina del Rey, Calif.; and suburban Washington, D.C.

No horror stories: Clients are more concerned about their personal financial affairs, Krant says, because they’re aware of personal-finance horror stories of showbiz figures. “Most of them are very financially savvy and they don’t want to be taken advantage of.”

Coehlo: Partner-in-Charge, Business Management

Pelton: Director, Business Management

Abramowitz, Manzino, Rosen, Levin, Zayon, Cai: Partners, Business Management

Catherine: Director, Business Management

Armanino

If someone has a question about a cutting-edge investment such as bitcoin, NFTs or cannabis, Armanino has the expertise. One of the clients it services is a leading cryptocurrency exchange and another’s a cannabis tax group that contributed to a 250-page treatise for Thompson Reuters exploring the 33 states that tax marijuana sales. It’s just one of the benefits of being part of one of the top 25 largest accounting and consultancy firms in the country. The Armanino team handles a large collection of execs, writers, producers, directors, actors, musicians, athletes, talent management and production companies and high-net-worth individuals. Within the group, there’s a variety of specialties. For instance, Abramowitz’s roster includes a world-famous celebrity dermatologist, Pelton works primarily with music business clients, Levin’s accounts include the owners of several major retail brands, Cai specializes in trusts and estates and Zayon has Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

Gloves on: “Our business management practice acts like a boutique firm within a much larger organization because it requires a hands-on, white-glove concierge-type of service,” Coehlo says.

Real estate roulette: During the pandemic, de Leon says, older clients who were renters in New York City sought homes in the region but “kept getting outbid. It was hectic and stressful.” Bell adds that residence-buying clients were upsizing at prices “at least double what they sold their old homes for,” but were staying in the region.

Back to normal: Although much of the firm’s work is still done remotely, Stoll looks forward to recapturing “the sense of community we had pre-pandemic. We miss seeing each other in person.”

Partner

Business Wealth & Tax Management

Shaheen handles business for a sizeable roster of clients, including rappers IDK and Burna Boy; Jamil Davis, CEO, the Revels Group and co-founder of Black Music Action Coalition; producer Kenny Beats; and director Gibson Hazard. He reports that the recovery from the pandemic is going better than expected because during last year’s lockdowns “the majority of our entertainment clients worked hard producing an arsenal of content, and now they’re starting to reap the benefits of unlocking these creative treasure chests.”

Futurecast: “In 2022, I think we’ll see more people giving and supporting one another, as well as more cryptocurrency, blockchain, real estate and metaverse disruptions!”

Keeping the team: “At the core of our success is our staff,” Venerus says. “We made a commitment to not make any reductions during the pandemic and coming through it, it has helped us to really thrive. I can’t say enough good things about our team.”

Partners

Callas & Carlson

Long view: “The stock market continues to defy the odds; residential real estate in the large epicenters has seen tremendous growth,” says Carlson commenting on the business landscape.

Segreto: Partner & Entertainment, Music, and Sports Practice Leader

Herrmann, Sullivan, Mejia, Cammarano: Partners

Citrin Cooperman

The quintet’s clients include Chevy Chase, Damien Chazelle, Ana de Armas, Guillermo del Toro, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Mendes, Liam Neeson and Martin Scorsese. In a generational passing of the baton, Segreto became practice leader in February, responsible for monitoring industry developments, growing the overall practice and still serving some clients. Herrmann segued to senior partner and is known for expertise in financial market investments. Sullivan has a hybrid practice in film/TV and also music. Mejia handles client work internationally. Promoted to partner a year ago, Cammarano is also leader of the sports practice. Segreto finds client work is increasingly mobile, leaving home states and sometimes moving overseas. “Today’s business manager has to represent clients’ affairs in a global arena that requires additional expertise for compliance and taxation.” Segreto, Herrmann, Sullivan and Cammarano are based in New York; Mejia in Beverly Hills.

Expansion: In January, West Los Angeles-based Goren, Marcus, Masino & Marsh joined the Citrin Cooperman team.

Second look: “Not only has [the pandemic] made our client more cost-conscious, it’s given us an opportunity to re-evaluate investment strategies.”

Tunes to cash: “For older clients, it gives them an opportunity to convert their music rights for significant cash today on a favorable tax basis.”

Glass: Vice Chair

Malek, Malek: Managing Directors

The Colony Group

The trio is based in Brentwood, Calif. Glass handles touring acts, singer-songwriters, recording artists, TV/film talent and execs; many have been clients for 30 years. Pam Malek focuses on touring and aids music talent in evaluating monetization of their music publishing/recording rights. Amir’s practice spans music talent, writers, TV and film talent, execs and high-net-worth individuals. With the pandemic putting the kibosh on concerts, Glass worked to help music clients generate money from their personal intellectual property.

What happened to Jerry? For actors, Glass says business managers need to help clients grasp Hollywood’s new economics. “They might do more shows for the year, but get smaller income per show. There aren’t as many ‘Seinfelds’ as before.”

TV rising: Clients that used to talk up films as passion projects increasingly warm to TV series, “which enjoy growing prestige.”

Partners

David Weise & Associates, Division of NKSFB

Weise and Sabbagh run a music centric-practice. Clients include Alice in Chains, Coldplay, Common, Deadmau5, Carole King, Korn, Usher, Lil Wayne and the Weeknd. During the pandemic, Sabbagh helped clients revise finances as concert paydays disappeared.

Benefits: Some pandemic aid programs have broad eligibility criteria. “Be on the lookout for anything that could be available for clients and then take a shot,” says Sabbagh.

Seeing them through: As clients reeled from the COVID crisis, Davis found that her job also required therapeutic soothing. “When you add in the pandemic, you end up talking with clients on a more emotional level.”

Worldwide business: “I have one client that lives in Mexico City, starring in one of the Marvel movies filming in Atlanta, and a director who was based in South Africa that’s here directing a limited series on Netflix,” says Peyrot. His personal roster also includes TV creator/showrunner Rob Thomas (“Veronica Mars”), writer-producer Gary Janetti (“Family Guy”), actors Giancarlo Esposito (“The Mandalorian”) and Tiffany Boone (“Hunters”). Pariser works with indie labels and musicians as well as film and television producers including Matt Tolmach and Michael Edelstein. Dunn, who founded the firm in 1996, works with clients including actor Randall Park (“WandaVision”) and manages the financials of EatWell, a Canadian plant-based food company he co-founded.

Boos: Co-Owner, Business Manager, Chairman

Cheek: Co-Owner, Business Manager, President

Clark: Co-Owner, Business Manager, Vice Chairman

Rosa: VP, Royalties and Contract Compliance

Barnabee: Director of West Coast Operations

McCready: Founding Co-Owner, Business Manager

Romano, Boyer: Co-Owners, Business Managers, VPs

Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy

Boos, Cheek, Clark, McCready, and Boyer are based at the Nashville headquarters; Rosa and Barnabee work in L.A.; and Romano in New York. News reports indicate the firm’s clients include Eric Church, Luke Combs, Kesha, Kings of Leon, the Tom Petty estate, Rage Against the Machine and Blake Shelton. Boos oversees FBMM’s staff in three offices, sets corporate strategy and handles music clients. Cheek sets the vision for client service and manages music clients worldwide. Clark handles clients, works FBMM’s strategic plan and is a two-time winner of the Country Music Assn.’s Business Manager of the Year award. Rosa leads the royalty group, evaluates music catalog values and oversees contract compliance and royalties. Barnabee works business management. McCready handles clients, and became the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s board chair in August and was honored with Variety’s Business Manager Elite Award for 2018. Romano develops new income sources for clients. A former recording artist, Boyer is a business manager active in music and film.

Full service: The cutback in touring during the pandemic tested whether the industry had prepared clients for rainy days, Boos says. “Business managers were the star of the show last year,” she says. Boos also observes that business managers are part accountants, part finance educators and part psychologist for clients.

Music expertise: Curry’s client roster is about 65% music-related and 30% film and TV. A former lawyer at Universal Music, he uses his expertise to help facilitate music catalog sales.

Values-based: Meyer helps his roster navigate tools that help their investments match their values — environmental, social and governance. “That’s something that’s new, cutting edge and has resonated with clients,” he says.

Founding Partner

Freemark Financial

Clients include Activist Artist Management; marketing execs David Droga and Omar Johnson; influencer Anastasia Karanikolaou; and Southern rock duo Larkin Poe. Rodriguez handles music, production companies, ad agencies and high-net-worth outside Hollywood. A growing slice of his practice is consulting for companies. For example, clients may ask “should we open another office or not?”

Collaboration: “They want us to think with them about their businesses and look ahead,” he says.

Fulton: Founding Partner

Ricin, Gilbert-Aranoff: Partners

Fulton Management

The team at Fulton Management handles some big names in front of and behind the camera (Chris Hemsworth, Channing Tatum, Taika Waititi, Mayim Bialik, Taran Killam), along with top social-media influencers (Rhett & Link, Emily Ratajkowski) and major athletes (Conor McGregor). But, because it bills clients on an hourly basis, it also attracts a large number of young, up-and-coming talent from all corners of the media world, including platforms such as TikTok. Fulton founded the Encino, Calif.-based firm in 1990, and brought in Gilbert-Aranoff in 2005. Ricin joined as a bookkeeper more than two decades ago and was named partner in 2015.

Future-proofing: “It’s still a little bit of the wild west out there as far as that type of client goes,” Fulton says. “It always starts out with a conversation about how you’re doing, things are getting better and better and you’re making good money, but don’t plan on this lasting forever.”

Beem, Brown, Crow, Goodman, Hibbert, Lloyd, Morton: Managing Directors, Los Angeles

Pamer: Managing Director, New York

Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman

Gelfand, Rennart & Feldman has a large team of business managers serving client needs that have shifted and grown in unusual ways as the global pandemic has waxed and waned. Since the lockdowns lifted, one of the big challenges has been helping clients deal with shortages of everything from crew members and buses for live tours to personal assistants and nannies at home. “I’ll do anything I can to help my clients to make sure that they feel supported and successful, whether it’s calling up agencies, interviewing nannies or reaching out to friends to look for staff, asking, ‘Do you know anybody?’” says Morton. In the L.A. office, Morton, Beem, Brown, Goodman and Hibbert handle a variety of touring musicians and singer-songwriters, actors, writers, directors, entrepreneurs and YouTube and social-media influencers, while Crow has multi-hyphenate Jordan Peele, actors Olivia Holt and Alan Tudyk, and Norwegian songwriting and music production team Stargate. In  New York, Pamer has a roster rich with music, fashion, film and television and talent.

New initiatives: Whether it’s due to more downtime or reduced revenue streams, across the board clients have been getting more entrepreneurial, post-COVID. “Clients that never thought about doing brand deals are doing more entrepreneurial things like their own product lines,” Morton says.

Negotiation boost: “What we’ll often do is calculate the effect of potential reversion on an artist’s catalog to assist them in negotiations with the record companies or publishers,” he says.

Go easy on crypto: While Garelick is proud of how adeptly the company has kept in step with the times, he cautions clients to go slowly with some things including cryptocurrency. “I tell our clients a small allocation based on their risk tolerance and in their portfolios is OK,” he says.

Giving back: Gordon & Associates includes a philanthropic arm. Gordon follows the advice of her grandmother “who taught us that it’s better to give than to receive.”

Female presence: In a male-dominated industry, the firm has a relatively large number of women partners with long tenures.

Mobility: While his clients have remained largely the same, McIlwee says the pandemic has changed their lives. “People, especially talent, are realizing they can shoot a series somewhere for four months and be somewhere completely different for the other six or eight,” he says.

Crypto risks: One client was paid by a blockchain company in cryptocurrency warrants, “which is speculative and can be fruitless,” says Schneider. “But in this instance, his service fee is six to eight times his original deal.”

Getting it done: “I’ve had a lot of my clients for a very long time now, and they like the way we’re doing the job,” she says.

Bridge over troubled waters: Cattalini says during financial uncertainty, client ears are particularly attuned to advice. So amid the lockdown it was back to prioritizing spending. That meant telling clients “it’s not that you can’t have certain things, but you can’t have them all at once.”

Artist power: With the pandemic shutting down concert tours, Kobay says clients improved their residences or bought new ones, finding they could be productive and make a living from home. In business, clients increasingly focus on owning their output in social media, music and licensed merchandise. “Traditionally, creatives only got a small piece of that,” Kobay says. “Usually, the ownership was held by a large corporation.”

Big shake-up: “The pandemic put a lot of people into crisis mode and drove them to either seek out or change business managers who could handle things that others might not have been able to handle before, whether it be PPP loans or something else,” says Campos, who worked with the Kardashian-Jenner clan for more than a decade, helping build out their brand and grow their businesses. Adovasio specializes in music industry clients, while Sinorayan’s strength is in comedy, and Campos works with “all of the above.”

Gelon: Managing Partner

Smith: Partner-in-Charge — Business Management

Glodney, Lee: Partners

Sroka: Principal

Mann Gelon Glodney Gumerove Yee

The firm’s clients include TV series creators, actors, writers, producers, directors, musicians, athletes and social-media influencers. Behind the scenes, the practice boasts a balance of seasoned vets and next-gen employees. Glodney has been with the firm since 1994. Lee joined about four years ago, bringing with her expertise in handling the estates of the rich and famous. Smith came aboard in 2015 and frequently works on his film, TV, social media, sports and music clients with Sroka, who arrived in last year.

The taxman cometh — not: “We’re laser-focused on the implementation of California AB 150, which will provide tax relief for our clients who have been unable to deduct their state taxes since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2018,” says Smith.

Direct contact: Blakeman observes that consumer marketers increasingly contact talent directly to start negotiations for celebrity ambassador gigs, and then talent quickly brings business managers into the conversation along with their lawyers and agents. “That’s a little different for business managers than a few years ago,” he says.

Hear your clients:  Ruffalo listens closely “because sometimes they have an insight that’s really valuable.” She investigates ideas afterward to help clients weed out the bad initiatives.

Partners

A changed world: “COVID has blurred everything,” says Mark, adding that his email inbox is as full on weekends as weekdays. Client gigs recently tilted to more non-standard deals, requiring more attention, such as jobs with video streamers where the compensation template is different from the systems of traditional Hollywood.

Complicated lives: Klarberg says client affairs are becoming more complex. For example, actors dive into tech ventures requiring “a holistic approach to every realm of their professional life.”

What’s ahead: Neuman looks to bonuses linked to premium-VOD revenue generated by films credited with lifting streamer subscriber counts.

Bolno specializes in music and athletes, including crafting business plans for recording and music publishing startups. Karlin handles executives including for contract negotiations, and film/TV and music talent.  Vaughn focuses on film/TV talent, music talent and playwrights. Tyler handles music clients including helping them structure business entities. Matt Segal’s clients are athletes and Hollywood talent. Oppenheim is focused on music talent including touring and film/TV talent. Gudvi, who was Variety’s Business Managers Elite Honoree last year, handles Hollywood and sports clients.

Upward pressure: America’s shortage of job applicants hit the business manager industry too, says Mickey Segal, pushing up salaries. Executive search firms are more active and job-hopping has picked up. From the employer perspective, Segal notes, “We’re all driving each other’s employee costs because the search firms are presenting [candidates] to us at a substantial increase, many in the range of 20%-30%.”

Smith: Partner — Entertainment Industry Leader

Kolbrenner: Managing Partner — Los Angeles

Parramore, Winters: Partners

Carter, Stenseth: Principals

Coyne: Director

Prager Metis

Smith focuses on music, entertainment and TV companies and litigation services. Kolbrenner specializes in music/touring, entertainment clients and royalty audits. Parramore handles entertainers, music, athletes and non-profits. Winters is focused on entertainment, music and athletes with specialties in tax planning, forensic accounting and litigation support. Carter covers music, entertainment and athlete clients. Stenseth concentrates on entertainment and music clients with specialties in taxation and retirement planning. Coyne handles entertainment, artist management companies, music execs, athletes, venture capital deals, cryptocurrency and digital assets.

Raising awareness: Smith says the year was marked rising valuations for music publishing/royalty streams. He says it’s smart for creatives to cultivate higher re-sale prices after the initial transaction to stoke interest in new NFTs.

Senior Managing Director

Provident Financial Management

Siegel, who is Variety’s 2021 Business Managers Elite Honoree, has built a roster that includes Al Pacino, Mike Judge, David Mamet and Des McAnuff. He also has many music artists, including longtime clients Air Supply and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, many of whom have expressed interest in exploring the red-hot market for music catalog sales.

Don’t sell it all: “If they’re still active in the business, we advise our clients to never sell 100% of their income source, because that way they have an interest in continuing to promote their business, and when they do new product, it helps sell older product,” he says.

Senior Managing Director

Provident Financial Management

Vuylsteke’s musician-rich roster had its touring business shut down by the pandemic last year, but it came roaring back in 2021 with clients ranging from Green Day and Weezer to Sheryl Crow hitting the road, giving him a crash course in COVID-19 concert protocols. He’s also been busy with the booming market for musicians’ publishing and recording catalogs, assisting on $350 million-plus worth of deals for clients and non-clients alike.

Untangling rights: “Initially, you’re figuring out what they own and what their titles actually are and getting it to the point where people can understand it,” says Vuylsteke, whose other clients include Shakira, Lucy Liu and talent manager Guy Oseary.

State of the biz: “It’s an exciting time for art and artists,” he says. “The pandemic has allowed them to reset, relax and create. Their work will be a historical and cultural archive of the challenging times.”

The firm handles entertainment talent in front of and behind the camera, touring comedy including four of the top 10 grossers, talent management, entertainment attorneys and digital content creators. DerParseghian is one of few women in charge of a firm in the sector. Power, the only still-active founding partner, works big client transactions. Brown is focused on Hollywood talent, multi-hyphenates and touring clients. Jenkins handles live touring comedians and entertainers and an expanding podcast and digital-media practice. Calbay leads the team for domestic/international taxation. As clients found their world turned upside-down in the pandemic, Jenkins says business managers helped them budget for the worst while hoping for the best.

Ultimate discretion: Business managers are unique confidantes because of societal taboos not to reveal personal money matters to peers, friends and even family, Jenkins says. “What we do is both ends of the spectrum, both business and personal, although only ‘business’ is in our job titles.”

Content everywhere: The recent content explosion has been good for business, with some clients doing as many as 20 additional shows a year just for streaming services. “Once the streamers are happy with the production company, they want to give them as much as possible,” Reback says.

Partners

Savitsky Satin Bacon & Bucci

The Century City-based quartet handles film and TV producers, writers, directors, actors and executives; professional athletes; digital influencers; and the wealthy outside entertainment. The firm is owned by insurance broker/consultancy NFP. Anderson has clients in the digital media and beauty space, TV/film writers, producers, Hollywood execs, and families; and specializes in business planning for digital media creators. Singartiyska handles an array of clients and high-net-worth individuals, with particular expertise on international tax planning. Bacon focuses on studio execs, producers, directors, actors, screenwriters, musicians, composers, photographers and publishers. Kroll’s clientele works before and behind the camera and encompasses writers, managers, songwriters, composers, influencers and athletes.

Office bliss: What started as a “lunch buddy” assignment for partner Jeff Bacon in 1991 to acclimate a then-new employee blossomed over time to a 1994 marriage to Andréa Bacon.

President

SFG Business Management

Clients include director-producer Anthony Hemingway (“Red Tails,” “Genius: Aretha”), cinematographer and producer David Miller (“Veep,” “Mr. Mayor”), director-producer Greg Mottola (“Superbad,” “Confess, Fletch”) and talent manager/producer Rory Rosegarten (“Everybody Loves Raymond”). Guber says the slowing job market because of the pandemic allowed his clients more time to scrutinize work offers, as well as put more effort into personal passion projects.

Conservative measures: With the Delta variant and Hollywood labor uncertainty clouding the economic outlook, Manhattan-based Guber says, “We’re advising clients to once again dig in and reassess their spending habits. While we can’t control the inflow, we can control the outflow.”

Surprise growth: While the pandemic may have been the worst of times in many ways, Shephard says it was a surprisingly prosperous period for his clients. “So long as your business manager is flexible, not tied to any particular strategy, everyone seems to be finding their wealth has increased,” he says.

Positive social impact: With the boom in real estate, Harichandran says clients need to efficiently handle taxes on the big gains in properties purchased over the past five to 10 years. “Rolling over these investments into Opportunity Zones has not only provided tax benefits but achieved positive social impact,” Harichandran says.

Josephs: Director, Business Management

Link: Partner, Business Management

SingerLewak

The firm can trace its history back to 1959 Los Angeles and over the decades it has spread out to 15 offices across five states. However, its business management and sports and entertainment department is still based in L.A. and for the most part still handles the traditional collection of actors, directors, film and TV producers, music artists, producers and athletes. But in recent years it has experienced an influx of social media influencers and other digital-first entrepreneurs such as podcasters who have their own economic quirks, which, it turns out, gave them an economic edge during the lockdown.

Digital leads the way: “Advertising and marketing companies allocate budgets way in advance, so they had budgets already set aside [for social media] and maybe even reallocated budgets from things like live events and put them into new digital marketing opportunities because you can do those remotely,” Josephs says. “You also have the consumers who are spending money on things like subscriptions, like merch, so [digital talent] did pretty well.”

Exit sign: “They just felt the state wasn’t as conducive to raising a family as it once was. But I think they may discover down the line that the grass is a little greener in California,” says Shapiro.

Planning for the missing backend: Fouladi points out that traditional Hollywood work provided downstream bonuses — the so-called backends not typically found in streaming deals — that would cover later employment gaps. “It’s more imperative for clients to have a savings plan and that they don’t spend every dollar as it comes in,” he says.

New streams: In June, college athletes were allowed to license their name-image-likeness, and he predicts these “are going to be amazing sources of revenue.” He’s the only non-attorney on the New York City Bar’s entertainment law committee navigating digital expansion.

Independence is best: Klein is no fan of consolidation sweeping the business manager industry. He says merging firms “present an inherent conflict of interest and take away from the true philosophy of being an independent fiduciary to our clients.” That includes limiting competition and favoring in-house service providers.

Access to Topline’s top: “One of our biggest calling cards is, when you come on board with Topline, you have complete access to me and my business partner Bryan Meyer.”

The big one: “Everyone wants to catch that next app or next brand on the way up,” Yorkshire says.