Thomas Cahill (soccer)

Thomas W. Cahill (December 25, 1864 — September 29, 1951) was one of the founding fathers of soccer in the United States, and is considered the most important administrator in U.S. Soccer before World War II.
Cahill formed the United States Football Association in 1913, which would later become the United States Soccer Federation. In 1916 he became the first coach of the United States men's national soccer team. Cahill was enshrined in the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1950.
Early life.
Thomas Cahill was born in New York City, but moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1871. He was of Irish descent. He attended St. Louis University and built a reputation as one of the pre-eminent amateur athletes in the country. Originally favoring running and baseball, he became interested in soccer after witnessing a game involving a team visiting from Toronto.
In 1897, Cahill founded St. Louis Shamrocks which competed in the St. Louis Association Foot Ball League. They won the league title in 1899 and 1900. Although he owned Shamrocks, he also managed several other team including St. Louis Spalding's in 1903-04 and Diel F.C. during the 1904–05 season.
Soccer in the United States.
Cahill returned to the East Coast and settled in Newark, New Jersey in 1910.
Cahill decided to establish a national governing body for soccer. He was the secretary and one of the founders of the American Amateur Football Association, one of the governing bodies vying for sole status as the nationally recognized governing body. He traveled to Stockholm in 1912 to attend FIFA's ninth annual congress where he applied for the American Amateur Football Association, to become the U.S. national governing body. Cahill's efforts were opposed by a representative from the American Football Association, a rival also attempting to become the nationally recognized body. FIFA did not immediately resolve the dispute, and urged Cahill and the AAFA to work with the AFA to create a solution.
Cahill ultimately achieved his goal, however, when the United States Football Association was formed on April 5, 1913, at a meeting at the Astor House hotel in New York. The USFA would later become the United States Soccer Federation. Cahill served three separate terms as the Executive Secretary of the USFA; 1913–1921, 1923–1924 and a final term in 1928.
Cahill was the editor of Spalding's annual Official Soccer Football Guide from 1912 to 1924.
In 1916 he became the first coach of the United States men's national soccer team, taking a team for a tour of Scandinavia. The United States played its first official international match under the auspices of U.S. Soccer on August 20, 1916, against Sweden in Stockholm, which the U.S. won 3–2, with goals from Dick Spalding, Charles Ellis and Harry Cooper.
In 1921 Cahill was instrumental in forming the American Soccer League, which was the first serious attempt to establish a professional league in the United States. He served as the organization's secretary from 1921 to 1926. The American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For several years The ASL's popularity rivaled the popularity of the National Football League. Disputes with the United States Football Association and the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 led to the league's collapse in spring 1933.
Cahill's star faded, however. He was passed over for manager of the U.S. national team at the 1928 Olympics and the 1930 World Cup.
Cahill died in 1951 in South Orange, New Jersey.
Works.
Cahill was editor of several books in the Spalding Athletic Library collection which was published by American Sports Publishing Co.


Sumner Redstone

Sumner Murray Redstone ( Rothstein; May 27, 1923 – August 11, 2020) was an American billionaire businessman and media magnate. He was the majority owner and chairman of the National Amusements theater chain. Through National Amusements, Redstone, up until his death, was, and his family remains, majority voting shareholder of mass media conglomerate ViacomCBS, in turn, the parent company of the Paramount Pictures film studio, the CBS television network, and various cable networks. According to "Forbes", as of April 2020, he was worth US$2.6 billion.
Redstone was formerly the executive chairman of both CBS and Viacom. In February 2016, at age 92, Redstone resigned both chairmanships following a court-ordered examination by a geriatric psychiatrist. He was ultimately succeeded by Les Moonves at CBS and Philippe Dauman at Viacom.
Early life and education.
Redstone was born to a Jewish family in Boston, Massachusetts, to Belle (née Ostrovsky) and Michael Rothstein. In 1940, his father changed the family surname from "Rothstein" to "Redstone" ("Red stone" is the translation of the Yiddish name, "Rothstein"). Michael Rothstein owned Northeast Theater Corporation in Dedham, Massachusetts (the forerunner of National Amusements) and the Boston branch of the Latin Quarter Nightclub.
Redstone attended the Boston Latin School, from which he graduated first in his class. In 1944, he graduated from Harvard College, where he completed the studies for his bachelor's degree in three years. Later, Redstone served as a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army during World War II with a team at the Signals Intelligence Service that decoded Japanese messages. After his military service, he worked in Washington, D.C., and attended Georgetown University Law Center. He transferred to Harvard Law School and received his law degree in 1947.
After completing law school, Redstone served as special assistant to U.S. Attorney General Tom C. Clark (who later served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1949 to 1967) and then worked for the United States Department of Justice Tax Division in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, and thereafter entered private practice. In 1954, he joined his father's theater chain, National Amusements and in 1967, he became CEO of the company. As the company grew, Redstone came to believe that content would become more important than distribution mechanisms: channels of distribution (in varied forms) would always exist, but content would always be essential (Redstone coined the phrase, "Content is king!") He invested in Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Orion Pictures, and Paramount Pictures (Redstone's Viacom would buy Paramount in the 1990s), all of which turned over huge profits when he chose to sell their stock in the early 1980s.
On March 29, 1979, he suffered severe burns in a fire at the Copley Plaza hotel, in Boston, but survived after 30 hours of extensive surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. Though he was warned that he might never be able to live a normal life again, eight years later he was fit enough to insist on playing tennis nearly every day and to launch a hostile takeover of Viacom. Redstone discussed the story of surviving the fire as a reflection of his strong determination and will to live.
Career.
Viacom.
Looking for a new business venture, Redstone set his sights on Viacom International, a company which he had already been buying stock in as an investment and was a spin-off of CBS in 1971 after the FCC ruled at the time that television networks could not syndicate programs following their network run (a ruling that has since been repealed). Viacom syndicated most of CBS's in-house productions (such as "Hawaii Five-O" and "Gunsmoke", as well as the pre-1960 Desilu Productions library which CBS acquired in 1960, "I Love Lucy" being among the acquired programs), but also found syndicating other programs highly lucrative, including most of Carsey-Werner Productions' shows ("The Cosby Show", "Roseanne", and "A Different World"), as well as syndicating shows for other companies (Columbia Pictures Television's "All in the Family" was one example, as was MTM Enterprises' "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"), and cable channels (Nickelodeon's "Double Dare" and "Finders Keepers", co-syndicated with 20th Television, were two examples).
Viacom also owned MTV Networks (formerly known as Warner-AMEX Satellite Entertainment), which owned MTV and Nickelodeon. In addition, other properties included Showtime Networks (a pay-television network similar to HBO and Cinemax) and The Movie Channel. Viacom acquired MTV Networks in 1985 for $550 million from Steve Ross' Warner Communications. (WCI bought American Express' share and then sold the entire entity to Viacom, as they felt that, in addition to losing money from the short-lived QUBE service, they could not make a lot of money from the venture and the bias of a studio owning cable channels would be a conflict of interest. The studio's stance changed in 1996, when as Time Warner it bought Turner Broadcasting.)
After a four-month hostile takeover in 1987, Redstone won voting control of Viacom.
Paramount Pictures.
Redstone's next acquisition was the purchase of Paramount Communications (previously Gulf+Western), parent of Paramount Pictures in 1994. He engaged in a bidding war with Barry Diller (former CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp) and John Malone (president of TCI/Liberty Media), and had to raise his bid three times. Some say that Redstone overpaid, but after he shed certain assets — the Madison Square Garden properties (which included the NBA's New York Knicks and the NHL's New York Rangers) to Charles Dolan's Cablevision and Simon & Schuster's educational publishing units to Pearson PLC — for almost $4 billion, Redstone turned Viacom's expenditure into a substantial profit. Under Redstone's leadership, Paramount produced such films as "Saving Private Ryan", "Titanic" (one of the highest-grossing films of all time and Best Picture Academy Award winner), "Braveheart" (Best Picture Academy Award), and "Forrest Gump" (also a Best Picture winner) and the creation of the hugely successful "" series of pictures.
Redstone replaced the team of Jonathan Dolgen and Sherry Lansing in 2004. After arriving at Paramount in 2005, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brad Grey led a return to fortune at the box office. He oversaw the creation or revitalization of several major franchises, including "Transformers", "Star Trek" and "Paranormal Activity". Paramount also forged productive relationships with top-tier filmmakers and talent including J. J. Abrams, Michael Bay and Martin Scorsese. The 2010 Paramount slate achieved much success with "Shutter Island" and a "True Grit" remake, reaching the biggest box office totals in the storied careers of Martin Scorsese and the Coen Brothers, respectively. In addition, during Grey's tenure, Paramount launched its own worldwide releasing arm, Paramount Pictures International, and has released acclaimed films such as "An Inconvenient Truth", "Up in the Air", and "There Will Be Blood".
The Paramount acquisition was only the tip of the iceberg. He purchased Blockbuster Entertainment, which included Aaron Spelling's production company and a huge library of films, much of which has been merged into Paramount Pictures. Blockbuster has now been spun off into its own independent entity. Redstone acquired CBS Corporation in 2000 and then spun it off as a separate company in 2005, taking with it all of Paramount's television shows and catalog.
In December 2005, Redstone announced that Paramount had agreed to buy DreamWorks SKG for an estimated $1.6 billion. The acquisition was completed on February 1, 2006. Subsequent financing brought Viacom's investment down to $700 million. The animation studio, DreamWorks Animation, was not included in the deal as it has been its own company since late 2004. However, Paramount had the rights to distribute films by DreamWorks Animation until 2013.
On June 1, 2012, Paramount Pictures renamed the Administration Building on the studio lot the Sumner Redstone Building in a dedication ceremony attended by employees of Paramount Pictures and Viacom.
CBS.
One of Redstone's largest acquisitions came in the form of Viacom's former parent, CBS. Former Viacom President and COO Mel Karmazin (who was then the president of CBS) proposed a merger to Redstone on favorable terms and after the merger completed in 2000, Viacom had some of the most diversified businesses imaginable. Viacom had assets in the form of broadcast networks (CBS and UPN), cable television networks (MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, MTV2, Comedy Central, BET, Nick at Nite, Noggin/The N, TV Land, CMT, and Spike TV), pay television (Showtime and The Movie Channel), radio (Infinity Broadcasting, which produced the Howard Stern radio shows), outdoor advertising, motion pictures (Paramount Pictures), television production (Spelling Entertainment, Paramount Television, Big Ticket Entertainment, CBS Productions, and Viacom Productions), and King World Productions (a syndication unit, which notably syndicates the runaway daytime hit, "The Oprah Winfrey Show", as well as "Dr. Phil", "Wheel of Fortune", and "Jeopardy!"), among others.
After CBS and Viacom split in 2006, Redstone remained chairman of both companies but two separate CEOs were appointed for each company.
Succession.
Redstone's trusts made it clear that his daughter, Shari Redstone (vice-chairwoman of the board of Viacom and CBS as well as president of National Amusements), was set to assume his role upon his death. However, a November 22, 2006, "New York Times" article indicated that Redstone was reconsidering his daughter's role. In 2007, they feuded publicly over issues of corporate governance and the future of the cinema chain.
Documents were made public which verify that, as part of a settlement from Sumner's first divorce, all of Sumner's stock is in irrevocable trusts that will be left for his grandchildren. On March 1, 2010, Sumner publicly confirmed that all of his stock would be left for his five grandchildren (Brandon Korff, Kimberlee Korff, Tyler Korff, Keryn Redstone, and Lauren Redstone).
Redstone made arrangements to step down as CEO of Viacom in 2006. After Mel Karmazin resigned in 2004, two heirs apparent were named: Co-President and Co-COO Les Moonves (who was number 2 to Karmazin at CBS; he was the former head of Warner Bros. Television and before that, Lorimar Television) and Co-President and Co-COO Tom Freston (who had been president and CEO of MTV Networks since 1987 and had been with the company since the formation of MTV Networks' precursor company, Warner-AMEX Satellite Entertainment). After the Viacom split was approved by the board on June 14, 2005, Les headed CBS Corporation, and Tom headed the second incarnation of Viacom, Inc.
On September 5, 2006, Redstone removed Freston as president and CEO of Viacom and replaced him with director and former Viacom counsel Philippe Dauman. Redstone also brought back former CFO Tom Dooley. This was surprising to many, as Freston had been seen by many as Redstone's heir apparent, and Redstone had touted that Freston would run the company after he retired. Redstone publicly stated that he let Freston go because of Viacom's lack of aggressiveness in the digital/online arena, lack of contact with investors, and a lackluster upfront (coupled with falling viewership) at MTV Networks.
In February 2016, at age 92, after a court-ordered examination by a geriatric psychiatrist whose findings were not publicly disclosed, Redstone relinquished the chairmanship of CBS to Moonves and the chairmanship of Viacom to Dauman. In May 2016, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Cowan dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Redstone was mentally incompetent, although the judge stated it was "not in dispute that Redstone suffers from either mild or moderate dementia"; in addition to this, his speech was severely impaired due to a bout with aspiration pneumonia in 2014. Two weeks later, another such lawsuit was filed in Massachusetts.
Holdings.
At the time of his death, Redstone owned over seventy percent of the voting interest of ViacomCBS. ViacomCBS was controlled by Redstone through National Amusements. Redstone sold his holdings of Midway Games, of over 89 percent, in December 2008.
Books.
Redstone's autobiography, "A Passion to Win" (co-written with author Peter Knobler), was published in 2001 by Viacom's Simon & Schuster. This book details Redstone's life from a young boy in Boston to the difficult takeover of Viacom and the problems he overcame in purchasing and managing both Blockbuster Video and Paramount Pictures. The book also recounts the CBS merger (Viacom was a spin-off company of CBS to syndicate its programs, and the subsidiary bought the parent almost 30 years later).
Viacom's broadcasting properties at the time of "A Passion to Win"s release included several radio stations and two TV stations: WBZ CBS 4, which had just become a CBS O&O through a merger with Westinghouse four years before Viacom and CBS merged, and WSBK UPN 38 in Redstone's hometown, Boston.
Political views.
A longtime Democratic supporter, with a history of donating to many Democratic campaigns, including regular donations to Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Redstone endorsed Republican George W. Bush over Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election, allegedly because he argued that Bush would be better for his company and the economy. Despite this public endorsement, he donated money to Kerry during the primaries and was involved in the Rathergate scandal meant to hurt Bush's reelection.
Philanthropy.
Redstone contributed over $150 million to various philanthropic causes.
Personal life.
In 1947, he married Phyllis Gloria Raphael. They had two children: Brent Redstone and Shari Redstone. In 1999, they divorced when Sumner was slapped with a 3 billion dollar divorce lawsuit which accused the mogul of adultery and cruelty. Sumner was seen with Hollywood producer, in Paris and was quoted as saying at the time that he "wanted to spend the rest of his life with Christine" As a result of the divorce, Sumner moved to Los Angeles where he continued to romantically pursue Peters. Peters went on to produce the hit romantic comedy "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" in Canada. As Sumner's patience ran out, he married Paula Fortunato, a former primary school teacher 39 years his junior. Sumner Redstone filed for divorce from her on October 17, 2008. Their divorce was finalized on January 22, 2009. Redstone owned a house in the Beverly Park area of Los Angeles, which he purchased in 2002 for $14.5 million.
In July 2010, Redstone was caught on tape trying to find the source of an apparently embarrassing leak within MTV. Redstone offered money and protection to a journalist if he would give up his source. Redstone had been pushing MTV management to give more airtime to the band the Electric Barbarellas. On the message, Redstone tells the reporter that "we're not going to kill" the source, adding "We just want to talk to him". The 87-year-old Redstone also told the reporter he would be "well rewarded and well protected" if he would reveal the source. Peter Lauria told NBC's "Today" show he would not do it. Viacom Inc. spokesman, Carl Folta confirmed to "Today" that it was Redstone's voice on the message and said he had made a mistake. A Viacom source told the "New York Post", "Sumner wants to be consequential. Sumner is really proud of what he did. This guy is loving it… He likes people to know he's still alive".
In August 2015, Redstone split with his live-in girlfriend, Sydney Holland, after five years together.
In January 2019, Redstone and his family settled with his former live-in companion Manuela Herzer. According to MarketWatch, "Herzer agreed to pay back $3.25 million of the tens of millions of gifts that Redstone gave her", and "the wide-ranging agreement ends all litigation between the two sides, who have been battling in the courts since the fall of 2015 when Redstone kicked Herzer out of his Beverly Hills mansion, replaced her as his health-care agent and wrote her out of his estate planning."
On August 11, 2020, Redstone died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 97.


Tommy Avallone

Tommy Avallone (born c. 1983) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for his work on the documentaries "I Am Santa Claus", "" and "Waldo on Weed".
Life and career.
Avallone was born and raised in Haddon Heights, New Jersey and graduated from Haddon Heights High School in 2001. At the age of 20 years he was running for mayor of his hometown.
Avallone's debut feature documentary, "I Am Santa Claus", premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival, in 2014. In 2018, he directed the feature documentary, . It had its international premiere at Hot Docs and was nominated at American Film Festival. In 2019, he directed the feature documentary, "Waldo on Weed", premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and was nominated at the Philadelphia Film Festival.
Filmography.
As Actor


Mike Caren

Michael Caren is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher, A&R representative, and music executive. He is the current CEO (and founder) of Artist Partner Group and Creative Officer at Warner Music Group. He is also the founder of the Artist Publishing Group and the former President of Worldwide A&R at Warner Music Group. Prior to that, Caren was the Executive Vice President of A&R at Atlantic Records and the co-president of Elektra Records. In addition to his work as a music executive, Caren has also written or produced numerous songs for artists including Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Kanye West, and others.
Early life.
Caren grew up in Beverly Hills, California. When he was 12 years old, he began DJing at local parties in his neighborhood. He attended Beverly Hills High School and worked at a cable radio and music video show on a local public access channel. While still in high school, at age 15, Caren was offered an internship at Interscope Records by Fade Duvernay. He also founded a Los Angeles-based high school and college marketing company called Skool Rules Promotions. He attended the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Career.
While interning at Interscope Records, Caren worked on the marketing campaigns for artists like Tupac Shakur. He then went on to work for Loud Records/RCA as a National High School/College Rep. Coordinator and then Ruthless Records as the National Marketing Manager. At age 17, he was offered a marketing job at Big Beat Records, owned by Atlantic Records. Caren took the job and moved from Los Angeles to New York City. During his time at Big Beat, he was also producing records for The Pharcyde, Heltah Skeltah, Saukrates, and several other hip hop artists. After two years in the marketing department, Caren switched over to A&R. Among the first artists he brought to Big Beat was Twista.
Caren would eventually be promoted to Executive Vice President of A&R at Atlantic Records in 2007. Some of the acts he signed included Trina, Sunshine Anderson, and Platinum-selling artist, Trick Daddy. He also discovered and signed Nappy Roots while the group was still attending school at Western Kentucky University. Over the course of his tenure at Atlantic, Caren has been responsible for signing numerous other artists including, T.I., Plies, Trey Songz, Flo Rida, Wiz Khalifa and others. He also founded the Artist Publishing Group, a boutique music publishing company in association with Warner/Chappell Music.
In 2009, Caren was named Co-President of the revived Warner-owned Elektra Records alongside John Janick. In his capacity as co-head of the label, he helped sign and work with artists like CeeLo Green, Bruno Mars, and Ed Sheeran. In 2012, Caren was named the Warner Music Group's President of Worldwide A&R. In this post, he was responsible for artist development across numerous record labels including Atlantic Records, Elektra Records, Warner Bros. Records, and many international affiliates. WMG's constituent record labels continued seeing success with artists like Bruno Mars, Flo Rida, Ed Sheeran, and B.o.B. In 2013, Caren launched Artist Partners Group, a sister-company to the Artist Publishing Group, which provides a variety of services to artists and producers including marketing, business development, mentoring, access to recording studios, and legal support.
In 2016, Caren was named the Creative Officer of the Warner Music Group. Under this title, Caren acts as an advisor to WMG's global A&R department and also continues to work directly with WMG artists like David Guetta and Jason Derulo (among others). WMG also made a multi-millionaire dollar investment in Artist Partners Group which houses acts like Kevin Gates and Charlie Puth. Over the course of his career, Caren has signed or co-signed 19 Platinum- or Gold-selling artists. His Artist Publishing Group, which maintains a roster of around 30 songwriters (including Caren himself), was responsible for 30 "Billboard" Hot 100 entries in 2015.


Bonnie Arnold

Bonnie Arnold is an American film producer and executive who has worked at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Pixar Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation. Arnold was born in Atlanta, Georgia and rose to prominence in Hollywood during the initial wave of computer-animation.
Life and career.
Arnold has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Georgia and a M.S. in journalism from Boston University. Her interest in journalism led her to her first professional assignment as unit publicist for American Playhouse's debut production, "King of America".: Arnold's first job on a Hollywood feature was as production coordinator for Neil Simon's "The Slugger's Wife", a 1984 film shot in Atlanta and produced by Ray Stark, who was responsible for many of Simon and Barbra Streisand's movie hits. "I got a real sense of filmmaking the Hollywood way," Arnold recalls. : From there, she freelanced in film production in Atlanta and met producer David Picker, who invited her to work at Columbia Pictures in Los Angeles. While working on a Tony Scott movie called Revenge at Columbia, Bonnie met Kevin Costner and ended up joining the Dances with Wolves production as associate producer. In 1992, Bonnie was recruited by Peter Schneider and John Lasseter to work on "Toy Story" for Disney. When "Toy Story" became a box office smash, she produced "Tarzan," overseeing a crew of 1,100 and a $130 million budget—four and a third times that of "Toy Story". In 2001, after she finished "Tarzan", Jeffrey Katzenberg invited Bonnie to produce "Over the Hedge" at DreamWorks Animation.
Bonnie continues to work on the "How to Train Your Dragon" franchise, for which she has received a Golden Globe Award and two Academy Award nominations.
After DreamWorks saw a series of financially disappointing films, DreamWorks Animation named Arnold co-president of feature animation in early 2015. Along with Mireille Soria, she is tasked with overseeing creative development and production of DWA's theatrical releases. In 2016, Soria stepped down from her role as co-president to return to producing, leaving Arnold the sole president of feature animation.
To date, Arnold’s films have grossed over $2.2 billion at the box office. She serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board of Boston University’s School of Communications and on the Board of Counselors at USC’s Annenberg School of Communications, as well as being a mentor for the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC. In addition, she is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Personal life.
Arnold resides in Santa Monica with her husband and daughter, Lily. Her favorite hobbies include playing tennis and reading anything by Mississippi writer Eudora Welty. She credits her interest in family movies to her mother, a teacher and avid film buff who often took her and her brother to watch movies at a theater where her uncle worked as a projectionist.


Jesse Alexander

Jesse Alexander is an American television writer and producer. He was a co-executive producer and writer on "Heroes". Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Alexander attended Sarah Lawrence College and AFI Conservatory. At Sarah Lawrence, he befriended J. J. Abrams, his collaborator on a number of projects.
Alexander became showrunner for "American Gods" starting with the second season, replacing Bryan Fuller and Michael Green. This was also his only season, replaced with Charles Eglee for season three.


Darhyl Camper

Darhyl “DJ” Camper (born May 25, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer.
Career.
Camper was born May 25, 1990 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the age of six, he began playing the piano. Raised in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey, Camper graduated from Oakcrest High School in 2008.
In 2011 Camper, co-produced the Big Sean single “Marvin & Chardonnay" which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In 2012, he received a Grammy Award nomination for co-producing singer Elle Varner’s “Refill." Subsequently, Camper worked with artists such as Tamar Braxton, John Legend, Nicki Minaj, and Jay-Z. In 2017, Camper collaborated with Mary J. Blige on her single "Thick of It" which topped the US Adult R&B Songs chart. The following year, he executive produced on English singer Jessie J’s album "R.O.S.E.". In 2019, Brandy consulted Camper to executive produce her album "B7".
Camper has been a resident of New Brunswick, New Jersey.


Kristine Belson

Kristine Belson is a film producer and the president of Sony Pictures Animation.
Belson's mother was a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and her father, Jerry Belson, was a comedy writer for television and film. Belson graduated from Trinity College in 1986.
In 2005, Belson joined DreamWorks Animation as head of development, where she oversaw the development and acquisition of all feature film projects for the company. There she also served as executive producer on "How to Train Your Dragon" (2010). Belson and her fellow producers were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for the 2013 film "The Croods".
In January 2015, she was named the president of Sony Pictures Animation, tasked to lead the development and production of existing and original materials.


Jeff Bowler

Jeff Bowler (born September 10, 1975 in Gardner, Massachusetts) is an American film and television producer best known for producing films such as "The Grand" and award-nominated programs such as "Inked" and "Driven".
Early Life and Family.
Jeffrey (“Jeff”) Bowler was born and raised in Winchendon and Gardner, Massachusetts. Jeff’s grandfather, Gordon Bowler, is well known as the founder of a fine boat and ship building business in New England in the 1920s.
When he was 9 years-old, Bowler worked as a print and live event model for the World Wrestling Federation in Boston.
Bowler attended University of Hawaii Maui College.
Career.
Bandai Entertainment.
At the age of 21, Bowler was a business development executive at Bandai, the world’s third largest toy manufacturer and owner of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
World Wrestling Entertainment.
After Bandai, Bowler went to work for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was Vice President of Business Development.
Foglight Entertainment.
Mr. Bowler founded Foglight Entertainment, based in Los Angeles and New York, in 2002. Bill MacDonald joined Foglight in 2003. Bowler and MacDonald produced and developed an MTV original movie about the founder of Napster, Shawn Fanning. They also developed and produced TV series with a number of networks and partners such as MTV, CMT, NBC, ESPN, E!, and others.
Jeff Bowler Productions.
From 2004 until 2010, Bowler was an indie film producer for his own company, Jeff Bowler Productions. During this time, Bowler produced a thriller, “Across the Hall,” with Brittany Murphy and “The Grand” with Woody Harrelson. He also produced a 3-D animated film called Sky Force with Lionsgate Films.
Typhoon Entertainment.
Jeff Bowler founded Typhoon Entertainment with partner Bill MacDonald. In 2004, Fox TV Studies signed a first-look production deal with Typhoon. At Typhoon, Bowler was the executive producer of the bio series “Driven” for VH1. Also for VH1, Typhoon set up the reality TV series “I’m in the…”.
The Exchange.
Film.
Bowler is one of the executive producers of the documentary “Unchained: The Untold Story of Freestyle Motocross.” Josh Brolin narrates the film.
In March 2014, Bowler and The Exchange’s CEO, Brian O’Shea, announced a deal with former William Morris agent Graham Kaye and Lake Forest Entertainment’s Elliot Michael Smith to work on a biopic about Steve McQueen. The film will be partially based on the 2010 biography written by Marshall Terrill entitled, “Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon”. Bowler will serve as a producer and financier for the film.
The Exchange announced, in May 2014, a deal to produce, package and sell a big budget reboot of Kickboxer, the classic 1989 action film. Jeff Bowler and Brian O’Shea are executive producers for the film, and martial artist and stunt man Alain Moussi will debut as the leading actor.
In May 2015, it was announced that a second Three Stooges film was in development, a sequel to the 2012 movie from 20th Century Fox. Bowler, along with O’Shea, are amongst the producers.
Television.
In January 2015, the US cable network Reelz purchased 104 episodes of Celebrated from Bowler and The Exchange. Celebrated is a half-hour weekday show profiling celebrities such as Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie, Russell Crowe and others, produced by Reboot TV. The program was the first deal made by Bowler & O’Shea since launching the company’s TV development division. Bowler is an executive producer on the series.
Storyboard Media.
In 2016, Jeff Bowler accepted an offer to become the CEO of Storyboard Media, a film and TV production, finance, and global sales company.
Associations.
Bowler is a member of the Producers’ Guild of America as well as a Freemason. He is one of the founders of “The Fox Think Tank.”
Personal life.
Jeff Bowler lives in the greater Los Angeles area. Jeff has four children whom he has been raising on his own since his early 20s.


Earl Lestz

Earl Spencer Lestz (August 23, 1938 June 6, 2017) was an American film studio executive who was President of the Studio Group at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles from 1985 to 2005. He was later the Master Planning Director of Plymouth Rock Studios, a new film and television studio being developed in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Lestz served as vice chair on the Executive Committee of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. In addition, he served as Chairman of the Board of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum, as Vice Chairman of the Hollywood Historic Trust, on the Board of Directors of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, and on the Board of Governors of Goodwill Industries of Southern California. He was a member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 2004, Lestz was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Biography.
Paramount.
As President of the Paramount Studio Group, Lestz transformed the studio operations from a several million dollar per year loss leader into a $50 million per year profit center by developing over of new facilities on the lot. This development included updating the studio's sound stages to attract television productions such as "Entertainment Tonight" and "Dr. Phil" and expanding the post production capacity of the studio fivefold. Lestz was also instrumental in developing Paramount's child care center, a first for a studio.
Plymouth Rock Studios.
Lestz acted as CEO of Plymouth Rock Studios, a film and television production studio that opened in 2010 and was located in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Lestz headed the project alongside David Kirkpatrick, former President of Production at Paramount Pictures. The project, a response to the film tax credit implemented by Governor Deval Patrick in Massachusetts in 2007, was predicted to create over 2,000 high-income jobs. As CEO, Lestz also oversaw smaller branch organizations under the umbrella of Plymouth Rock Studios, such as Rock Media and the Rock Educational Cooperative.
Earl Lestz died of a heart attack in 2017 at the age of 78.
External links.
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:American film directors]]
[[Category:American film studio executives]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Drexel University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]


Mark Ghuneim

Mark Ghuneim is an American internet entrepreneur. He is the former general manager of Twitter’s Curator, the founder and CEO of Wiredset, a digital marketing agency and technology incubator, and Trendrr, a social-media tracking service. He was previously senior vice president of online and emerging technology at Sony Music Entertainment.
Career.
Ghuneim began his career as program director and VJ at the 21st Street video nightclub Private Eyes in New York City. After positions at MTV's "120 Minutes," and Beggars Banquet/XL/4AD Records, a British independent label, he became vice president of video promotion for Columbia Records.
Sony Music.
In 1998 Ghuneim was the vice president of online and emerging technologies at Columbia Records. Ghuneim created and implemented online marketing campaigns for Columbia Records.
Ghuneim's tenure at Sony Music occurred as the music industry felt the growing influence of the internet and its effect on music distribution and consumption. His initiatives at Sony Music included the formation of an online and emerging-technologies group as well as innovations in online marketing and promotion, social networking and community management. During his tenure SonyMusic.com became a Top 10 comScore and Media Metrix destination.
Wiredset.
In 2004, Ghuneim left Sony Music Entertainment to launch Wiredset, a start-up digital services company for television networks, movie companies, publishers and emerging brands.
Wiredset also served as an incubator for emerging digital technologies, including Infofilter, a social-media analytics tool launched in 2006. At the time only two social sources - Delicious and Flickr - offered available Application programming interfaces. As Web 2.0 emerged, Infofilter evolved into a robust social analytics tool, rebranded as Trendrr in 2007.
Trendrr.
Trendrr, a Software as a service (SaaS) providing social media insights, became Wiredset’s primary business in 2009.
Twitter.
Trendrr was acquired by Twitter in August 2013 for an undisclosed sum. Ghuneim subsequently became General Manager of Twitter’s Curator, a position he held until early 2016.
Politics.
In 1997, Ghuneim founded Hacked.net. Ghuneim has worked with the American Civil Liberties Union and New York Civil Liberties Union to oppose surveillance in public spaces. He believes that people have a right to be anonymous in their interactions in public spaces. In June 2016 he helped curate the International Center of Photography's show “Public, Private, Secret.”


Frank Rogers (record producer)

Frank Mandeville Rogers V (born in Florence, South Carolina, United States) is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher and session musician. In 1990, Rogers moved to Nashville, attending Belmont University and graduating with a Music Business degree. While at Belmont, he met friend and future collaborator Brad Paisley. After graduation, Rogers went to work for EMI Nashville Productions and opened up Sea Gayle Music Publishing with Paisley and Chris DuBois. The successful publishing company, has over 300 cuts and 28 number one songs. The three business partners, in late 2009, also teamed up with Sony Nashville to form Sea Gayle Records, with a roster that includes Jerrod Niemann.
In 2016, Rogers founded Fluid Music Revolution, a venture with Spirit Music Group. Current writers include Justin Adams, Erik Belz, Ryan Creamer, Monty Criswell, Mike Fiorentino, Derek George, Palmer Lee, and Jason Lehning.
In 2018, Rogers was named CEO of Spirit Music Nashville.
Rogers has produced music for several country music performers since 1999, including Trace Adkins, Brad Paisley, Josh Turner, Hootie & the Blowfish lead singer Darius Rucker, Phil Vassar and Darryl Worley. His work has resulted in thirteen Country Music Association award nominations, with one win (for Album of the Year — Paisley's "Time Well Wasted" in 2006). Rogers has also received five Academy of Country Music awards (ACM), as well as "Billboard" magazine's #1 Hot Country Producer Award from 2006–2010 and "Music Row" magazine's Producer of the Year award in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Frank’s songwriting credits include Number One songs: "I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song)" by Brad Paisley, "Five More Minutes" & "This Is It" (co-written by Aaron Eshuis) by Scotty McCreery", Backroad Song" by Granger Smith, "Alright" and "This" by Darius Rucker. Other singles that Rogers co-wrote include Paisley's "Who Needs Pictures" and "Me Neither," Rucker's "History in the Making," Trace Adkins' "Don't Lie" and "Swing," Steve Holy's "Don't Make Me Beg," "He Will, She Knows" by Kenny Rogers, "Blow" by Ed Sheeran, Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars, and
In 2018 Rogers and his wife Jessica endowed a $50,000 scholarship at Belmont University's Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Business.
Songwriting credits.
The following is a list with selected songs written by Frank Rogers and recorded by other artists.
#1 singles produced.
The following is a list of #1 songs produced by Frank Rogers.


Laura Ricketts

Laura Marie Ricketts (born December 15, 1967) is an American political activist and former attorney who is co-owner of the Chicago Cubs. Ricketts is also a board member of Lambda Legal and the Housing Opportunities for Women organization. Ricketts' ownership stake in the Cubs is noteworthy because it makes her the first openly gay owner of a major-league sports franchise.
Personal life.
Ricketts and her three siblings grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. She is the daughter of John Joseph ("Joe") and Marlene Margaret Ricketts (née Volkmer).
Ricketts' father, J. Joseph Ricketts, founded Ameritrade when Laura was age 7. J. Joseph Ricketts let it be known that he wanted his children to establish themselves through their own hard work and would not be allowed to join TD Ameritrade until they reached the age of thirty.
Ricketts is a former corporate lawyer. Ricketts received her bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1989 and her Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1998. Laura talks of her own struggle to come out; "I came out to my family I would say early to mid 90s. I think for a long time I wasn't really out to myself, growing up in Omaha, Neb., to a Catholic conservative family. It took me a while to come out to myself and not long after that I came out to them. I think that it really couldn't have been a better experience. They were all immediately supportive. ... I have been really really fortunate in that regard."
In 1999, Ricketts was admitted to the Illinois State Bar Association; her license to practice law expired in 2015.
On June 6, 2015, Ricketts married Brooke Skinner. Skinner is the Chief Experience Officer at Cars.com. Their wedding was officiated by Jim Bennett, the Midwest Director of Lambda Legal.
Ricketts is one of four children. Older brother Pete Ricketts is the current governor of Nebraska. Her brother Tom is chairman of the Chicago Cubs, and the chief executive officer of Incapital LLC. He is also a director of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation. Her youngest brother, Todd also lives in Chicago.
In 2013, Ricketts was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.
Political involvement.
Ricketts is a Democrat, unlike her parents and her siblings (who are all notable Republicans). Ricketts is liberal and a LGBTQ activist. Ricketts had served as the chairwoman of LPAC, a LGBTQ Super PAC.
Ricketts was a top bundler for Barack Obama's re-election campaign during the 2012 presidential election.
Ricketts was also a supporter of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign in the Democratic primaries and the general election. In announcing LPAC's April 2015 endorsement of Clinton, Ricketts said, "We are proud to endorse Hillary Clinton as she begins her run for the White House. Hillary is an unyielding advocate for LGBTQ women. Our endorsement today represents LPAC’s strong support of her candidacy."
Ricketts was a top bundler for the Clinton campaign. Clinton herself personally attended a campaign fundraiser that Laura and her wife Brooke hosted at their Wilmette home in July 2016.
In addition to supporting Clinton as a donor and fundraiser, Ricketts supported several Democrats running for other offices in the 2016 elections. Ricketts gave personal donations that year to Jan Schakowsky's congressional re-election campaign, Tammy Duckworth's senate campaign, Maggie Hassan's senate campaign, and Russ Feingold's senate campaign. Ricketts also donated to the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee benefiting both state parties and the Clinton campaign.
Ricketts served as an Illinois superdelegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
During Chicago's 2019 mayoral election, Ricketts endorsed and became a co-chair of Susana Mendoza's campaign in the first round. After Mendoza was eliminated, Ricketts backed Lori Lightfoot in the election's runoff.
Chicago Cubs.
On July 6, 2009, the "Chicago Tribune" reported that the Ricketts family had reached an agreement with the Tribune Company to purchase the Cubs, Wrigley Field, and 25% of Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Final approval came by a unanimous vote of the other MLB owners in an October 6, 2009, conference call.
On October 27, 2009, the Ricketts family, with Thomas S. Ricketts as board chairman, officially took over 95% ownership of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and 25% ownership of Comcast SportsNet Chicago for a purchase price of $845 million. The Tribune retained 5% ownership.
Laura Ricketts joins her three brothers, Tom, Pete and Todd, on the board of the Chicago Cubs. Her brother Tom is the chairman and led the acquisition. NBC Sports highlights the significance of Laura Ricketts ownership standing: "Not only has there never been an openly gay sports team owner before, but there have been next to no gay players -- at least none who were willing to admit it before their retirement." Christman of NBC Sports was able to cite three cases in MLB history of job loss suspectedly due to sexual orientation. Christman adds that "perhaps with a lesbian now on the board of a Major League team, some athlete will be able to come out of the closet while still working in a professional sports franchise and not lose their job."
Lambda Legal.
Laura Ricketts serves on the National Leadership Council of Lambda Legal, the "nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and people living with HIV/AIDS". Laura Ricketts' work with Lambda Legal's Midwest Regional Office in Chicago has advanced lesbian and gay legal rights in the Midwest, including several legal victories. Most prominent are Lambda Legal's efforts toward Same Sex Marriage legalization in Iowa, 2009, where Laura served in a leadership and financier role. Camilla Taylor, Senior Staff attorney for Lambda Legal, is known as the "lead architect" of Varnum v. Brien, in which the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a 2007 district court ruling that said it was unconstitutional for Iowa to bar same-sex couples from marrying. Laura Ricketts' philanthropy includes support for other charitable organizations like the Housing Opportunities for Women organization and Howard Brown Health Center, a Chicago provider of health services for LGBT people.


Tim Whitsett

Tim Whitsett (born 1943) is an American music publisher, musician, songwriter, producer, author, and consultant. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi, the elder brother of Carson Whitsett.
Biography.
Whitsett's instrumental "Jive Harp" b/w "Pipe Dreams" was released on Imperial Records when he was sixteen. With his band, The Imperials (later renamed The Imperial Show Band), he recorded over twenty singles in a variety of genres (R&B, Pop, Instrumental) for a number of labels, including Epic, Ace, Atlas, Capitol, Lowery, Sue, Island, Musicor and others, as well as for his own Rim Records.
In 1966, at the peak of tensions in Mississippi over civil rights, Whitsett introduced two new singers to his band, Tommy Tate and Dorothy Moore, both black, and both later to achieve chart acclaim as solo artists. Considering the times and possible repercussions, the band from Mississippi was extremely well received by both black and white southerners, as well as audiences in the Great Lakes, Las Vegas, Hollywood, Lake Tahoe, New York City and elsewhere.
Until disbanding the group in 1969, Whitsett wrote, produced, arranged, or played on numerous records for other artists, including The Vels, Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson, Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns, Bobby Marchan, Junior Parker, Paul Davis, Barbara Lynn, Sam Myers, Dorothy Moore and others.
Due to many personnel changes resulting from marriages and the military draft for the Vietnam War, Whitsett dissolved The Imperial Show Band. Shortly afterwards, in 1970, some demos the group had recorded ended up in the hands of noted producer Don Davis, who was then vice president of Stax Records. The MGs were breaking up. Booker T. Jones had just left the company, and Steve Cropper would soon follow. Davis wanted Whitsett’s band to augment The Bar-Kays as a second house band for Stax.
However, Whitsett's musicians had now scattered, joining other bands in other parts of the country. Davis then signed Whitsett and Tommy Tate as producer/songwriters. But within days of arriving at Stax, Whitsett was asked to take charge of the company’s music publishing division, East/Memphis Music Corp., which included works written or recorded by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Al Green, Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas and Booker T. & the MGs. During his years with Stax, Whitsett was the motivating force behind the releases of million sellers, such as "I've Been Lonely For So Long" (Frederick Knight), "I'll Play the Blues For You" (Albert King), and "Mr. Big Stuff" (Jean Knight), among others.
In 1976, Whitsett resigned as president of East/Memphis when offered the opportunity to run Chrysalis Music's European division in London. Six years later, he took another senior management position in London with Chappell Music, prior to its acquisition by Warner Music Group. He also forged a partnership with Chick Churchill, keyboardist with British rock group Ten Years After, in a record production and music publishing company, Whitsett Churchill Music.
At Chrysalis, then Chappell, Whitsett managed song catalogs that included works by David Bowie, Jethro Tull, The Chieftains, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Chuck Berry, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, etc.
In 1982, Whitsett set up a consultancy service for music publishers, which included specialized newsletters and target-marketing directories. Clients included EMI, Chappell, Gamble and Huff, Jobete, CBS Songs, Virgin, MCA, et al., as well as publishing companies owned by Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson and Elton John.
Returning to the States, Whitsett founded Urgent! Records. The label's roster included Bobby Rush, The Dells, Luther Ingram, Tommy Tate, and Jerry Butler.
The label was later folded into the Malaco Music Group, with whom Whitsett became associated in 1998. In addition to his work with Malaco Records, Whitsett authored three music-publishing textbooks and a dictionary of music business terms, while actively maintaining his consulting services for music publishers and copyright investors.
In 2008, Whitsett's "Big Mistakes: The Memoirs of Tyrone Hatchback", a novel, was published. That same year, Whitsett founded LocoBop which started out as a digital only record label, but has since began to release physical CDs as well. Artists include, among many others, Ivory Joe Hunter, The Bar-Kays, Rufus Thomas, Eddie Floyd, Jerry Butler, The Masqueraders, Carla Thomas, and Luther Ingram.


Jerry Brandt

Jerry Brandt (January 29, 1938 – January 16, 2021) was an entrepreneur, impresario, agent, manager, promoter, and club owner active since the 1960s. He is known for discovering Carly Simon and serving as her first manager, as well as for his work with Lori Petty. Brandt was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
Career.
After serving in the army Brandt worked first as a messenger in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency but within a few years he moved up the ranks and became head of the pop music division. While working at William Morris, he discovered Chubby Checker, booked acts like The Beach Boys and Sonny & Cher, and brought The Rolling Stones to the USA. He also handled Sam Cooke,
Dick Clark, and Muhammad Ali for theatrical events. In the 1970s, he managed glam rock artist Jobriath Boone.
Contemporaneous with his management work, Brandt also opened, owned, and managed major music venues such as The Electric Circus (1967), The Ritz, and Spo-Dee-O-Dee, a Blues Club. In 1970 he left the Electric Circus and moved to Los Angeles where he opened the Paradise Ballroom with legendary financier Bernie Cornfeld.
In 1992, along with Ron Delsener, Robin Leach, and Bob Krasnow, Brandt opened the Italian restaurant "Italica" at 220 East 46th St. which introduced "pizza by the meter."
He died of COVID-19 and pneumonia-related causes during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.


Tony Anthony (actor)

Tony Anthony (born Tony Roger Petitto; October 16, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director best known for his starring roles in Spaghetti Westerns, most of which were produced with the aid of his friends and associates Allen Klein and Saul Swimmer. These films consist of "The Stranger" series - "A Stranger in Town" (1967), "The Stranger Returns" (1967), "The Silent Stranger" (1968) and "Get Mean" (1975) - and the "Zatoichi"-inspired "Blindman" (1971). Anthony also wrote, produced and starred in "Comin' at Ya!" (1981) and "Treasure of the Four Crowns" (1983), the first film being largely credited with beginning the 1980s revival of 3D films in Hollywood.
Early career.
Anthony was born Tony Roger Petitto in Clarksburg, West Virginia. With his friend Saul Swimmer directing, Anthony and Peter Gayle produced the half-hour children's short "The Boy Who Owned a Melephant" (1959), narrated by actress Tallulah Bankhead. The three men would become his frequent collaborators. The film won a Gold Leaf award at the Venice International Children's Film Festival. Following that short, Anthony and Swimmer co-wrote the Swimmer-directed independent features "Force of Impulse" (1961), a Romeo and Juliet story about a high school football player who turns to robbery, filmed in Miami Beach, Florida, and "Without Each Other" (1962). Anthony then moved to Italy to film "Wounds of Hunger" and "La ragazza in prestito". Swimmer had moved to England, where he befriended Allen Klein.
Spaghetti Westerns.
Anthony was in Europe when Sergio Leone's Westerns were setting box office records, but had not yet been released in America. Anthony contacted Klein, then a major stockholder at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, about releasing a Spaghetti Western, for which he had played the lead role, in the United States. Anthony had also served as an uncredited executive producer on the film, having raised $40,000 with another American, James Hagar. The film Klein released was called "A Stranger in Town", starring Anthony as the Stranger, a shotgun-wielding antihero who helps a group of Mexican bandits steal gold from the US Army and Federales, and then steals it right back from them. Released by MGM to compete with United Artists' "Dollars Trilogy" starring Clint Eastwood, it became a surprise success, and spawned three sequels in which Anthony reprised his role.
With these films, some felt Anthony's persona was not the typical tough spaghetti western hero; the Stranger was vulnerable and sneaky, with a sardonic sense of humor. Anthony recalled that director Luigi Vanzi constantly described the character to him as "a bad guy but you do good in spite of yourself. You're not Gary Cooper. You're not John Wayne. You're not the 'tall in the saddle' cowboy. You're the street guy. The audience can identify with you because you look like the guy that goes into movie theaters and says 'Well, I could be like him'." Anthony himself described the Stranger as "a dirty coal-mining cowboy". The second Stranger film, "The Stranger Returns" has a golden stagecoach as its MacGuffin and a Stelvio Cipriani score that had several cover versions by various orchestras. Anthony's willingness to experiment with the genre resulted in the third series entry, "The Silent Stranger" with another Cipriani score. Considered by some the first "East-meets-West Western", predating "Red Sun" by three years, its release was delayed for seven years in the US due to a dispute between Klein and MGM, and never received a European release. Anthony later declared the film his best and lamented the cuts that MGM made to it.
His next film was "Blindman", a Spaghetti Western variation on the "Zatoichi" series. Anthony plays a blind gunslinger hired to escort 50 mail-order brides to their husbands. By that time, Klein had been the manager of the Beatles, and Swimmer had directed many of their music videos and concert films. Both were producers on "Blindman", and their presence led to Ringo Starr accepting a supporting role as one of the bandits. Starr would produce Anthony's next film, which Swimmer would direct: a road movie called "Come Together". In this film, Anthony plays an American stuntman working on Spaghetti Westerns in Rome. The film contains behind the scenes-footage of a Spaghetti Western being shot.
In 1975, long after the heyday of the genre, Anthony starred as the Stranger for a fourth time in "Get Mean" produced by Ron Schneider. A unique film often compared to Sam Raimi's "Army of Darkness", the film takes place in Spain, where the Stranger has to battle invading Vikings and Moors after escorting a princess there. It failed to find a wide audience.
3D years.
In 1981, Anthony returned to the spaghetti well for "Comin' at Ya!", a 3D Western he wrote, produced, and starred in. In order for the film to receive a wide release, Anthony designed a low-cost projection lens which was cheaper than conventional 3-D lenses.
Anthony would star in one more 3D film, "Treasure of the Four Crowns". Anthony next announced a 3D science-fiction movie called "Seeing is Believing", but with the 3D craze over, it could not find a financier and was never made.
Later career.
Anthony's last acting role was in "Treasure of the Four Crowns". He went on to occasionally produce films, such as "Wild Orchid" and the spaghetti-western throwback "Dollar for the Dead", and ran an optical equipment company that he said sold an estimated $1 million worth of lenses up to the release of "Jaws 3-D" in 1983.
In late August 2009, Anthony announced he had taken the "over and under 3-D" format of "Comin' At Ya!" and converted it to "digital 3-D" as a part of the film's reissue. Following an exhibition at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas on September 25, 2011, the film was restored and digitalized for a 30th anniversary theatrical re-release and played in theaters throughout Texas starting on February 24, 2012.


Erik Feig

Erik Feig is an American film executive and producer. In May 2019, Feig launched PICTURESTART with backing from Warner Bros., Endeavor Content, and Bron Studios and access to Scholastic Corporation’s IP. He served as co-president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, and president of Summit Entertainment. He has produced, supervised and originated the production of Academy Award-winning films including "La La Land" and "The Hurt Locker", along with book adaptations and films geared toward the youth market, including "The Twilight Saga", "The Hunger Games" series, "Divergent" series, "Red" series and "Step Up" series. According to "The New York Times", "Feig has built a reputation among book authors for cinematic adaptations." As of 2017, films he has supervised or produced have collectively grossed over $12 billion at the box office worldwide.
Early life and education.
Feig was born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in Westport, Connecticut. He attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, for one year. After taking a year off to travel, he transferred to Columbia University in New York City, graduating with a BA in English in 1992.
Career.
Independent producing (1997-2000).
Feig began his career as an independent producer, working with Sony Pictures producing films including "I Know What You Did Last Summer", "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Slackers", all for Sony Pictures. He had a producing deal with Artisan Entertainment, before being recruited to run the film department at Summit Entertainment.
Summit Entertainment (2001-11).
In 1998 Summit Entertainment, a sales agent at the time, launched its own production department with Splendor and Kill the Man, and by 2001, Feig joined Summit as president of production and acquisitions. He became a partner in 2007. During his tenure at Summit, he was involved in obtaining distribution rights to "The Hurt Locker", which won the Academy Award for Best Picture; produced all five films in the "Step Up" dance franchise, which grossed $651 million worldwide, provided Channing Tatum with his breakthrough role, whose TV spinoff was the first scripted drama acquired by YouTube Red, and which "The New York Times" called "one of pop culture's most enduring franchises"; and developed films including the "Red" film series, "Source Code", "50/50" and "Letters to Juliet".
Feig brought the "Twilight" book series to Summit after Paramount Pictures passed on it. Although at the time the book had sold only 4,000 copies, Feig noted its strong following online, and its potential to be a franchise for the new studio. He pursued the project and was able to make a deal with author Stephenie Meyer by guaranteeing that the film would be true to her novels. Feig secured the rights to all four books in February 2006. The five films in "The Twilight Saga" would go on to gross $3.3 billion worldwide and would be the first major roles for Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Anna Kendrick.
Lionsgate (2012-2019).
Summit was sold to Lionsgate for $412.5 million in 2012, and Feig was named president of production for Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. In February 2014, he was promoted to co-president of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, overseeing film production and development for the Lionsgate and Summit labels.
Feig first learned of "La La Land" at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014, when he met with Damien Chazelle, who pitched him his script for a Hollywood musical. At the time, the script was in development at Focus Features. Feig secured a $30 million budget for Lionsgate to produce the film, gambling on the unusual undertaking of an original Hollywood musical. Chazelle's first feature "Whiplash" had not yet been released when the deal was made. In 2016, "La La Land" received a record-tying 14 Academy Award nominations, winning six. That year, Lionsgate had the most Oscar nominations of any studio, with 26.
With Lionsgate, Feig has originated, supervised and produced films including "The Hunger Games" series (Jennifer Lawrence's first starring role in a major studio film), the "Divergent" series, "Now You See Me", "Sicario", "Hacksaw Ridge", "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", "Sinister", "Warm Bodies", "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", "Power Rangers", "Chaos Walking", "The Kingkiller Chronicle" and "Uncle Drew". Feig optioned the rights to R.J. Palacio's novel "Wonder" before it was published. Receiving strong reviews, "Wonder" over-performed at the box office, taking in $27.1 million over opening weekend, which was triple what analysts expected.
In February 2018, it was reported that Feig would be leaving Lionsgate, and that he has raised money to launch a new company focused on youth-oriented projects. Lionsgate is expected to be one of the investors in the new company.
Picturestart.
In May 2019, Feig announced the launch of Picturestart, a "new media" company. Scholastic granted the company access to its IP. Picturestart intends to produce four to six films and four to six TV series per year.
Honors.
Feig was named to the "Variety" 500 list of the 500 most influential people in the entertainment industry. He was an honoree for the LA's Promise 2012 gala. In 2013 he received the Dizzy Feet Foundation Impact Award, for his support of dance and the arts through the "Step Up" films, credited "with exposing millions of people around the world to the art of dance." He is a ReFrame ambassador for gender balance in the entertainment industry. He received the John Jay Award from Columbia University in 2019.
Personal life.
Feig lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife Susanna Felleman and their two children. They were married in New York in 2002.
Feig is a founding board member of LA's Promise, a nonprofit helping students and families in Los Angeles's needy neighborhoods; a founding board member of The Systemic Change Project, which promotes gender balance in the entertainment industry; a board member of the Columbia University School of the Arts; a board member of RepresentUs; a board member of City Year Los Angeles and chair of its Spring Break benefit; and ambassador for the Women in Film and Sundance Institute's ReFrame Project.


Ephraim Ruebush

Ephraim Ruebush (September 26, 1833 – November 18, 1924) was a music teacher, publisher, and co-founder of the Ruebush-Kieffer Company, one of the largest and most influential publishers of gospel song books in the United States.
Ephraim Ruebush was born in Churchville, Virginia, the son of John Ruebush and Mary Huffman. In September 1853, Ruebush traveled to Singers Glen, Virginia, to study music and printing under Joseph Funk. He married Lucille Virginia Kieffer on March 28, 1861. With his brother-in-law, Aldine Silliman Kieffer, he founded the Kieffer-Ruebush music company in Dayton, Virginia. This became one of the largest and most influential gospel music companies of its day, printing songbooks into the 1940s. He died on November 18, 1924, and is buried in Dayton.
Jacob Henry Hall, an author of books on gospel music and a book on gospel songwriters, was associated with the company.


Dean Benedetti

Dean Benedetti born Dino Alipio Benedetti (June 28, 1922 - January 20, 1957) was a saxophone player best known for amateur live recordings he made of fellow saxophonist Charlie Parker.
As a tenor saxophonist and band leader in California, Benedetti first heard a record of Parker in the Spring of 1945. Deeply influenced by the player, Benedetti began to study Parker, transcribing solos, building them into set pieces, and working bop into his own playing.
A two-week engagement at LA's Hi-De-Ho Club in early 1947, done on discs, was the start of Benedetti's recordings. In 1948, Benedetti headed to New York with bandmate Jimmy Knepper, and recorded Charlie Parker on March 31, and July 7, both of these on a Sears tape recorder.
While in New York, Benedetti began to use heroin. Unable to break into the New York music scene, he returned to his parents home in California in 1948. Trying to finance their way back home, Benedetti and Knepper attempt to sell drugs. However, Knepper took the drugs with him back to LA and abandoned Benedetti in New York.
Shortly after returning to California, Benedetti discovered he had a rare muscle disease, Myasthenia Gravis. The disease affected his playing, and he soon quit performing in public. The disease ruined his health, and in 1953 he moved in with his parents in Italy. He died on January 20, 1957, at the age of 34.
The recordings he made of Parker were something of a jazz legend, until 1988 when these tapes and acetate discs were sold by his brother, Rick Benedetti, to Mosaic Records. "The Complete Dean Benedetti Recordings of Charlie Parker" box was released by Mosaic Records in 1990.


Bill Nuttall

Bill Nuttall (born March 10, 1948 in Norristown, Pennsylvania) is the owner of Golden Viking Sports, licensee for the soccer brand Diadora. He was a first team Junior College and first team NSCAA All-American soccer goalkeeper who spent at least three seasons in the American Soccer League and three seasons in the North American Soccer League. He was the 1970 first team All American goalkeeper, coached at both the collegiate and professional levels and was the general manager of the United States Soccer Federation teams from 1991 to 1994.
Club career.
Nuttall grew up in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. He attended Davis & Elkins College, playing on the men's soccer team from 1967 to 1970. The team won the 1968 and 1970 NAIA national men's soccer championship and finished runner up in 1969. One of his teammates was Hank Steinbrecher. Nuttall was the 1969 NAIA Tournament MVP and the 1970 first team All American goalkeeper. Nuttall was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970. In 1971, Nuttall signed with the Delaware Wings in the American Soccer League. In 1974, he moved to the Miami Toros of the North American Soccer League when his old coach from Davis & Elkins became the Strikers' head coach. Following the 1976 team, the Toros moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and became the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Nuttall made the move, but never played for the Strikers. He was replaced on the roster by former England international Gordon Banks.
Coach.
Florida International University hired Nuttall in 1975 to coach the men's soccer team. He held that position for five seasons, compiling a 56-18-1 record. In 1979, he was the play by play commentator for ESPN's first soccer broadcast, a college game between Indiana University and the University of Minnesota. Nuttall then worked as an assistant coach with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers from 1979 to 1984.
Executive.
Nuttall served as the Director of Player Personnel for the Dallas Sidekicks from 1984 to 1985. In 1985, he became a Vice President of Marketing and Promotion with Mitre Sports International. In July 1991, the United States Soccer Federation hired Nuttall as General Manager for the U.S. national teams. In September 1998, he moved to Diadora. He is currently the owner of Golden Viking Sports.


Edward J. Noble

Edward John Noble (August 8, 1882 – December 28, 1958) was an American broadcasting and candy industrialist originally from Gouverneur, New York. He co-founded the Life Savers Corporation in 1913. He founded the American Broadcasting Company when he purchased the Blue Network in 1943 following the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decree that RCA divest itself of one of its two radio networks.
Early life.
Edward Noble was born in Gouverneur, New York, and educated in the public schools. He attended Syracuse University and graduated from Yale in 1905.
Career.
In 1912, chocolate manufacturer Clarence Crane of Cleveland, Ohio invented Life Savers as a "summer candy" that could withstand heat better than chocolate. Since the mints looked like miniature life preservers, he called them Life Savers. After registering the trademark, Noble bought the rights to the peppermint candy for $2,900. Instead of using cardboard rolls, which were not very successful, he created tin-foil wrappers to keep the mints fresh. Pep-O-Mint was the first Life Savers flavor.
Noble was the first chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Authority. In June 1939, he was appointed the first Under Secretary of Commerce by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a role created especially for him, serving until August 1940 (Wayne Chatfield-Taylor was appointed to replace him). Following the Federal Communications Commission's order that RCA divest itself of one of its two radio networks, he founded the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) when he purchased the Blue Network (formerly part of NBC) on October 12, 1943. He tried to build ABC into an innovative and competitive broadcaster, but was hampered by financial problems and the pressure of competing with long-established NBC and CBS. By 1951, he entered negotiations to merge the network with United Paramount Theaters, headed by Leonard Goldenson; Goldenson became chairman of the ABC network, while Noble sat on its board of directors for the rest of his life.
Noble, 76, died at his home in Greenwich on December 28, 1958, after several months of illness.
Legacy.
In 1943, Noble bought the St. Catherines Island on the coast of Georgia; in 1968, ten years after his death, the island was transferred to the Edward J. Noble Foundation.
The island is now owned by the St. Catherines Island Foundation, and the island's interior is operated for charitable, scientific, literary, and educational purposes. The foundation aims to promote conservation of natural resources, the survival of endangered species, and the preservation of historic sites, and to expand human knowledge in the fields of ecology, botany, zoology, natural history, archaeology, and other scientific and educational disciplines.
Noble was part of the St. Lawrence Seaway Project and was appointed to the advisory board by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954. He owned Boldt Castle, the Thousand Island Club, and a summer residence on Wellesley Island. The ornamental street lights in the village park are all that remain of the gift of new street lights that were given to the village by Edward and his brother, Robert. The lights were in memory of their father.
Three hospitals and a foundation are named after him. A building on the campus of St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY is also named after him.


Polly Cohen Johnsen

Polly Cohen Johnsen is an American film executive and producer. She went to college at the University of California at San Diego, where she majored in Chinese, and is also a graduate of the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California.
Career.
Johnsen began her career working at Warner Bros. in the physical production department while in graduate school. She then became a story editor for producers Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg at Jersey Films, where she worked on such projects as Gattaca. During her tenure at Jersey Films she teamed up with producer Roy Lee and Glen Gregory of Propaganda Films to create an online tracking board, where script readers could discuss the scripts they read. Online tracking boards have since become a useful tool throughout the film industry.
Johnsen re-joined Warner Bros. in 1997 as a creative executive and worked on such films as "Three Kings", "The Perfect Storm" and "Analyze This".
She was promoted to production executive in 1998 and then to vice president, production in 1999. In 2003 she was named senior vice president, production and in 2006, executive vice president, production. As an executive, she was noted for recommending the first Harry Potter book for a potential film series, which became one of the studio's most successful franchises of all time. As a senior executive, she oversaw the Harry Potter films, "Blood Diamond", "I Am Legend", the Scooby-Doo series, and "Superman Returns", among others.
Again in 2006, Johnsen was tapped by former Warner Bros. studio head Jeff Robinov to take over as president of production at Warner Independent Pictures. Among the films she oversaw at the arthouse division were "The Painted Veil" and "Slumdog Millionaire". In 2008, The Hollywood Reporter recognized her on their Power 100 list, as one of the most influential women in Hollywood, and Glamour featured her in their editorial, "Success Secrets from the Women who Run Hollywood."
Once Warner Independent Pictures closed in 2008, Johnsen agreed to a first-look producing deal with Warner Bros. under her banner, Polymorphic Pictures. She has since produced "" and "Wrath of the Titans" for the studio. She also produced "Ceremony", written and directed by Max Winkler and starred Uma Thurman and Jake Johnson.
In 2013, Johnsen launched mytruestory.com, a website in which writers could share their true stories and Hollywood producers could read them in consideration for potential projects.
Johnsen recently served as a panelist at the Shanghai Film Festival and also sits on the USC School of Cinematic Arts Alumni Board.
Marriage and children.
She is married to Robert Johnsen, co-founder of mywedding.com, with whom she has one child.
Filmography.
She was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.


Mo Rothman

Moses "Mo" Rothman (January 14, 1919 – September 15, 2011) was a Canadian-born, American studio executive who persuaded Charlie Chaplin to return to the United States in 1972, ending Chaplin's twenty year, self-imposed exile. Chaplin's return to the United States restored his popularity and public reputation.
Jeffrey Vance, author of the 2003 Chaplin biography, "Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema", wrote that Chaplin's 1972 return to the United States, which was arranged by Rothman, was "one of the greatest P.R. coups, and personal rehabilitations" in the history of the film industry. Vance further wrote that, "Rothman is the guy who re-made Chaplin."
Biography.
Career.
Rothman was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on January 14, 1919, to Meyer and Molly Rotman. Rothman was one of his parents four children. His father worked as a kosher butcher. Rothman would later change his name from Moses to Mo once he entered the work force. Rothman served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, stationed in Dublin, Ireland. While in Ireland, Rothman began to meet Americans who worked in the film industry, who invited him to New York City to work in entertainment after the war.
Rothman took their advice and moved to New York City after the end of the war. He worked for Universal Pictures from 1946 to 1952 as an overseas manager in India, Singapore and Venezuela. In 1952, Rothman joined United Artists' office in Paris, France, as the studio's continental European manager, where he worked from 1952 to 1959.
Rothman was hired by Columbia Pictures in 1960 as the CEO of Columbia's international division. He rose to become Columbia Pictures' vice president for worldwide marketing. Rothman also served as Columbia Pictures' representative to director Stanley Kubrick during the production of his 1964 film, "Dr. Strangelove". He retired from Columbia Pictures in 1971 to focus on the distribution of Charlie Chaplin's film library.
Charlie Chaplin.
Charlie Chaplin, one of Hollywood's best known figures, had founded United Artists with Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith and Douglas Fairbanks. By the early 1950s, Chaplin's stardom had dimmed due to perceived Communist sympathies and scandals involving his two previous, early marriages to sixteen-year-old girls. Chaplin, though a British citizen, had lived in the United States for forty years, but his political affiliations made him a subject of suspicion during the McCarthy Era.
In 1952, Chaplin traveled to his native home to promote the London premiere of "Limelight", the last film he made in the United States. While abroad, United States Attorney General James P. McGranery revoked Chaplin's re-entry permit and would not allow him to return to the United States. Chaplin moved to Switzerland in 1952, and swore never to return to the United States. Chaplin owned and retained the rights to most of his movies, which he took with him to Switzerland.
Rothman's relationship to Chaplin stretched back to the 1950s, when he first met Chaplin while working as United Artists' European manager. In early 1971, a group of investors, led by Rothman, paid Chaplin $6 million, plus 50% royalties, for the distribution rights to some of his best known movies, including "The Great Dictator", "Limelight", "City Lights", "The Gold Rush" and "Modern Times". Rothman left his job as vice president of worldwide marketing for Columbia Pictures in 1971 to lead the investors and handle the distribution of Chaplin's films on a full-time basis.
Rothman successfully persuaded Chaplin, who was 83 years old at the time, to return to the United States in order to promote the re-release of his film catalog. Chaplin was hesitant, but agreed to Rothman's offer. Charlie Chaplin, accompanied by both his wife, Oona, and Mo Rothman, arrived in New York City on April 2, 1972. Chaplin attended a tribute to his films held by the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York. He was further awarded the honorary Academy Award one week later.
The visit, orchestrated by Rothman, restored Chaplin's popularity and reputation. At the time, the "New York Times" noted Rothmam's extensive involvement with the visit describing Rothman as "abrupt and ingratiating five times in three minutes" — as a kind of performance in its own right, evoking the manner of "the Hollywood tycoon of the 1930s." Chaplin's daughter, Geraldine Chaplin, later wrote that Rothman was the "brave and clever reviver of Charlie Chaplin worldwide."
Chaplin died in 1977, his popularity restored. Rothman continued to release his films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. During the mid-1980s, Rothman loaned the now defunct United States Information Agency twelve of Chaplin's films, which were screened at American embassies worldwide as an example of American film and art.
Later life.
In 1982, Rothman was the recipient of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic for his contributions to Italian cinema. He served as a judge for both the Venice Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival in 1985.
Rothman was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease later in life. In 2001, his wife, Lyn Rothman, spurred on by her husband's diagnosis, founded the Parkinson's Appeal for Deep Brain Stimulation, based in London.
Mo Rothman died from Parkinson's disease in Los Angeles on September 15, 2011, at the age 92. and is survived by his wife, Lyn Rothman, with whom he had been married for 37 years; three children from two previous marriages: Keith from his first marriage and Nicole and Monique from his second marriage to German actress Hanna Rucker (1923-1982); two stepchildren, Sebastian and Arabella; and seven grandchildren. He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.


Steve Caton

Steve Caton is a professional guitarist/singer, song writer, producer, and visual artist, whose career has spanned almost three decades.
Catons first time in a band was in Tedd Armstrongs' band "PEGASUS" in the late 1970s into the early 1980s. Even as a beginner, Caton's talent as a lead guitarist was apparent. Songs like "California Girl" and "At First Sight" and the cover or J. Kidds "Shakin All Over" with Armstrong (lead vocal, rhythm guitar, and composer), Matt Rydell (keyboards), Jim Bender (bass), and Van Harter (drums). These tracks can be heard at Teddarmstrong.com.
Caton came to wider public attention while playing in a band called "Y Kant Tori Read" with then-unknown singer Tori Amos. He played with various bands and artists throughout the 80's including Human Drama, The Boxboys, Al Kooper, Sandra Bernhard, Francis X and the Bushman, Mercury 5, and Sphinx In Cairo. Eventually Caton worked on many of Amos's subsequent albums, including "Little Earthquakes" and "Under The Pink", and toured with her from 1996 to 1999. His last collaboration with Amos was "To Venus and Back".
He was signed to a publishing agreement with Famous Music (Paramount Pictures) from the late 1980s through the 1990s and has written songs for movies and TV productions such as the big-screen hit "Point Break" starring Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze and the well-known TV series' "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "21 Jump Street" featuring Johnny Depp.
Called "Caton" by friends, he started the band "Binge" in 1997 with drummer Matt Sorum of Guns N' Roses fame (also a former member of Y Kant Tori Read), and eventually parted ways with Amos at the end of 2000.
He continues to work on various musical projects including the "Lisa Marie Presley" CD released in 2002 and is deeply involved with print and video work, often collaborating with others such as David Letinsky on projects for various surf industry leaders including Sexwax, Matt Moore Surfboards and Surfclass.com. Caton spends much of his free time surfing and snow skiing. He married long time girlfriend Jennifer Osborne in December 2010. They both reside in Studio City, CA.


Steven Rothenberg

Steven Rothenberg (September 12, 1958 – July 17, 2009) was an American film studio executive. Rothenberg headed the theatrical distribution operations at Lions Gate Entertainment at the film studio's President of domestic releasing. He oversaw the release of more than 350 movies during his career, which spanned 28 years at several film studios.
Rothenberg was born and raised in New York City. He received his bachelor's degree with honors from Stanford University.
Rothenberg began his career in the film industry when he was hired by filmmaker and fellow Stanford alumnus Roger Corman. Rothenberg worked with Corman in film distribution. Rothenberg later worked in distribution at Savoy Entertainment and The Samuel Goldwyn Company as well.
Rothenberg was president of domestic film distribution at Artisan Entertainment prior to joining Lionsgate. In particular, Rothenberg created and oversaw the distribution strategy for "The Blair Witch Project", which went on to become the highest grossing indie film in history at the time. He also helmed the domestic distribution of "Requiem for a Dream", "Buena Vista Social Club" and many other films while at Artisan.
Rothenberg headed the theatrical distribution operations of Lionsgate, or its predecessor companies, for more than 10 years. It was Rothenberg who coordinated and oversaw the domestic film releases of Tyler Perry and "Saw" film franchises, as well as "Fahrenheit 9/11", "" and "Crash", which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The combined boxoffice gross of the films in which Rothenberg facilitated the releases totaled more than $2 billion for Lions Gate.
He was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Steven Rothenberg died of stomach cancer in Burbank, California, on July 17, 2009, at the age of 50. He was survived by his wife Frances and their children Alexandra, Ted, and Emma, all of Glendale, California, where Rothenberg also resided. Rothenberg was also survived by his mother, Ina Rothenberg, and sister, Stacy Moscoe.
Rothenberg's memorial service and burial was held at the Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles.


Janet Billig Rich

Janet Billig Rich (born as Janet Sue Billig) is an artist manager, music supervisor, producer, and Tony Award-nominated Broadway theater producer.
Billig Rich currently operates the Los Angeles entertainment company Manage This!, which she founded and launched in 1996. She oversees the music and acting career of Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb, as well as her Lisa Loeb Eyewear Collection, Camp Lisa Foundation, and her Wake Up! Brew coffee brand. She co-produces and handled music licensing for the Tony-nominated Broadway plays Rock of Ages, Moulin Rouge, and more.
Billig Rich was the musical supervisor of Netflix's 2016 film, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead", and the documentary "STEP" from Fox Searchlight released in Summer 2017, and more recently the series "Surviving Death," "Sisters on Track" and "Found." In addition, she is the Music Supervisor for many commercials including for the Alaska Virgin Airlines merger, and the Alaska Airlines "Safety Dance" commercial. She is the music supervisor on many Peloton commercials.
Early in her career, she worked at Caroline Records handling publicity and A&R, where she worked closely with bands such as Pussy Galore, Primus, Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, and White Zombie. After Caroline, she worked at Gold Mountain Entertainment, where she managed Nirvana, The Breeders, The Lemonheads, Hole, Walt Mink, and Dinosaur Jr. She became the youngest senior executive at Atlantic Records in the mid-1990s, where she developed artists such as Sugar Ray, Matchbox 20, and Jewel.
As the former manager, during her tenure at Gold Mountain Entertainment, Billig Rich's notable contributions to the legendary rock band Nirvana have been highlighted in a number of books focused on the band's career.
Early life.
Janet Billig Rich was born as Janet Sue Billig in Queens, New York to Priscilla and Norbert Billig. She has stated she loved music from a young age, and as a girl was obsessed with "Nadia's Theme." While attending Calhoun High School on Long Island she became an avid fan of The Replacements, and drove around the country following their tours. She later graduated from New York University.
Career.
Billig Rich began working in music by selling merchandise for bands at New York rock clubs. She then went on to work at Caroline Records in publicity and A&R. At Caroline, she worked with bands such as Primus, Pussy Galore, Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, White Zombie, and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. After joining the Manhattan-based Gold Mountain Entertainment in the early 1990s, she served as a manager for bands such as Hole, Nirvana, The Breeders, The Lemonheads, Walt Mink, and Dinosaur Jr.
In 1995, "New York Magazine" named her one of the "100 Smartest New Yorkers."
By the mid-1990s, she became the youngest senior executive at Atlantic Records. While at Atlantic as VP for a year, she ran the A&R department and helped develop artists such as Sugar Ray, Matchbox 20, and Jewel, and by 2000 she was running her own music management company in New York City, with clients including Bijou Phillips, T-Bone Burnett, and Lisa Loeb. She was also a partner at Immortal Management, an entertainment company based in Santa Monica, California.
Caroline Records.
Beginning in 1986, Billig Rich served as publicist and manager for a slew of America's leading rock bands, including Pussy Galore, Primus, White Zombie, Smashing Pumpkins, and Hole, during her three-year tenure.
Gold Mountain Entertainment.
In 1989, Billig Rich joined the team of Gold Mountain Entertainment, founded just six years prior by Ron Stone, Danny Goldberg, and Burt Stein, and later with John Silva as partner. It was there that she managed and oversaw the burgeoning careers of groundbreaking musical acts like Hole, Nirvana, The Breeders, The Lemonheads, and Dinosaur Jr.
Atlantic Records.
Billig Rich came aboard Atlantic Records in 1995, becoming the youngest senior executive at the label, and developing and breaking the mainstream careers of major 90s artists like Jewel, with the release of her debut album, Pieces of You; Sugar Ray, with the release of their debut album, Lemonade and Brownies; Collective Soul, with the release of their first album, Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid; and Matchbox 20, with the release of their debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You.
Manage This!
Janet formed the management and production company Manage This! in New York City in 1996. Through Manage This! she has worked extensively with roster artists like Lisa Loeb, Courtney Love, Hole, Guided By Voices, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Kim Deal, Cibo Matto, and a number of others.
Through Manage This! she has also produced and served as music supervisor for a number of major concert tours, television shows, and films, including production on the Pixies reunion tour and documentary "loudQUIETloud". She produced the Down From the Mountain tour – which featured music from the award-winning "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", and worked with Linkin Park on their Projekt Revolution tours.
On 19 March 2004, Billig Rich was featured on the cover of the "New York Post" while bailing Courtney Love out of jail.
She was co-producer for the TV special "Crossover" (2001), associate producer for the TV series documentary "Rocked with Gina Gershon" (2004), and produced five episodes of the 2006 unscripted television series "#1 Single", which starred Lisa Loeb.
Music Supervision & Clearances.
Since 2004, Billig Rich has provided music supervision and music clearance for a number of projects, including the documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi", the TV series "Family Bonds", the documentary "What Remains", "Pretty Persuasion", the TV documentaries "Pretty Things", "The Biz", "The Fashionista Diaries", "Surfwise", 12 episodes of "", "Nic & Tristan Go Mega Dega", "See You in September", "Barry Munday", and "No One Dies in Lily Dale".
Billig Rich has also provided music clearance for movies such as "Knuckleball!," "Rock of Ages," "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," Adam Duritz's "Freeloaders," Steven Cantor-directed films "Twyla Moves," "Dancer," "Ballet Now," and "Reporter," as well as a number of TV series, such as 10 episodes of NBC's "Perfect Harmony," "Hood River," "The Fashionista Diaries", 12 episodes of "".
Working with producer Matt Weaver, Billig Rich was the music supervisor of the 2016 Netflix documentary, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead," the story of DJ Aoki. In addition, she was the music supervisor for the Amanda Lipitz-directed documentary film, "STEP", featured at Sundance in January 2017, and subsequently sold to Fox Searchlight for distribution. The film, which documents the senior year of a girls' high-school step dance team in inner-city Baltimore was released in Summer 2017.
In 2016, Billig Rich began working on a pair of TV commercials. She began as music producer for the Alaska Virgin Airlines merger spot released in early 2017. In March 2017, Muscle Milk released a new television commercial featuring Steph Curry doing The Wiggle to a remake of the song "Wiggle It" by 2 In A Room. The commercial, called "Strong Feels Good," was music supervised by Billig Rich. She has also served as music supervisor for Method Products' 2018 commercial "There's Good Inside," Peloton's 2020 "Workouts for the Family" Christmas commercial, and a brand new TikTok campaign for Benefit Cosmetics.
She has provided music clearances for Broadway products, such as "Disaster! The Musical", TINA, The Cher Show, Come From Away, Rock of Ages, and 2019's Moulin Rouge, and has been quoted in the New York Times on the subject of the music clearance process for the show. Billig Rich provides all music services and consultation for the "For the Record" live shows including "Tarantino," "Scorsese: American Crime Requiem," "Garry and Penny Marshall," "Love Actually Love," "BAZ Star Crossed Love" at The Palazzo and "For the Record: Brat Pack" on Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Billig Rich was nominated as one of the Top 40 "Women in Music" by "Billboard Magazine" in December 2011. In 2018, Billig Rich earned the prestigious "Boss Lady Award" from the Women in Music Network.
In March 2020, Billig Rich partnered with Lisa Kline Moberly to form Loudspeaker Music Group, which provides music clearance services for a wide range of entertainment projects from streaming to advertising to film and television and live theater. As every project's music needs are unique, its focus is to provide creative partners with music licensing solutions that serve both the artistic and financial demands, specific to their projects.
Lisa Loeb.
Billig Rich has managed the career of Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb, beginning in 1995 at the start of Loeb’s commercial career.
She oversees Loeb’s entire career, including her music, acting, voiceover, commercial and publishing work, in addition to her Lisa Loeb Eyewear brand, of which she serves as Loeb’s business partner, in addition to Loeb’s Camp Lisa nonprofit foundation, which sends underserved kids to camp, and Loeb’s organic and fair-trade Wake Up! Coffee brand.
She has managed the release of Loeb’s entire 15-album discography, which includes Tails, Firecracker, the Grammy-winning Best Children’s Album Feel What U Feel, and her most recent, A Simple Trick To Happiness.
Billig Rich also produced Loeb’s 2006 E! reality series, "#1 Single".
"Rock of Ages".
Around 2003, Matt Weaver asked Billig Rich and a number of collaborators to help him develop and pitch the concept of a musical based on 1980s rock hits. Bands were to include Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, and Whitesnake. She became one of multiple producers for the show and took on the role of talking to bands and securing song rights, a process which she has said took several years. "Rock of Ages" premiered in 2005.
After playing off-Broadway in New York in fall 2008, it opened on Broadway on 7 April 2009. In 2009, the play received five Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical. Billig Rich is Executive Producer of the film version of "Rock of Ages", which was released in June 2012 and stars Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
In 2020, Billig Rich helped launch Los Angeles' The Bourbon Room, an all-new, specially-built 4,000-square-foot completely immersive performance venue, with bar and restaurant, which serves as the permanent home of Rock of Ages Hollywood.
Personal life.
As of 2011, Billig Rich lives in Encino, California with her husband and their two twins, Molly and Harrison, born in 2003.


Don Vito (producer)

Rodney "Don Vito" Richard (born July 9, 1978) is an American record producer. He is best known as the producer who collaborated with Kandi Burruss on projects portrayed on "The Real Housewives of Atlanta", including Kim Zolciak’s breakout single “Tardy for the Party”, as a judge on "The Kandi Factory" airing on Bravo, and as executive producer for Kandi Burruss' weekly webisode series "Kandi Koated Nights".
Personal life.
Don Vito was born on July 9, 1978, in Gary, Indiana to Louis and Juanita Richard. While in high school, he learned the art of DJing and would perform at school dances and local house parties. After being discharged from the Marine Corps, Vito moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
On August 21, 2013, it was reported that Don Vito and his girlfriend, LaTavia Roberson, formerly of Destiny's Child, welcomed a baby girl named Lyric.
 On September 23, 2019, Don Vito and Roberson welcomed son Londyn.
Music career.
Vito was introduced to record producer, DJ Cooley C, who gave him the opportunity to work with hip hop artist, Ghetto Mafia and Kilo. Later, he met Ian Burke who introduced him to rapper Solé, signed to RedZone Entertainment. Tricky Stewart signed him to Redzone, working with artists such as Solé, Mýa, and Blu Cantrell. Less than four years later, Don Vito ventured out with the R&B group, Cherish.
In 2005, Don Vito launched Don Vito Productions, a music & video production company.