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“I WAS A SPONGE. I READ EVERY CONTRACT. I KNEW ALL OF THE DEALS.”

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THE ENTREPRENEUR, MUSIC EXECUTIVE, AND VENTURE CAPITALIST SPECIALIZES IN KNOWING THE “NEXT BIG THING.” TODAY, HE’S IT

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“IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK”

BY KEVIN DEMOFF, COO, LA RAMS

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Visionaries

SUMMER 2016 - VOL. 8 NO. 3 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITION

50

It’s Good to Be Back

By Kevin Demoff LA Rams

52

Predicting MegaPopular Culture

By Brendan Manley & Ben Spergel C4 R+D

70 Troy Carter

A prolific media mogul and venture capitalist, Carter discusses changes in the music industry, the similarities between managing artists and investing in startups, and why he’s so amped about LA’s future

58 Keith Brackpool

Santa Anita Park’s chairman recalls a life around the track and what’s ahead for horse racing

62 Ryan Raddon, aka Kaskade

An EDM pioneer, Raddon has spent 20 years perfecting his craft and is one of the highest paid DJs in the world

56 Melissa Carbone

On how her Shark Tank experience turned into a $100M business

64 The h.wood Group

With brands like Bootsy Bellows and The Nice Guy, LA natives John Terzian and Brian Toll have built an empire through client relationships

59 Richard Raddon

Making the journey from art house

film festivals to digital media via his newest venture, ZEFR

66 Rob Friedman

The Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-chairman discusses the keys to leadership and his formula for an effective work-life balance

69Updates on Sony Music’s Clive Davis, Fox Television Group’s Dana Walden, and AEG’s Dan Beckerman

C-Suite /’si- s it/ (noun, adj.):

1. A combination of all C-level executives, or officers with “chief” titles, such as CEO, CFO, etc.;

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// Sports & Entertainment

48 Of Note Paul Tollett’s Goldenvoice continues to pay dividends, Kobe Bryant moves on, and Vin Scully prepares to say farewell

54 NextGen 10 Our fourth annual listing of under 40 movers and shakers leveling the playing field includes executives from CAA, AEG, CBS, Loot Crate, and The Ringer among others

1. A combination of all C-level executives, or officers with “chief” titles, such as CEO, CFO, etc.;

2. The senior executive HQ in a business organization;

3. A title bestowed to the collective of leaders driving economic, policy, and social change.

// Desirables

22 Sports Our top picks for your time in the water, on the green, or on top of the mountain

24 Travel Gizmos and gadgets to maximize your time in the air and abroad

26 Style The rise of athleisure and its financial impact on the fashion industry

28 Air Make your Olympic trip to Rio seamless by flying private

30 Land Vintage car rallies, an interview with Discover TV’s Barry Meguiar, and a trio of automotive debuts

34 Water Design maven and entrepreneur Henrik

Fisker’s newest project, the Fisker 50 yacht by Benetti

36 Buying Time Stay active, sporty, and on time all summer long with classic brands and fabric bands

// Destinations

78 Of Note International Film Festivals in Berlin, Cannes, and Toronto

80 New York Minute New York has warmed up, and our can’t-miss picks are hotter than ever

82 Destination: LA Century City, one of LA’s business epicenters, offers worldclass dining, shopping, and a wealth of mixed-use developments on the horizon

84 48 Hours The Resort at Pelican Hill can make Newport Beach seem a world away

88 Golf Getaway Three top courses designed by PGA Hall of Famer Gary Player and a CSQ&A with the legend himself

92 Going Global From safaris to penguins, South Africa offers visitors a plethora of culture and natural attractions

C-Suite /’si- s it/ (noun, adj.):

1. A combination of all C-level executives, or officers with “chief” titles, such as CEO, CFO, etc.;

2. The senior executive HQ in a business organization;

3. A title bestowed to the collective of leaders driving economic, policy, and social change.

// Culture & Taste

118 Of Note The history of baseball in America, election-themed films, The Beatles, an ode to 20th- century horror, and Guillermo del Toro’s personal collection at LACMA

120 Lifestyle Report Insight from regional industry leaders on pivotal aspects of growing a brand

122 Proprietor’s Profile Nancy Silverton dishes on her partnership with Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich while reflecting on a lifetime in the kitchen

124 Fine Dining James Beard 2016 Outstanding Chef Suzanne Goin’s Lucques, plus nominees Animal, Rustic Canyon, and Providence

126 Business Lunch / Happy Hour Our quarterly picks for can’t-miss spots for mid-day meetings or end-of-day drinks

127 Required Reading

The newest from Chuck Klosterman, a memoir from Phil Knight, and the impact Kobe Bryant had on the NBA out of high school

96 Our roster of experts tackles trends in eCommerce, the value of a partnership, changes to the workplace, and more.

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CSQ.COM

Publisher & Editorial Director

DAVID L. WURTH

EDITORIAL

Managing Editor JASON DEAN

Art Direction CHONG + SINKEWICH

Editor-at-Large JEREMY ROSENBERG

Associate Editor MATTHEW SEUKUNIAN

Copy Editor ALLISON DEAN

Automotive Editor TONY PRINCIPE

Culture Editor ELYSE GLICKMAN

Lifestyle Editor BRITTANY FUISZ

Golf Editor/Advisor RYAN BYERS

CONTRIBUTORS Writers

JOE BARBER, BEN BLOCH, YOJI COLE, KEVIN DEMOFF, JESSICA FERGUSON, LISA GILD, RUTH HACKMAN, VALERIE HARTMAN, KIRK HAWKINS, ERIC JENNINGS,TESS KRETOWICZ, HANNAH LEVY, BRENDAN MANLEY, BRYAN McKRELL, JACK NEWTON, BEN SPERGEL, WHITNEY VENDT, ANDREA ZARCZYNSKI

C-Suite Advisors

ED BAGDASARIAN, NOAH BREMEN, JAMES FREEDMAN, JASON HUGHES, LAUREL MINTZ, STACY PHILLIPS, ANDY POPOV, SCOTT M. SACHS, MICHAEL SCHAFFER, MICHAEL SCHWARTZ

Graphic Design ASHLE IMBRIALE

Illustrator JAMIE LUDOVISE

Photographers

ALBERT EVANGELISTA, ZACH LIPP, NEIL G. PHILLIPS

Videographer ADAM ZAMORA

Special Thanks

KAREN BRODKIN, PATRICK MCCLENAHAN, BRUCE MEYER, ARTIS TWYMAN, JOSH WELSH

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Account Managers

RITA BISHOP, COLLEEN FAGGIANO, DORIE LEO, BAAK MEDIA

Director, Marketing & Business Operations DANA SANTULLI-MUHLGAY Marketing & Communications Coordinator SARAH CZERWINSKI

OPERATIONS

Manager, Operations & Finance TIFFANY WEATHERMAN Production Management 1100 MEDIA Strategy Advisor BEN BLOCH Accountant STAN ARUTTI Legal STEVEN C. SEREBOFF Distribution RIGHT-WAY DISTRIBUTION Interns HANNAH LUCCHESI, CHRIS CORONEL

INQUIRIES

Advertising advertising@csq.com Advisory advisory@csq.com Editorial editorial@csq.com Events events@csq.com

Reprints reprints@csq.com Subscriptions csq.com

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Editor’s Note

THE EPICENTER OF ENTERTAINMENT

Los Angeles can rightfully stake its claim as the epicenter of the entertainment world. While that includes the obvious – the film and television industries – our fair city also earns world-class marks with its sports teams and venues, culinary and art scenes, and booming tech sector.

With such a broad scope of access, we are inundated by more options than ever for where to spend our time entertaining colleagues, friends, and family. With multiple arts districts, varied design- and experience-driven culinary options, and a spectrum of plays, performances, concerts, dancing, amusement parks, and sports, there is hardly a moment that can’t be filled with something exceptional in the realm of entertainment somewhere in the city.

What does this all mean? It means that not only is Los Angeles, and all of its burroughs, uniquely laid out to appeal to a multitude of personality types and their interests and ideas of entertainment, but it also means that at its core, LA is at the foundation of an ecosystem designed to attract and develop those creatives and professionals dedicated to evolving the businesses and industries that encompass the ever-evolving worlds of sports and entertainment. As technology feeds on itself, the options of immersive experiences – such as virtual reality – expand exponentially and connectivity to those experiences are increasingly accessible.

Last summer, we made a case for “Why the NFL needs LA.” This summer, anticipation is electric in the air as we prepare for the Rams’ return after 21 years in St. Louis. Rams COO and EVP (and Harvard-Westlake

grad) Kevin Demoff tells us “It’s Good to Be Back” (p. 50).

The Raddon brothers carved distinct paths to success. Richard Raddon (p. 59) left the indie film world to form content marketing specialists ZEFR. Ryan Raddon, better known as EDM pioneer Kaskade (p. 62), pursued music and today is one of the most s uccessful club DJs in the world.

North Hollywood High alum and LA native Rob Friedman (p. 66) created Summit Entertainment, achieved blockbuster success and sold the company to Lionsgate Entertainment. Now he’s the cochairman of Lion sgate M otion Picture Group, building on a winning formula while keeping family and his personal passions a top priority.

Whether we’re attracting talent from other areas or growing our own, Los Angeles is a millennial hotspot, and nowhere is that more apparent than our 2016 NextGen 10 list – this year is so full of potential, we expanded our list to include 11 (p. 54).

Finally, rising above a troubled childhood in West Philly, Troy Carter (p. 70) epitomizes what the

CSQ ONLINE

Read our print publication every quarter, but stay in the loop continually through CSQ’s Online Presence. Supplement your knowledge on the region’s most successful people and companies with:

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Insights from the NextGen 10 CSQ&As with LA’s business leaders

Food, drink, travel, and culture

Connect with our social platforms:

American Dream looks like today. An inspiration through his vision, leadership, and accomplishments, we learn that very early on, Troy possessed the grit and determination that he has grown to appreciate in the artists he has managed to worldwide success and tech startups (Dropbox, Uber, Spotify, etc.) he has funded. Troy has had an eventful summer already, and we are proud to call him our Visionary of the Year in Sports & Entertainment.

As you learn about the people, companies, and topics featured in this issue, I hope you will accept our invitation to be inspired by the many sources of brilliance emanating from the City of Angels.

Cheers!

David Wurth

Behind the scenes with Visionary of the Year Troy Carter at his Atom Factory HQ in Culver City, CA

Kevin Demoff is in his eighth year as COO & Executive Vice President of Football Operations with the Rams. In this capacity, Demoff serves as a liaison to ownership on all operational matters. The 2016 season marks the Rams first year back in the Southern California region and Demoff will continue to lead the club on all business operations. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Demoff received a bachelor’s degree in history from Dartmouth College in 1999 and a Masters in business administration from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in 2006. Kevin and his wife Jennifer have two children – a daughter, Claire and son, Owen. “It’s Good to Be Back,” p. 50

Jessica Ferguson is a Los Angeles-based writer, artist, and aspiring abolitionist. In addition to her freelance work, she serves as the in-house editor for a Beverly Hills PR firm. Her professional emphasis has become female entrepreneurship and individual empowerment. Jessica is currently developing her first few business ventures: an online magazine and two books, alongside her second art collection. An alumna of UC Santa Barbara with a degree in English Literature, she is also a student of art educated in America, Italy, Spain, and France. “Creating Spaces Out of h.wood,” p. 64

Contributors

Lisa Gild is a marketer and journalist with a more than a decade of luxury and lifestyle marketing / PR experience via a stint at Sotheby’s Auction House and four years at Angeleno magazine as well as CSQ Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Lisa has lived abroad in England and Spain and now calls Los Angeles home. She holds a deep passion for art, architecture, and travel. “Under the African Sun,” p. 92

Hannah Levy works in publishing in San Francisco, where she helps produce books for educators who leave her in a state of complete and total awe. A Bay Area transplant, she spends most summers in fine Angeleno form, compulsively checking her vitamin D levels and complaining about summer fog. She received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, where her Southern California separation anxiety first took root. “Life Is a Festival,” p. 62

Brendan Manley is Director of Content Assessment for C4. He oversees the company’s script consulting and analysis initiatives, while working to build/ improve/utilize C4’s proprietary 4Cite system for box office projections. Brendan cut his teeth in the media trenches with Associated Press, music magazine Alternative Press, and The Long Island Press, as well as with HotelInteractive. com, a market-shaping hotel industry B2B daily news portal he co-founded in 1999 and took public in 2001. “Predicting Mega-Popular Culture, ” p. 52

Ben Spergel is Executive Vice President of Consumer Insights at C4. Before joining C4, Ben spent seven years at Ipsos (formerly OTX) as vice president, media strategy and insights, where he oversaw all business development, client service, and strategic planning for TV Dailies, the company’s most profitable syndicated product. Ben started his career on the studio side with MGM television and then Lifetime Entertainment. He is a member of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences and is known in the industry as a TV guru. “Predicting Mega-Popular Culture, ” p. 52

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DESIRABLES

FERRARI’s new 488 GTB (p.34) is opening a new chapter in its 8-cylinder history. An ode to the 308 GTB before it, the 488 GTB sends Ferrari back to basics. The 488 in its moniker indicates the engine’s unitary displacement while the GTB stands for Gran Turismo Berlinetta. / ferrari.com

Parsons Xtreme Golf

Bob Parsons, founder of GoDaddy, brings his passion and entrepreneurship to golf with PXG, a high-performance golf equipment company. specializing in custom clubs With no constraints in time and money on the production of their golf clubs, Parsons envisioned sticks that would enhance performance. Used by PGA champion Zach Johnson and other professional golfers, PXG is looking to revolutionize the game for both professional and recreational golfers by ramping up durability and performance.

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Tower Paddle Boards

If you saw these on Shark Tank, you’ll know that Mark Cuban is an investor. Tower Paddle Boards has since become an entrepreneurial success story, an online manufacturer of custom standing paddle boards. Inflatable, affordable, and dependable, these boards will unite the family in some stand-up fun.

/ Starting at $499 towerpaddleboards.com

Surf ’n’ Turf

The ultimate evergreen toys for land and sea

Bushnell Golf Tracker Tour X

With a focus on innovating products, Bushnell offers technologically advanced optical feature. Including Dual Display Technology to accommodate the brightness for outdoors, Exchange Technology to adjust for casual and and competition play, and a magnification feature that allows objects to appear up to 6x closer. The Bushnell Golf Tour X Tracker is high-end slope technology that every golfer can use.

/ $470

Kaestle BMX 105 HP Skis

Escape the heat this summer and skip the crowds in Rio stopping instead atop the Andes for summertime skiing. These skis are ideal for gliding over different terrains, being able to adapt thanks to its narrow design on the shovel and tail and wide body design. The ski’s Hollowtech technology limits the amount of vibrations the skier can feel whilst skiing on uneven terrain. Being able to handle diverse snow conditions allows these skis to perform consistently well. Being crafted from silver fur bonded with an adhesive block binder gives these skis a comfortable lightweight feel.

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Patagonia Men’s R4 Wetsuit

Designed for 38-49º F water, this suit will keep you warm until you are finished surfing to your heart’s desire. The warmth, strength, and durability of this wetsuit will have you ready for migration season. With anatomical patterning and high-quality neoprene, chlorine-free merino wool lines the torso/ thighs, and hydrophobic micro-grid polyester lines the hood/arms/legs of the wetsuit.

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Co-Motion Cascadia Bicycle

One of the premiere touring bikes on the market, Co-Motion’s Cascadia Bicycle is an American-made bicycle that sports a simplistic yet aesthetically pleasing design which will be sure to turn heads as you’re riding. Biking on these will give the rider a level of stability comparable to the more rugged types of touring bikes, while still maintaining that desired casual design. From exploring on a rugged mountain trail to touring around a foreign city, this bicycle’s multifunctionality is what makes it unique.

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Unfortunately, there will still be times when you have to fly

Mini Drobo Portable Hard Drive

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Tumi T-Pass Laptop Brief

Bragi Dash Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds

Tired of having earbuds that fall out while on the go? Go wireless, young man.These bluetooth earbuds have their own storage space, allowing up to 1,000 songs to be stored in its memory to save memory on your smartphone or mp3 player. Its built-in sensors can track heart rate, calories burned, and body vitals.

When it comes to both style and functionality, the Tumi T-Pass Laptop Brief will not disappoint.This clean and modern design is backed up by various compartments and expandable pockets with leather handles and a comfortable shoulder strap that will stay in place. Its zip pocket contains a Tumi ID Lock, which protects personal data that can be found on licenses, passports, and credit cards.This laptop bag meets all TSA requirements, making it ready to be passed through security without having to remove your laptop, thanks to its split-opening case.

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Don’t miss a beat while away from your phone. Nuzzel aggregates the most read news on your social media platforms for you.

Want to keep up with your friends and see what they are currently reading? Nuzzel is the perfect app for doing just that, as it allows you to view social media posts that they have read and shared, which are most likely what you are more interested in.You connect through either your Facebook or Twitter account, and it will create a headline of everything that they have liked and shared.This allows the user to get past what they see as uninteresting or irrelevant information, and straight to the topics that interest them thanks to the technological algorithm and organization principles Nuzzel has laid out for us.

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Nikon D5500

While you’re traveling, having a DSLR camera capable of producing vibrant photos to show family and friends, uploading online on Instagram, or simply saving it as a memory is a must have. It is important that the quality of these experiences and photos not be undermined.The Nikon D5500 brings to the table a compact size, being a third smaller than most DSLRs, all the while being equipped with a 24.2 megapixel DX-Format CMOS sensor; it is just as powerful and high end as any other. In addition, the Nikon D5500 offers more convenience by being Wi-Fi enabled to upload directly to Instagram with an LCD touch screen that acts as a secondary shutter button or focus dial.

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Athleisure: Stretching Your Fashion Options

BY ERIC JENNINGS VP Fashion Director Menswear, Home & Beauty Saks Fifth Avenue

Iftheword“athleisure”fashionconjures up memories of your grandfather’s velour or polyester jogging suits, I can understandwhyyoumaybealittle concerned.However,today’sathleisure—crafted from fabrics that take gym gear from SoulCycle to date night or even Casual Friday at the office—is becoming a fashion rule rather than an exception.

Althoughthewaystarathletesand celebritieshaveembracedfashionis contributing to athleisure’s rise, you’ll seemoreexecutivesintegratingwellselected pieces into their arsenal of suits andsportcoats.Why?It’simportant to understand that many consider the pursuit of optimal health a luxury, and will pick their health clubs as carefully as they would their next car, high-end watch or vacation.

Fromgame-changingbrandslike Lululemon to the several athletic wear extensions of lines we carry at Saks Fifth Avenue, the designers with their finger on the pulse of athleisure have done a superb job of shaping a lifestyle trend that will transcend into a way of life. As more people work remotely and travel for their job, for example, the practicality behind athleisure with the pieces’ wrinkle-resistant durability as well as sleek, modern styling will become increasingly relevant when compared to historically traditional office attire.

I am sure some of you may be thinking, “I would never spend $200 on a hoodie.” However, you’re not buying a run-of-the-mill sweatshirt. Instead, you should think of it as investing in apparel that reflects a more health-driven, active way of life. Modern executives who shop at top stores like Saks will find more

brandsavailablethataredesignedfor an active professional. Comfort, quality, fit,durability,temperaturecontrolare all features taken from active sport and translated into dressier, business appropriate attire.

Two prime examples of this are at ZZegna,whichofferspiecesmade fromtechnomerinofabric,and Theory’s neoteric capsule collection in techno wool, knit or jersey fabrications introduced this season. On that score, Ialsobelieveathleisurewillchange how we define “business casual,” because it’s the way the world is moving

vocabulary means options to wear them in more casual, functional and sporty fabrications.

Although there are rumblings about the “urban athlete” and “faux fitness” consumer base expanding, one may also worry that quality may take a back seat to visual appeal as fitness powerhouses such as Nike and Adidas start expanding their lines to find new customers. Regardless, you may as well accept that things like “performance fabrics” will be here to stay and will make for wardrobe additions that will truly perform when you need them to…whether you’re en

culturally. From my own experience, I found the traditional banker suit does not equal power in the work place as it did when I started in the corporate world. While I personally love wearing suits (and wear them frequently) and the way they flatter most people, I wear them for different reasons than I did when I was just getting started in the corporate world. However, the addition of “athleisure” to our fashion

route to a meeting on a 10-hour flight or heading out to the annual summer companypicnicafteramorningof meetings with clients.

So what brands will be heading to fashion’s big leagues? One brand I’ve got my eye on is EFM (Engineered For Movement) by Donrad Duncan. I also really like John Elliot, J. Lindeberg, and Puma which are all coming out with some fantastic collections in the upcoming season.

Seasonal menswear, home, and beauty trend-spotter for Saks Fifth Avenue Eric Jennings joins CSQ for a four-installment series in which he provides his insight into styles that will elevate your fashion-based executive decisions.

STYLE FOR THE SEASON -SUMMER-

As more people work remotely and travel for their job ... the practicality behind athleisure with the pieces’ wrinkle-resistant durability as well as sleek, modern styling will become increasingly relevant when compared to

Summer on the Move

Strike a balance between chic and comfortable as you dress to impress in the office and on the go

Schino-Slim D Chinos by BOSS Orange / $175 Hugo Boss, Santa Monica Place

abc pant by Lululemon / $128 lululemon, The Commons at Calabasas

Beige Sporty Pants by Tomas Maier / $495 Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills

Knit Short-Sleeve Sportshirt by John Varvatos / $248 Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills

Sheridan Navy Sneaker by To Boot New York / $395 Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills

UNCLBOB Micro Check Linen Shirt by Ted Baker / $159 Ted Baker, Robertson Blvd.

Chambray Collar Polo by Armani / $295 Nordstrom, The Grove

SL 73 Sneaker by Gucci / $495 Gucci, Beverly Hills

Go for the Gold

When witnessing international history firsthand, the perks of flying private will make anyone feel like a champion

BY JOE BARBER

The Summer Olym pics in Rio De Janeiro is at the apex of the 2016 global sports and entertainment calendar. More than two billion people watched the Sochi games; the events in Rio will draw as many or more. While the vast majority of the world will be watching from a remote location, some will endure the long lines and hassles of commercial air travel to attend in person. Here’s what to expect if you are one of the fortunate few to enjoy the swift, seamless experience of flying on your own private jet.

I magine this: Amidst negotiating international satellite launch schedules and re-directing an army of engineers, you’ve been elevated to father of the year. Your daughter’s love of equestrian sports has you and your family in a caravan of vehicles shuttling northbound on the 405 toward a private hangar at Van Nuys Airport and your Gulfstream G650. From there, your family is bound for Rio De Janeiro and the final rounds of the Olympic jumping competition. The expected Gold Medalist will be the newest addition to your daughter’s stable.

It’s a tight schedule for four days, even by your standards. A quick glance at the traffic ahead reminds you of the practicality a helicopter would bring to your aviation fleet. Interrupting that thought, the familiar buzz of your phone draws you to

a text from your captain. “We’re in position and ready for departure, sir. The winds here are only surface level and the rest of your flight will be smooth for the evening.” As you pull through the gate, your crew and cabin attendant are standing by.

Passing through the cabin, you’re greeted by the pleasant leather and lacquer aromas of your newest asset. At your seat, an untried Brazilian beer sits wrapped in a tight napkin.

The captain greets you and details the flight plan. Behind the scenes, a team spent tens of hours flight planning, confirming permits, visas, landing slots, transportation, customs, handling, catering, fuel, and more. Nodding in approval to the captain, you can appreciate the art of transforming the complex to something more simple.

With efficiency constantly in mind, you’re pleased with the restful night, shower, full breakfast, emailed directions to your team, and the sight of the Brazilian coastline as you descend. The crosswind landing at Rio Galeão – Tom Jobin International Airport was to be expected, as it’s on an island surrounded by mountains. An Airbus H160 sits 30 meters away as your family transitions to your final phase of flight. Although only kilometers from the Centro Olimpico de Hipismo Eque strian Center, the drive would take 90 minutes at this time of

day and you would certainly miss the noon final. Strapped in, you get the good news that you’re cleared to land even closer than expected, in a field adjacent to the center and stables.

Within 12 hours you’ve transported the most im portant people in the world to the mecca of sports and entertainment for an adventure that your flying machin es will continue to make available for the rest of your days. The only concern now … how to get that Golden Horse home!

SUMMER 2016 OLYMPICS BY THE NUMBERS

3.5% expected growth of the Brazilian economy in 2016

1,000% increase in interest in booking a trip to Rio de Janeiro between August 5 and August 21 thanks to the Olympics

480,000 expected visitors to Rio from August 5 to August 21

1.08M number of tourists in Rio during the 2014 World Cup, more than 300% higher than normal

$9.9B Estimated cost to produce the 2016 Olympics

Car Rally Culture

Celebrating the finest in auto performance and the outdoors

BY TONY PRINCIPE

For almost as long as the automobile has been in existence, humans have figured out a way to compete against each other at this new higher level of speed. In as early as 1867 the first organized race was run. Many of these early races were more about the reliability of the car than who actually won the race.

One of the most famous open-road endurance and reliability races was the Mille Miglia in Brescia, Italy. Although there were numerous races in this region from 1885 to 1925, from 1927 to 1957 the Mille Miglia ran from Brescia-to-Rometo-Brescia for a total of 1,500 km (roughly 1,000 miles).

Brescia is known for its deep connection to the automobile. There is an old saying that fuel rather than blood flows through the veins of the people who come from Brescia.

Today, the reenactment of the Mille Miglia has combined tradition with innovation, and vividly colored vehicles along with that combination of elegance, beautiful scenery, historic cars, and the Italian way of living. This abundance of rich elements has made the Mille Miglia a symbol of Italian excellence all over the world.

To participate in the Mille Miglia, you must own or purchase one of these

original and very valuable vehicles that was raced at this prestigious event, or one that is eligible based on the year, make, and model along with its history.

West Coast Roads

If you are looking for a similar experience of driving your classic car in an exclusive and prestigious rally/tour through the beautiful rolling hills covered with vineyards drenched with warm sun, look no further than the California Mille Miglia.

Every April, the event covers over 1,000 miles of twisty back roads in California. The annual rally brings 65 historic cars from all over the world to San Francisco to salute Italy’s most famous open road race, the Mille Miglia and starts at the prestigious Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill.

Co-organizers David Swig and Howard Swig carry on the Mille tradition founded by their late father Martin Swig in 1991. The California Mille is open to cars that either ran or would have been eligible to run in the original event, which ran from 1927 to 1957; and must be designs from 1957 or earlier. Each day is highlighted by several stops for meals and refreshments, with arrangements having been made at significant wineries and restaurants, and overnight accommodation is generally at some

of California’s best hotels. Entry Fee is $4,000.

/ californiamille.com

Rocky Mountain Place

Another great tour is The Colorado Grand, an annual charity tour for sports and race cars from the 1960s or earlier. Run through some of the most beautiful roads and locations in Colorado, the event was founded in 1989 by Englewood automotive enthusiast Bob Sutherland. Every September approximately 85 vintage cars are driven in this relaxed, non-competitive event, covering 1,000 miles through the colorful Rockies over a five-day period.

The tour attracts entrants from around the world and always includes several significant motorcars. Typical makes include Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Porsche, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Bentley, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Maserati, Allard, and such exotic names as Amilcar, Cisitalia, Squire, Delahaye, and Talbot-Lago.

The event is run with the cooperation of the Colorado State Patrol and periodic lunch and ice cream stops are planned in small quaint towns along the route. This year’s event is scheduled for Sept. 12-17. The event is concluded with a “Concours d’Non Elegance.” Entry fee is $7,500.

/ co1000.com

1/

Still Car Crazy After All These Years

&A

Barry Meguiar has elevated the family business with charisma, faith, and smart branding decisions. CSQ had the opportunity to speak withMeguiaronarecentafternoonatthe Petersen Automotive Museum.

Meguiar started at the family business when he was in just grade school. He worked in every aspect of the business from the shop to the mixing rooms, to covering for vacationing employees. In high school Meguiar wrote up sales orders and later moved on to the accounting department.

Eventually,hetooktheMeguiar’s brand from $600,000 in annual sales becoming the global leader in car wax with hundreds of products and a 23% market share in the U.S.

As a car guy growing up in the SoCal car culture, Meguiar launched his family’s professional products into the world ofcarshows,wherecarguysalready knew about Meguiar’s from their custom painters.

By the mid 1990s, car clubs and car shows were falling on bad times with an agingpopulation.MeguiarcreatedCar CrazyRadioandCarCrazyTelevision to unite and mobilize car guys globally, with the goal of promoting and growing thecarhobby.Specialemphasiswas

placed on handing the passion for the hobby down to the next generation.

CSQ Share a bit about your, and your family’s, relationship with cars.

BARRY MEGUIAR I was born at a great time, just before the car hobby began at the end of World War II. Our GIs learned how to make their cars go faster fromworkingwithmotorpoolsand the aerodynamics of airplanes. Making their cars sleeker and with more horsepower led to the birth of the Hot Rod and a passion for show car perfect paint finishes.

In 1901, my grandfather was focused on creating perfectly clear finishes on blacklacquerfurniture.Helivedin Indiana, where more than half of all the horselesscarriagemanufacturerswere located. With almost all of the horseless carriages painted with black lacquer, my grandfather’s furniture polish became a carriage polish. polish began using it on their carriages.

CSQ Andyourintroductionintothe family business?

BM My Dad and his Dad only focused on professional products for Car Dealers and Body Shops. Long before I graduated college, sales had peaked at $600,000

(1927-1957) on May 19, 2012

per year. I had the choice to leave or roll up my sleeves and go to work.

I loved calling on shops and buffing cars, but the opportunity to go retail focused on Car Guys excited me. In 1969, I called a family meeting which was going no where. That changed when I explained I only wanted to focus on Car Guys who are not driven by price, who will follow directions and whose passion matches ours for creating perfectly clear paint finishes. It took the next four years and a lot of prayer to launch our first retail product, Meguiar’s Cleaner Wax, in 1973. It’s still one of our top ten best sellers.

CSQ What was your first car?

BM A black ’57 Chevy Bel Air hardtop. And when I drive that car today, on the same streets I drove it on as a teenager, I’m 16 years old all over again.

CSQ Who impresses you with their car knowledge?

BM That’s easy! Jay Leno. I don’t know anyone else who has the breadth of knowledge he has for almost every type of car imaginable. He’s phenomenal! Most Car Guys have a depth of knowledge on certain types of cars, but Jay knows and loves them all.

Passo della Futa (FI) Italy - May 19, 2012: an old racing car BMW 328 (1939) runs before Jaguar XK 120 OTS (1953) in rally Mille Miglia 2012, re-enactment of the old italian endurance race

2/ Barry Meguiar has put the pedal to the metal, building on the success of the company his grandfather started in 1901

Photo: Darin Schnabel, Courtest of RM Sotherby’s

AHEAD OF THE PACK

Three superior supercharged alternatives to your typical automotive offerings

FERRARI 488 GTB

The successor to the 458 Speciale model debuted in New York City in May 2015 for private guests.The 488 GTB improves upon its predecessor’s power and speed with a smaller engine design.

MSRP $245,400

ENGINE V8 90-degree turbo

TRANSMISSION 7-speed F1 dual-clutch

MAX POWER 659 hp at 8,000 rpm

0-60 3.0 secs

TOP SPEED 205 mph

Ferrari Beverly Hills

LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR LP 750-4 SUPERVELOCE ROADSTER

Designed to beat all of its predecessors in power, weight, and looks, Lamborghini debuted their newest Aventador model at the 2015 Geneva Auto Show.

MSRP $402,995

ENGINE V12 60-degree MPI

TRANSMISSION 7 Speed SSG

MAX POWER700hp @ 8,400 rpm

0-60 2.9 secs

TOP SPEED 217 mph

The Auto Gallery

BENTLEY MULSANNE SPEED

On top of myriad aesthetic modifications, the Mulsanne Speed is all about performance with a re-engineered engine, transformative transmission, and next level top speed.

MSRP $335,600

ENGINE 6.75-liter twin-turbocharged V8

TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic

MAX POWER 530 hp at 4,000 rpm

0-60 4.8 secs

TOP SPEED 190 mph

O’Gara Coach, Beverly Hills & Westlake Village

Applying Street Smarts to the Water

Auto entrepreneur Henrik Fisker charts a new course with the Fisker 50, a yacht poised to wake up the industry

BY JACK NEWTON &A

With nearly 30 years of entrepreneurialanddesignexpertise underhisbeltbringingtolife iconic vehicles for BMW, Ford, Tesla, and AstonMartin,HenrikFiskerhassethis sights on the horizon and set sail with a new vision - the Fisker 50. Designed by FiskerinCalifornia,the$37M164-foot yacht will be built by Benetti in Livorno, Italywheretheysaytheywillmakeas many as they can sell.

CSQ How many years went into the planning for the Fisker 50? What were themostimportantthingsyouresearched when drafting the plans and developing the design?

HENRIK FISKER I spent a lot of time aboard yachts over the years. Benetti and I decided to do a 50-meter (164') yacht, as many choose this size because it fits into more marinas compared to larger yachts.

CSQ What prompted you to take the plunge and design a boat after years of conceptualizing state-of-the-art cars?

HF Several of my friends own yachts. Thisinspiredmetocreateayacht withatimelessdesignthatIwould personally like to own. I designed it

tocombineluxurywithprivacy,as superyachts are increasingly becoming a place for people to do business and enjoy their free time.

CSQ As this is your first boat, what were the biggest challenges involved in translating automotive design principles into a yacht?

HF Onacar,Iworkwithrelatively small surface areas but integrate sculpturalelements.Whendesigningthis yacht,Iwantedtointroduceunique surfacesculpture.Themainsideline of the yacht running from the front to the back, for example, has a distinctive “hip”-shaped highlight. This functional detail was challenging, as it had to be integrated into the main hull.

CSQ The interior design and on-board amenities read like a boutique hotel. How do you reconcile that with the sport/speed/utilitiesaspectofthe Fisker 50?

HF The goal was to have the interior be the perfect place to do business, live, entertain, and have parties. It is also designed to take advantage of ocean views, and all aspects of location, whether anchored in the marina or sailing. All the spacesfitperfectlywiththesmooth cruise abilities Benetti engineered.

CSQ How do you predict the Fisker 50 will change the yachting industry?

HF It merges sleekness with usability, considering this size of yacht. It is also designed to gain a highly competitive rate for charter, which many owners do when not using their yacht.

CSQ The boat is designed in California and will be built in Italy. Besides their respective car cultures, what else do you think brings synergy to the boat’s international appeal?

HF The Benetti Fisker 50 has s tate-ofthe-art technology, such as optional hybrid power, solar panels, reclaimed wood for the interior, a beautiful onboard screening room – an inspiration from Hollywood homes – and other custom solutions. Another unique aspect of my collaboration with Benetti isthatitssistercompanies,like FraserYachts,canprovidecharter solutions and full management of the yacht, including crew and worldwide service.

SAFETY FIRST

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CHARTER WITH THE BEST

SPLIT-SECOND FLEX TIME

The confluence of engineering and Summer 2016 is upon us. Schedules are less rigid and the season reminds us to take time to create balance in our lives. Watchmakers know that our time is best spent out of the boardroom and away from the office, which provides them

plenty of incentive to create relaxed, activityinspired creations. Whether playing golf or tennis, flying a plane, or hiking in our National Parks, these seven examples personify the perfect melding of exemplary engineering and functional styling.

BY BRYAN MCKRELL

“CARRERA HEUER 01” BY TAG HEUER

This 45 mm standout looks as good at the gym as it does on the trail in Malibu. A blue rubber strap is seamlessly integrated into four highly polished stainless steel lugs surrounding the black titanium case. The skeletonized automatic movement reveals a technical marvel with a red column wheel and rapid date correction function. Tag Heuer’s connection to auto racing dates back decades and their racing heritage is palpable when you see this watch. The red second hand is the clear focal point of the piece but the use of titanium, rubber, and steel promotes the feeling of a race car on the wrist.

/ Pricing upon request Westime Beverly Hills

“RM 38 TOURBILLON” BY RICHARD MILLE

The RM 38 melds cutting-edge styling with genuine technical genius. Weighing less than three coins, the watch is constructed out of several space age alloys that provide incredible density with virtually no weight. The tourbillon movement is designed to withstand the extreme speeds and shockwaves generated by the impact of a golf swing. A skeletonized design allows for a full view of one of watchmaking’s most complicated movements. Several additional features, such as a fast rotating bezel and free spring balance, are unseen to the consumer but greatly enhance the accuracy and reliable timekeeping of the watch.

/ $790,000

Richard Mille, Beverly Hills

“OVERSEAS CHRONOGRAPH AND DATE” BY VACHERON CONSTANTIN

This watch has you covered all day with three different quick change straps to suit any occasion. Each piece comes standard with a full stainless steel bracelet, a navy blue alligator strap with black nubuck lining, and a blue rubber strap when you need to perspire. The 263-piece movement is housed in a sensible 42.5 mm wide case that is 13.7 mm thick. A 22 karat gold oscillating weight is visible through the transparent sapphire caseback reminding you that you are wearing one of the finest watchmakers in the world. A navy blue sunburst dial provides just enough uniqueness to stand out at those summer garden parties.

/ $19,900

Vacheron Constantin, Beverly Hills

”MASTER COMPRESSOR CHRONOGRAPH

CERAMIC” BY JAEGER-LECOULTRE

JLC continues to release some of the most technologically advanced sport pieces in the industry. Their latest chronograph is framed in by a massive 46 mm ceramic case. As an industry leader in precision movement making, this chronograph movement may be one of the finest in watchmaking. This example boasts more than 300 pieces with two winding barrels and 45 jewels. The watch’s ceramic case allows it to have unique coloring, mixing charcoal gray with opaline blue. Several strap options give the wearer plenty of flexibility, but the watch will certainly be noticed in every setting.

/ $13,900

Polacheck’s Jewelers, Calabasas

“CHELSEA FC” BY HUBLOT

The clean, refined, and uncomplicated look of this piece belies the Chelsea fans rejoice, because 200 lucky ones will be able to proudly wear their team on their wrist. Hublot, the master of Athletic partnerships, has teamed up to release a very limited number of Chelsea blue automatic chronographs. The sleek profile of the timepiece maintains a very clean look with large beveled pushers surrounding the winding crown. A Chelsea lion proudly sits at the 12 o’clock position on the dial which is encased in brushed stainless steel. A small date window perfectly balances the face of the watch, which maintains visual symmetry with six evenly spaced surgical screws sealing the case.

/ $11,500

Hublot, Beverly Hills

“BR-X1 RS 16” BY BELL & ROSS

Famous for their aeronautical-inspired timepieces resembling flight instruments, the brand has finally partnered up with a Formula One team inspiring this latest creation. As the new partner of Renault Sport, a grey carbon fiber case is detailed in the Renault team color of bright yellow, which also outlines the rubber and carbon fiber band. A skeletonized, blacked-out chronograph movement presents a subtle showcase for a stunning, 56-jewel movement. The contrasting white hands and accents visually stand out on the piece which is water resistant to 100 meters. Only 250 pieces are being produced but the watch is certain to make a scene anywhere it appears.

/ Pricing upon request

Feldmar Watch Company, Los Angeles

“TONDA

METROGRAPHE STEEL ABYSS” BY PARMIGIANI

Known as a brand that combines subtle, understated styling with some of the highest levels of finishing, Parmigiani has once again produced a masterpiece. It appears that each angle of the watch case and movement has been beveled and highly polished, softening every line on the watch. The three chronograph instruments have been varied in both shape and color, creating less uniformity on the dial, and a subtle reminder of the understated design genius of the brand. The blue Hermés leather band can be switched out for a smooth metal bracelet, allowing the watch to transition into any setting. An automatic in-house movement contains 351 parts which all appear to have undergone hours of painstaking refinement.

/ $11,900

David Orgell Beverly Hills

ALT410

Membership without fees. No limits.

by Go Higher Register at

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

Staples Center Suite Renovations

STAPLES Center is undergoing a $5M renovation to all 170 suites and premium level concession stands. Each suite will feature an op en floor plan which includes comfortable seating and furnishings to promote optimal socializing, networking, and conversation.

“As we prepare to enter our eighteenth year this fall we felt it was incredibly important to update and upgrade all 170 private suites,” said STAPLES Center President Lee Zeidman. “We are excited for our suite owners and guests to experience the new design, feel and layouts that we have created with MEIS Architects,” Zeidman added.

The renovations are being led by Dan Meis, FAIA of MEIS Architects based in Venice, CA. Meis led the design of the original STAPLES Center building as the Design Partner for then NBBJ Sports and Entertainment.

The new suite design uses carbon inspired accents and surroundings that compliment a new beverage display counter, high top table, swivel chairs

and sleek barstools throughout. New carpeting, cabinet finishes, and wood grain floor tile all add up to a distinctly contemporary design which is set to be completed by this fall.

We Are Entertainment

Designed to offer the very best firstclass amenities, personal service and an exclusive envi ronment for essentially every event at STAPLES Center, a private suite is the perfect setting to entertain a client, potential investor, reward employees or enjoy an evening out with friends and family.

A limited number of private suites are available for the upcoming 201617 season. Private suites include all Lakers, Clippers, and Kings home games, family shows and other worldclass events. Don’t miss your chance to see the best musical acts including Drake, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban this fall.

For information on availability and pricing, please contact STAPLES Center Premium Seating at 213/742.7182.

As STAPLES Center’s 20-year anniversary approaches, AEG and MEIS Architects come together to give the suite level a sweet new feel

“Our Suite at STAPLES Center has been our mainstay for business entertainment for 16 years. One of the best decisions we have ever made”

Robert E. Meadows President Morrow-Meadows Corporation

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME

Dodger Premium Offerings

Bring Unprecedented Luxury to America’s Pastime

Dodger Stadium, a Los Angeles landmark for decades, has the unique distinction of being just miles from Hollywood, Santa Monica and the beach cities and other countless destinations that make Los Angeles one of the most attractive cities in the world. Now, more than ever, the Dodgers have set a new standard in luxury entertainment and are one of Los Angeles’ most popular stops for high-profile clientele, cutting-edge companies and Hollywood’s A-list.

Lexus Dugout Club

The Lexus Dugout Club is the most exclusive club at Dodger Stadium and offers the best seats in the house. With new enhancements for the 2016 season, the Lexus Dugout Club is an allinclusive experience and features access to private bars, private restrooms, in-seat service and restaurant-style seating featuring unlimited complimentary high-end Levy Restaurant food options and non-alcoholic beverages. It is here where the Dodgers play host to their most high-profile fans.

The Emirates Lounge

The Emirates Lounge is a newly designed space that highlights Dodger Stadium’s suite level. The Emirates Lounge, part of a historic sponsorship, brings worldly luxury to a game-day experience for groups of 30-70 guests. Well-appointed and modern, the Emirates Lounge serves to entertain clients, reward employees or celebrate special occasions. Ten to 20 preferred parking passes and a complimentary food and beverage starter package is included.

BMW Club Suites

The newly rebranded BMW Club Suites, a setting to entertain clients, potential investors, reward employees or enjoy an evening out with friends and family, accommodates 15-30 persons, includes

8-10 complimentary preferred parking passes and certain locations are packaged with a complimentary food and non-alcoholic starter package. Dodger Stadium’s suite concourse also features historical artifacts and memorabilia that cover every decade of Dodger history.

Baseline Club Seating

Offering the widest and most comfortable seats at Dodger Stadium, the Baseline Club seats are located on the field level from sections 26-44 on the first-base side and sections 27-45 on the third-base side. Ticket holders have access to the exclusive Ketel One Baseline Club on the first-base side and the newly rebranded Don Julio Baseline Club on the third-base side of Dodger Stadium. The clubs feature complimentary food and non-alcoholic

beverages, full bar, in-seat service, private restrooms and restaurant-style seating.

Availability is limited for all Dodger Premium seating offerings. Thrilling matchups this summer include games against the division-rival San Francisco Giants, American League pennantcontending Boston Red Sox and National League front-running Chicago Cubs. In addition, Dodger Stadium will play host to top concerts including Guns N’ Roses and Beyoncé.

For more details, please contact the Dodgers’ Premium Sales department by calling 866-DODGERS or via email at premiumtix@ladodgers.com

THE BEST VIEWS OF THE ACTI ON, WORLD-CLASS AMENITIES AND EXCLUSIVE ACCESS TO VIP EXPERIENCES!

Club Suites are the perfect setting to entertain a client or potential investor, reward employees or enjoy an evening out with friends and family.

2016 INDIVIDUAL GAME RENTALS, THREE-GAME AND FIVE-GAME PACKAGES ARE STILL AVAILABLE. OPTIONS STARTING AT $4,500 PER GAME.

“The best premium seat in Major League Baseball… Fans who sit here typically say that once you’ve sat in these seats for a game, sitting anywhere else just doesn’t seem to cut it.” – USA Today

2016 PRORATED HALF AND FULL SEASON PACKAGES ARE STILL AVAILABLE.

The Dodgers’ newest premium seating area has been renovated, modernized and designed to offer a truly unique baseball experience!

2016 PRORATED HALF & FULL SEASON PACKAGES ARE STILL AVAILABLE.

RAISING THE STAKES

Luxury abounds at Santa Anita Park

For more than 80 years, the iconic Southern California landmark has set the stage for the most dramatic moments in Thoroughbred horse racing, where icons like Seabiscuit, Zenyatta, and American Pharoah have all crossed the finish line.

One of the most prestigious tracks in North America, Santa Anita has always been known for its Old Hollywood feel and its Art Deco design. Add a recent $40M renovation, including a collection of innovative elite spaces and revitalized architecture, and you’re left with sophistication and true American heritage, all in one very coveted event venue. With the magnificent San Gabriel Mountains serving as a daily backdrop, Santa Anita Park is the perfect setting to entertain clients, reward employees or enjoy an afternoon with friends, family, or even just yourself and your own musings about fourlegged investments.

Exclusive Race Day Luxury

Santa Anita Park offers a range of luxury spaces allowing guests to experience the Sport of Kings just as true royalty would.

In 2015, ‘The Great Race Place’ unveiled the Suites at Santa Anita, a collection of private spaces offering exclusivity at its finest. Created to cater to racing enthusiasts of discerning taste, the Suites provide the opportunity to experience the thrill of racing in total privacy, extreme comfort, and unique style. With no detail overlooked, each suite includes a private passcode-enabled entrance, private wagering, paddock tours, a knowledgeable betting concierge, Club House and free Wifi access, valet parking and unobstructed views of the home stretch, so guests never miss a photo finish.

Special amenities include the ability to watch a race from the Winner’s Circle and a meet ‘n’ greet with a world-class jockey. Fully catered gourmet dining, cocktails, and champagne all hand

delivered by food and beverage attendants cap off this distinct experience.

If you’re feeling a bit grander, The Chandelier Room, an opulent event space that has attracted America’s upper crust for nearly a century, is the place for you. Anchored at the heart of the Santa Anita grandstand, this impressive ballroom gracefully hosts exclusive events and intimate private engagements alike. Take in the majesty beneath the space’s original and fully restored chandeliers, saddle up to the marble bar where you can view the San Gabriels' reflection or ascend elegant staircases and step out onto the balcony where you can cheer home your horse.

Santa Anita’s massive grandstand echoes with the heritage of some of the most exciting moments in American racing. Nowhere else is this energy more electric than the Turf Terrace Restaurant. Located beyond the Chandelier Room balcony, Turf Terrace allows patrons to experience open-air dining in the cool shade and all the excitement of watching live racing, uninterrupted.

The only thing more thrilling than watching a live race from Turf Terrace, is watching right from the finish line! The Winner’s Terrace offers guests the most up-close and personal experience at the track, with extraordinary views and the opportunity to rub elbows (literally) with owners, trainers and jockeys right alongside the Winner’s Circle.

For more details ca ll 626/574.6383 or email alison.wright@santaanita.com

More Than a Racetrack

Private events at Santa Anita Park

During the off-season, Santa Anita’s most exclusive space, The Eddie Logan Suite, opens its door for the select few. Named for the legendary shoeshine attendant who became more of a celebrity than the many that frequented the Park, the Eddie Logan Suite is an exclusive high-roller player’s club and lounge perched above the Clubhouse turn. With its glass viewing balcony and open air layout, Eddie Logan offers a refined canvas for invitation-only events.

METRO LOS ANGELES

Open the Door for the Kids of Los Angeles.

Every day, Club members have access to paid, professional staff and mentors at Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles. Your support will help ensure kids always have someone who believes in them. For more information, contact Calvin Lyons at (310) 892-1037.

OF

BRIEFINGS, UPDATES, AND ANALYSIS

Passing the Torch

Gold Mine in the Desert Building on the success of Coachella and Stagecoach, Goldenvoice adds a third “act” On October 9, 1999, 17,000 attended the inaugural day of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The next day, another 20,000 would attend. Tickets cost $50 and parking was free. How times have changed. Since then, music festival maven, industry icon, and Goldenvoice founder Paul Tollett has steered his pet project from middle school science fair to Nobel Prize.

In April, three weeks before Goldenvoice and parent company AEG’s three weekends of wonders (Coachella, Coachella, Stagecoach) news broke that the Indio City Council voted unanimously to allow as many as 62,000 extra people to attend future years of festivals. The reasoning? An extra 62,000 attendees earns the city of indio an extra $1M in ticket taxes, 5% of the city’s general fund.

Weeks later, news trickled into the public space about “Oldchella”formally known as the Desert Trip - a three-day, two-weekend ordeal in October that combines the world’s most famous acts who have been performing since the 1960s: Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Roger Waters, The Who, and Neil Young. Tickets – ranging from $199 for the weekend to $1,499 – sold out in hours.

Goldenvoice has staked its claim as the preeminent music festival purveyor in the world. Seventeen years after Beck and Rage Against the Machine took the stage, Tollett and his team have curated the world’s highest quality, and most successful music festivals - owning five weekends throughout the year. The numbers don’t lie.

2016’s Estimated Economic Impact of Coachella & Stagecoach

9,000 Number of people expected to stay in AirBnB during the festival, double the amount from last year

70,000 Per-day attendance for the three days of Stagecoach

99,000 Per-day attendance during the six days of Coachella

$3.18M Tax revenue generated by ticket sales for the city of Indio

$106M Amount of money injected into the economy of Indio

$403M Spending in the greatest Coachella Valley area

$704M Overall economic activity generated by Coachella and Stagecoach

Sources: Los Angeles Times, GoldenVoice

A pair of Los Angeles icons are calling it a day while a Southern California staple continues to spread its wings

Mamba Out

After 20 years in the NBA, establishing himself as one of the game’s greats, Los Angeles icon Kobe Bryant moves forward to his next venture

Though originally drafted 13th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA Draft, Hall of Famer Jerry West and Kobe Bryant’s agent Arn Tellem pulled strings and pushed buttons in the weeks leading up the draft and during the picks leading up to Bryant’s name being called. In the end, Charlotte would trade Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac

Bryant would spend his next 20 years of life (more than the 17 years spent prior to June 1996) a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. When he walked off the Staples Center hardwood in uniform for the last time in April, he left the game a 5-time champion, 2-time Finals MVP, 18-time All Star, 4-time All Star Game MVP, and 11-time member of the All-NBA First Team, among a laundry list of accolades. Numbers alone don’t do justice to the true impact Bryant has made on basketball, the NBA, and Los Angeles. Nonetheless, we will attempt to do so here.

The Kobe Bryant Impact Then and Now

2.6 Overnight rating of Bryant’s final game, the highest ever rating for a broadcast on ESPN2

$1.2M Kobe merchandise Staples Center sold on April 13, 2016, as Bryant played his final game – a new single-day world record for any arena

$105M Nike’s sales of Bryant’s sneakers in 2015

$323M Bryant’s salary earnings over his career, the second most ever (Kevin Garnett tops out at $332M)

$680M Bryant’s total earnings while playing in the NBA, the most by a team athlete, only surpassed by Tiger Woods, Michael Schumacher, and Floyd Mayweather

$2.6B Value of the Lakers today compared to $200M the year Bryant was drafted

$4B The value of the Lakers’ 20-year TV deal with Time Warner, which pushes annual profits north of $100M for the organization

Sources: ESPN, Forbes, Variety

The Voice of Baseball

Legendary broadcaster Vin Scully prepares to call his last game

Vin Scully has been calling Dodgers games for television and radio since 1950. Throughout his 67-year career Scully has broken records, achieved milestones, and warmed hearts with his colloquial, “Hi everybody, and a very pleasant good evening to you, wherever you may be.” Scully called his first World Series in 1953 at the age of 25 and has since called The Fall Classic in 28 different years. In addition to his postseason resume, Scully has been behind the microphone for 20 no-hitters and three perfect games as well as Bill Buckner’s botched grounder and Kirk Gibson’s dramatic home run off Dennis Eckersley

As Scully prepares to step away from the game, he graciously turned down an invitation from FOX to broadcast this year’s All Star game alongside Joe Buck Though he will be calling his final game this fall, his name will not fade away. Scully has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, his name on the press box at Dodger Stadium, and thanks to the Los Angeles City Council, a handful of street signs for Vin Scully Avenue.

Photo: Jon SooHoo

Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE

IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK

The excitement of the 2016 NFL season is heating up, and for the first time in two decades, Los Angeles has a home team again

BY KEVIN DEMOFF COO and EVP, Los Angeles Rams

It’s been half a year since the NFL voted to allow the Los Angeles Rams to return home to Southern California, yet there are still many days in which the entire organization uses the word “surreal” to describe the feeling of returning professional football to Los Angeles. The excitement surrounding the Rams homecoming has energized a fan base, a community, and a region and brought tears of joy to many who never thought they would see the Rams return. However, amidst the celebratory press conferences, the throngs of fans at L.A. Live for our draft party

Stan Kroenke’s transformational vision for our 298-acre sports and entertainment campus of Los Angeles.

or the bright lights of Hard Knocks , there is one day that stands out amongst the rest that tells the real meaning of the Rams return.

On a foggy April morning, we partnered with the Inglewood Unified School Dis trict to host an NFL Play 60 event for more than 800 elementary school students from nearly a dozen neighborhood schools. For nearly four hours, our players and staff threw passes to students, squeezed shoulder pads and helmets onto their bodies for photos, and watched them knock over tackling dummies with glee. I could not help but overhear the excited chatter

about our event being the “coolest day of the school year” and “it’s awesome that an NFL team is in Los Angeles and here with us.” While these kids had watched the NFL from afar before, being able to train alongside our players highlighted the live interaction that had been missing for Los Angeles youth for 22 years.

High-fiving students after holding the ball for the field goal attempts was a reminder of what an NFL team does – it uses the power of football to bring communities together.

As I write this, we are preparing for our first playground build in Los Angeles, which will see our entire

organization from general manager Les Snead to #1 draft pick Jared Goff to our staff members come together and build a playground at Woodworth Elementary school. Our players helped lead a campaign to replace over $7,000 worth of stolen foo tball equipment at Cleveland High School in Reseda and will donate nearly 1,000 tickets a game this year to underprivileged youth in our region. Our organization’s Staff Day of Service sees our entire business office close down one day a month to perform a community service project with a local non-profit. We are committed to being an outstanding partner for everybody in Los Angeles and our staff is currently embarking on a listening tour with local community partners to find the best way to use the power of football to improve lives, both young and old, in Southern California.

Los Angeles is a thriving and diverse city that brings endless opportunities for our franchise to bring Angelenos together. We have been inspired by the response from those throughout the region and how quickly the NFL has taken root once again in Los Angeles. The first sign of Los Angeles’ passion for the Rams was the 56,000 fans who placed a deposit to join our season ticket list in January. More recently, the over 5,000 fans who packed L.A. Live for our draft day party highlighted the blend of new and old Rams fans. Young kids who came with faces painted and wearing jerseys of current stars such as Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald, and Tavon Austin found themselves screaming passionately next to grandfathers wearing Eric Dickerson and Jack Youngblood jerseys. Every member of our staff has been inspired by the heartfelt stories of fans who grew up going to Rams games at the Coliseum. As an organization, we talk about being an expansion team with roots, developing that next generation of Rams fans alongside those who grew up with the Rams in the Coliseum and Anaheim Stadium.

We recognize that building a fanbase in Los Angeles is dependent on building a winning team that engages fans on and off the field. While this is true in all markets, it is especially true in Southern California, a market which

boasts two teams in every other sport and two major Pac-12 universities. The Rams return home to Los Angeles having just finished our fourth-consecutive year as the youngest team in the NFL. Our goal is that our young team, which is anchored by an elite defense and back-to-back NFL Rookie of the Year winners in Aaron Donald (2014 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year) and Todd Gurley (2015 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year), will continue to grow together leading to long-term and sustained success. Another sign that great things are on the horizon is our 2015 sweep of the Seahawks and a road win in Arizona that allowed us to finish tied for the best divisional record in the NFC West.

Pairing our grassroots community efforts with Stan Kroenke’s transformational vision for our 298-acre sports and entertainment campus at Hollywood Park will allow the Rams to become part of the cultural fabric of Los Angeles. Our goal is to build an emotional connection with our fan base and the city by enriching the daily lives of Angelenos and then delivering an outstanding gameday experience on Sundays. We aim to be part of our fans lives not just 16 Sundays a year but rather 365 days a year. Wherever you around Los Angeles, you will find our players, our mascot Rampage, our cheerleaders and our staff at community festivals, parades, and sporting events. The Rams were LA’s first professional team and we aim to become as integral to the city in our 50th season of play here as we were in our first season in Los Angeles in 1946.

The most exciting part of our return home is the chance to build an iconic world-class stadium that will once again make Los Angeles the destination for the world’s top sporting events. Our 70,240-seat stadium is tailored to the

Southern California lifestyle. Our lowslung building has a modern shape and an indoor-outdo or design that could only be built in LA. Fans will be able to enjoy a true outdoor experience while being protected from the sun and elements by our clear ETFE roof. The appeal of returning premier events to Los Angeles was highlighted by the NFL owners’ decision in May to award our stadium the 2021 Super Bowl, marking the first time the Super Bowl has returned to Los Angeles in nearly 30 years. We are hopeful our stadium will allow Los Angeles to once again host World Cup matches, NCAA Final Fours, College Football Playoff Championships and perhaps most important, the Olympics in 2024.

I often get asked why the timing was right this time around for the NFL to return after so many false hopes before. There are three simple answers. First, Stan Kroenke’s expertise in sports, real estate, and his longtime experience in Southern California allowed him to put together the exceptional project that will restore Hollywood Park as one of the epicenters of sports, entertainment, and culture in Los Angeles. Second, the leadership of Mayor James Butts and the City of Inglewood to help our project become reality. Finally, as a native Angeleno, I believe the vibrancy and exciting story that is today’s Los Angeles is finally ready to embrace the NFL. Our organization is humbled by both the faith the NFL and its owners showed in us and the opportunity to become part of the LA sports landscape. We’re home, and we can’t wait to show Los Angeles how the power of football can bring our community together.

Kevin Demoff, an LA native, is the Chief Operating

We are hopeful our stadium will allow Los Angeles to once again host World Cup matches, NCAA Final Fours, College Football Playoff Championships and perhaps most important, the Olympics in 2024.

By: Jamie Ludovise

PREDICTING MEGA-POPULAR CULTURE

BY BRENDAN MANLEY Director, Content Assessment, C4 R&D BEN SPERGEL Executive Vice President of Insights, C4 R&D

In today’s highly competitive entertainment marke tplace, forward-thinking content creators and creative executives are increasingly relying on research-based content assessmen t—instead of just their gut—when making key story decisions. Now more than ever, audience reaction is factoring into those content choices, whether a project is in the early script/concept stage or final edit.

It’s a strategy born of the current “big data” era that aims to answer some of the biggest questions of all: What are the elements in media such

work The Hero With a Thousand Faces how all

as film, TV, and videogames that we collectively enjoy ( and dislike) most, and why? How do we experience and relate to various stories according to genre and subgenre, and what are the pitfalls that stand in the way? Uncovering those kinds of universal truths, and applying them to projects in development, can potentially mean a difference of millions in revenue.

For a film to see continued life after opening weekend, it’s increasingly important to ensure audiences leave theaters satisfied and ready to recommend. With television, the

challenge becomes encouraging repeat viewings after the pilot, while building sustained positive word of mouth and prompting “bingewatching.” The answer, in the tradition of the great mythologist Joseph Campbell, is research.

One Story, One Audience

For Campbell, that research involved stories – lots of them. By investigating tales spanning the globe that are as old as the earliest ancient civilizations up through modern times, Campbell revealed in his definitive 1949 work The Hero With a Thousand

What makes a box office smash? Content assessment has become a union of art and science.

Faces how all truly resonant stories are built upon variations of a singular universal character arc known as “the Hero’s Journey.” Using this thematic framework, a young filmmaker named George Lucas created Star Wars in 1977, and Campbell has been on the tip of indus try tongues ever since. But this “scientific” approach to the creative process needn’t end there.

Modern data- and researchbased content assessment now seeks to carry on where Campbell left off, focusing not just on story themes and elements, but also the audience as a living, breathing entity with specific wants and expectations. Those demands may seem highly unique to each audience member, but in truth after analyzing decades of screenings and box office data, clear patterns of audience preference do emerge. This is the perspective that only researchbased content assessment can offer.

Take the action genre. Sure, these films place a premium on elements like hand-to-hand combat, car chases, and massive explosions, but there are also subtle yet crucial underlying facets of the main characters and their motivations. For example, screenings data indicates audiences strongly prefer that action heroes have a romantic or semi-romantic count erpart: a “Bond Girl,” if you will, to create personal tension. Foregoing this element risks losing female moviegoers, who might have otherwise been swayed.

The same analytical mindset applies to villains. In horror films, we don’t want our monsters and boogeymen to be rational, conflicted beings; rather the most effective

antagonists, according to audiences, are those who cannot be reasoned with. They can be criminally insane, or just pure evil, existing solely to kill and wreak havoc, but that must be the prime motive. Testing has revealed that if the killer has too deep/ logical of a personal motive, viewers will see the film as a suspense thriller instead of a horror movie, which can lead to major disappointment. Failing to deliver on the expected scares can be the death knell for a film that might have otherwise been saved.

A Universal Approach

Other mediums like TV and videogames have their own specific story archetypes and audience profiles, and the value of factoring research into the creative process is equally powerful in these worlds. Informed by data, there are myriad subtle changes that can transform content where it counts, ensuring all the vital audience touchpoints are present.

A very prevalent example comes from the supernatural horror/suspense genre on TV, especially shows like Lost, Under the Dome, and Wayward Pines . According to testing, it’s clear that viewers strongly prefer a protagonist who is a “regular Joe” not unlike themselves, and preferably someone who’s thrown into an extraordinary role not of their choosing. This is the type of vicarious experience audiences crave, rooted in a relatable character.

This kind of perspective on content also acknowledges that there’s a deep, bubbling psycho-social and cultural undercurrent in society that often informs viewer preference.

Batman and the Green Arrow—two of D.C. Comics’ most successful comic-to-mass-media crossover characters—may seem somewhat dissimilar, but they actually have much in common. Both are normal humans who’ve become gadget-wielding vigilantes, in hopes of quieting inner demons that stem from a haunted past. Both are also billionaires who choose to buck the stereotype of a “one-percenter,” spending their wealth and energy to fight evil. In a lighter sense, these archetypes also largely apply to Iron Man, another beloved superhero.

What do we deduce from that observation? Well, one might argue that we’re living in an age where the socio-political frust ration of average citizens seems to grow by the day. As a result dark, flawed, yet well-meaning superheroes who take the law into their own hands strike an emphatic chord among viewers, who (at least subconsciously) wish they could do the same. It’s also why god-like, invincible super-beings from other planets, particularly Superman, are a comparatively more difficult sell.

So although the words “data” and “research” may not seem obvious ingredients in a discussion concerning the creative process, both content creators and development executives can reap massive benefits from factoring audience trends and data into story-level decision-making. More than ever, one of the most important steps in the process of storytelling is listening.

According to testing, it’s clear that viewers strongly prefer a protagonist who is a 'regular Joe' not unlike themselves, and preferably someone who’s thrown into an extraordinary role not of their choosing.

Brendan Manley and Ben Spergel are executives at

NEXTGEN

From the ballooning value of sports television rights to the endless stream of Snapchat channels pushing content off the silver screen and into your pocket, the game done changed. This year’s crop of dynamic entrepreneurs and creative leaders (so strong we had to include 11) represent that shifting dynamic. From Fox Sports and CBS to The Ringer and Loot Crate, the following executives are creating content and controlling the message across multiple playing fields simultaneously.

AGE

28

EDUCATION

UCLA RESIDENCE

Marina del Rey

NOTABLE PROJECTS

New positioning strategy for FS1, key involvement on FOX Sports Ad Sales Upfront roadshow, developed long range planning and sales partnerships.

BIG BREAK

Working in research at ABC right out of college—that experience equipped me with an understanding of this business that has proven indispensable

PERSONAL PASSIONS

Travel, tacos, UCLA, and Bay Area sports

ON THE HORIZON

Working with our sales partners and producers to build innovative opportunities for monetization as we launch a new slate of programming for FS1

CBS

AGE 33

EDUCATION

Ohio University RESIDENCE

Los Angeles

NOTABLE PROJECTS

Doubt (CBS), Empire (FBC), Sleepy Hollow (FBC), Red Band Society (FBC), Gang Related (FBC), Almost Human (FBC), The Following (FBC)

BIG BREAK

Landing an assistant job at BWCS

PERSONAL PASSIONS

Hanging out with my toddler, hot yoga, reading, friends, and family

ON THE HORIZON

Excited for our latest pilot Doubt to debut on CBS, and jumping into development for 2017-2018!

CAA

AGE

29

EDUCATION

Yale University RESIDENCE

Los Angeles

NOTABLE PROJECTS

I’ve collaborated with a lot of our amazing clients, including Tom Hanks, Demi Lovato, Gordon Ramsay, Jason Statham, and Buster Posey, on their mobile projects.

BIG BREAK

Definitely one of the coolest I’ve had was getting a shout out from Tom Hanks on Late Show with David Letterman.

PERSONAL PASSIONS

I love traveling and exploring new places with my girlfriend and spending time with my family in San Diego.

ON THE HORIZON

I’m moving up the leaderboard in the head-to-head chef duels in Gordon Ramsay’s new game with Glu, Gordon Ramsay DASH! It’s super fun and addicting!

Bristol Pictures

AGE 24 EDUCATION USC RESIDENCE

Los Angeles

NOTABLE PROJECTS

“Making the American Man” - a documentary about American made goods for men (available on Netflix in July.) And two shorts“GLOVES” and “Flock of Four.”

BIG BREAK

I’m not sure I’ve had my “big break” yet. I like to think that’s around the corner - and maybe always will be.

PERSONAL PASSIONS

Exploring history. Anything from early to mid-20th centurypeople, paintings, music, sports, design, decor, and architecture. And of course - my corgi, Clarence.

ON THE HORIZON

We’re in post for a documentary about six kids from Watts and in development for a 1955 coming-of-age, jazz film about four best friends.

Loot Crate

AGE 30

EDUCATION

Claremont McKenna College RESIDENCE

Los Angeles

NOTABLE PROJECTS

Loot Crate & Gamer Food

BIG BREAK

Launched Loot Crate at a Hackathon in Los Angeles, and quickly grew the company to over 500,000 subscribers in three years.

PERSONAL PASSIONS

Ping pong, podcasts, binging HBO and Netflix, and travel

ON THE HORIZON

Lots of exciting partnerships with leading the entertainment and pop culture brands. Finding exciting new ways to deliver Loot to fans online and offline!

NOTABLE PROJECTS

Transition from a former Israeli pro surfer and champion to the founder & CEO of a company

PERSONAL PASSIONS

Surfing, yoga, traveling, paddle boarding, snowboarding, music, and good food

AGE 32

EDUCATION

IDC Herzliya Israel RESIDENCE

Venice Beach

BIG BREAK

Moving to Los Angeles 3 years ago and turning goFlow from an idea into a real business with outside investors like Neil Dana (GoPro) and Go4It

ON THE HORIZON

Launch of an on-demand service in which users can choose and schedule sessions with local skateboarding, paddleboarding, kiteboarding, and surfing experts in their areas

BRIANNA BENNETT Vice President, Drama Development

MICHAEL BLANK Business Development Executive

CHARA LYNN AQUIAR Vice President, Strategy & Content FOX Sports

GREGORY CARUSO Filmmaker

CHRISTOPHER DAVIS CEO

RONI ESHEL Founder & CEO goFlow

CHRIS RYAN

Executive Editor, Co-host

The Ringer, After the Thrones

AGE

38

EDUCATION

Emerson College

RESIDENCE

Los Angeles

NOTABLE PROJECTS

Executive Editor of The Ringer, co-host of the The Watch podcast, and HBO’s After the Thrones BIG BREAK

Meeting Bill Simmons at the Marcus Dupree 30 for 30 party in New York.

PERSONAL PASSIONS

When you work at a site that covers sports, pop culture, and tech, your passions are pretty well taken care of.

ON THE HORIZON

Helping to grow The Ringer, and continuing work on The Watch podcast.

RUSSELL SILVERS

Senior VP, Global Partnerships

AEG

AGE 36

EDUCATION USC RESIDENCE

Westchester

NOTABLE PROJECTS

I oversee the operations and retention business in North and South America for the Global Partnerships team, which generates over $200 million in annual revenue.

BIG BREAK

Personally, my biggest break was meeting my wife. Professionally, establishing my career at a global company that values an entrepreneurial mindset and out-of-the-box thinking.

PERSONAL PASSIONS

I spend my free time with my wife and three children - Grace, Gavin, and Georgia. Being “dad” is the most rewarding job.

ON THE HORIZON

Leading the global partnerships team to achieve record-setting revenue numbers for our business globally and accomplishing the “best year ever” for our retention business

LINDSEY NICOLE WATERHOUSE

Senior VP, Public Relations NCLUSIVE AGE

35

EDUCATION

Temple University RESIDENCE

West Hollywood

NOTABLE PROJECTS

The Isaiah Austin Dream Again Campaign, Mike Conley Jr.’s free agency, Dwight Freeney’s career (from the field to broadcasting), signing top 5 NFL draft pick Jalen Ramsey.

BIG BREAK

I worked at a sports agency for 3 years and had about eight professional athletes under my account. When I decided to leave, six out of the eight joined me in pursuing my passion and vision.

PERSONAL PASSIONS

Family is everything to me; without them I would not be where I am today. Dogs, sports, yoga, pizza, ocean, reading, yellow starbursts, and my guilty pleasure is reality TV.

ON THE HORIZON

Taking the lead as the head of sports at NCLUSIVE and continuing to be the driving force behind individual athletes, helping establish their brands and building their careers away from the playing field

KAI D. WRIGHT

Vice President Atom Factory, SMASHD

AGE

31

EDUCATION

Univ. of Chicago, Columbia Univ. RESIDENCE

Los Angeles and NYC

NOTABLE PROJECTS

Launching entertainment startup accelerator Smashd Labs and tech/ culture media company Smashd.co

BIG BREAK

Leading communications and public relations for P. Diddy’s cable television network.

PERSONAL PASSIONS

Travel, photography, music, teaching, technology, movies, hiking, and running

ON THE HORIZON

Teaching a grad course at Columbia University on how to make dollars from sense and introducing more hustle into tech and culture

ZABNER President

InCharge Entertainment Marketing

AGE 35

EDUCATION

Indiana University RESIDENCE

Santa Monica and NYC

NOTABLE PROJECTS

Created an interactive advertising project where we built a replica of the church featured in marketing materials for AMC’s new hit program Preacher. We toured the country with the 15-ton, 30-foot upside down church and spent a week each at SXSW 2016, LA’s Hollywood Blvd., and Times Square respectively

BIG BREAK

The head of marketing and partnerships at Time Warner Cable took notice of InCharge Entertainment very early on as a young experiential and nontraditional creative strategy shop that also executed.

PERSONAL PASSIONS

I am a proud “Uncle of the decade” to two nephews and a niece. I enjoy softball, football, golf, and MMA. I make sure to watch Jeopardy! nightly. Also appreciate live music, travel, and culture.

ON THE HORIZON

Growing the company presence on the West Coast, specifically LA, where we are launching an experiential production and fabrication company for major projects and innovative installations.

ZAC

THRILL SEEKER

Turning one night of the year into a $100M business, Melissa Carbone has made Halloween evergreen

BY ELYSE GLICKMAN

When Shark Tank victor Melissa Carbone and I sit down for a conversation, people around us are still figuring out their plans for July 4 weekend. Carbone, however, lives the Halloween spirit year round. This ultimately made her one of Los Angeles’ most successful entertainment entrepreneurs.

“Halloween comes once a year, but it is a sustainable multi-billion dollar industry,” Carbone explains. “However, horror as a larger entertainment genre is massive. Fear is America’s favorite drug. When we did more research into the revenues of horror (films and attractions), we knew this was an area that was underserved and had great potential as a business model.”

Although Carbone had a successful ten-year run as a Clear Channel (iHeart Radio) executive, her unrelenting drive for more prompted her to leave her covetable job behind to found Ten Thirty One Productions. Up until that point, Carbone’s professional life seemed to be a charmed one. An account executive position at the media company’s Hartford, Conn., offices was her first job right out of college.

After a year and a half in that position, Carbone wanted the challenge of moving to Clear Channel’s biggest revenue-generating marketplace, Los Angeles. She got her wish. For the next eight years, she ascended the firm’s corporate levels to become the youngest manager controlling more dollars than any other single manager in the company.

“I could have stayed there and retired wealthy and happy…but I wanted more,” she says. “I wanted my time back, and I wanted to build my own empire. Therefore, I jumped. I jumped into an awesome risk leaving the safety of my corporate career behind. People thought I was crazy. I believed that a stable job isn’t the only qualifier that determines a successful life.”

Hair-Raising Empire

The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride was an immediate s uccess when it premiered in 2009, pushing Carbone to take well-planned thriller attractions above and beyond the Halloween season. The summertime Great Horror Campout was born, and also became a cult phenomenon really quickly.

“The high-octane horror nature of ‘Campout’ appea ls to Comic-Con, Sci-Fi, gaming audiences, to adventure seekers wanting an experience beyond going to movies or out to dinner,” observes Carbone. “You can gauge consumers’ fear levels by the types of attractions they are drawn to, and the people who really want to be scared want to be scared all year long. The real horrors of today’s world add to the ‘escapism’ need for these kinds of attractions and help make them successful.”

Carbone says what differentiates Ten Thirty One Productions from other event entertainment companies is that every attraction is designed to “completely submerge guests into a visceral, sensory experience. From the moment your car enters our parking lot until the back tires exit, you are in our world, and will not be taken out for any reason. You don’t pass pastel-colored Dippin’ Dots or SpongeBob to get from one zone to the next. You stay consistently in our narrative.”

Though the Los An geles Haunted Hayride effectively launched the firm, and the first year’s success

[DOWNTOWN LA]

Photos

By: Michael Kovac

remains a point of pride for Carbone, she also experienced new-company mistakes that taught her to embrace her failures.

“After we had two years of success with the Haunted Hayride, we decided it was time to grow,” she says. “We created a new attraction that epitomized the Ten Thirty One philosophy and would attract a different demographic—an Orange County, over-40 crowd who wanted mild scares and booze. In 2011, we leased a mega yacht and birthed Ghost Ship, the only haunted attraction to take place on a ship that actually set sail.”

Marketed incorrectly, it drew diehard fans of the original Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, who ended up hating the more middle-of-the-road experience. The backlash was horrific, but what did not kill the Ten Thirty One business made it, and Carbone, stronger.

“The struggle end ed up being a valuable lesson that made me rethink the way I viewed failure,” she said, leading up to a conversation on her new book, ( Ready, Fire, Aim ), which encourages readers to accept obstacles as a part of success as well as taking risks to achieve entrepreneurial and life goals. As she sees it, nothing but your most extraordinary ride should be good enough. And for that, bold choices are mandatory.

“The principle I want to get across is to not be ‘reasonable’ in your aspirations of life,” she explains. “Go beyond ordinary goals. We live in a society where we are told what is successful. I challenge that notion because I have made some risky choices that caused people to look at me as if I had three heads by taking certain leaps that would scare most reasonable people. (With the book), I am trying to help readers find the courage to take the most extraordinary ride of their life.”

Shark Treatment

Carbone was already a success by the time she appeared on Shark Tank in 2013, thanks to the lessons she mastered over the years at Clear Channel: How to bring in revenue and investors, draft business proposals, budget for various operating costs and develop marketing plans and platforms. She also acquired a huge network of contact s that she successfully leveraged to get the business up and running. However, she is grateful for Mark Cuban’s continued influence on her career and company.

“(Cuban) has been a valuable network resource, including an introduction to Live Nation, which soon after (the show) became our partner,” she says. “He has helped us have a bigger voice in the entertainment world and also been a coach to me. With my tendency to want to take on way too much, Mark has tattooed the mantra ‘Don’t drown in opportunity’ in my cerebral sector.”

Just like the horror genre itself, Carbone’s business outlook continues to evolve. She remains driven by her thirst for risks and knowledge that will carry her into new dimensions of personal fulfillment while Ten Thirty One’s attractions will continue to carry customers into new dimensions of scares and thrills. While some business people are out to attain security to address their fear of the unknown, she finds falling into the abyss of the status quo much scarier.

“My definition of success remains as owning your own time, and choosing boldly to stay on your most extraordinary ride,” she says. “This has changed over time as I once defined success purely by wealth…how much of the Monopoly board could I own. When you are working so hard that you don’t enjoy life, how can that be success? I want people to jump…to dare to be unreasonable, and see what happens.”

MELISSA CARBONE

CEO, Ten Thirty One Productions

AGE 39

EDUCATION

University of Connecticut

RESIDENCE Los Angeles

NETWORKS / ORGANIZATIONS The Stellar Development Foundation, TuesdayNights

PHILANTHROPIC AFFILIATIONS Farm Sanctuary, The Scare Foundation, L.A. Parks Foundation, Environmental Media Association, Peta2

CHILDHOOD AMBITION “I wanted to be a rock star. I studied music from an early age, joined a punk band at 14 and played in bands through college and even into my first years at Clear Channel. One of my bands, Rudie Brass, became successful at about the time No Doubt debuted. We opened for everybody from Blink 182 to Creed. However, I got that traveling band member thing out of my system right around the time I realized I could do really well in the corporate world.”

TEN THIRTY ONE PRODUCTIONS

FEATURED ATTRACTIONS

Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, Ghost Ship, the Great Horror Campout, Great Horror Movie Night outdoor movie series, and New York Haunted Hayride. CURRENT MARKETS Los Angeles, Dallas, New York City, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle

NEW VENTURE Shadow House Films, which debuts its first feature-length film in Q4 2016.

BY

THE NUMBERS

$8B “Halloween” Industry Revenue

$500M Revenue from live attractions

$1M Cost to produce each “Haunted Hayride”

700% Increase in “Haunted Hayride” revenue between 2009 and 2015

1/ Carbone finds herself sitting at the top of her game at Ten Thirty One Productiosn continues to grow

2/ Behind the scenes at Carbone’s HQ where the attractions come together

I could have stayed there and retired wealthy and happy… but I wanted more. I wanted my time back, and I wanted to build my own empire.

[ARCADIA] C-SUITE QUARTERLY

FLYING OUT OF THE GATE

Keith

Keith Brackpool has a mission: helping to make horse racing a national pastime in the United States. And he’s starting with the Santa Anita track in metropolitan Los Angeles.

As West Coast Chairman of the Stronach Group, he wanted to make sure that the iconic track is relevant in today’s entertainment world. In the past, stadiums had been maledominated, without televisions, and were built for standing only.

“For too long horse racing spent too much of its money marketing to a demographic they desired but not offering the product that demographic wanted,” Brackpool says. It was time to change that. In January 2013, Stronach Group announced that Brackpool had taken an equity share in the Group and would direct its West Coast operations.

Brackpool was involved in ushering through renovations to the magnificent art deco stadium, a perennial host of the famed Breeder’s Cup race. The goal was to attract a younger, more diverse clientele, who would see the track as a viable entertainment option. One of the guiding principles during renovation was the idea that “You don’t need to go to Las Vegas for the day, you can come here.”

And it appears to be working. The number of post-renovation visitors to the stadium who say they would come back is very high, a fact of which the Stronach Group is most proud. If there was any doubt whether Santa Anita has entered the modern age, this settles it: the stadium will pay 50 percent of your Uber to get there. There is also a shuttle from the newly opened Metro Gold line.

What does Brackpool think has attributed to the stadium’s success?

“It is a combination of (keeping) the integrity of the original design along with the setting. The fact you’re in an extraordinarily densely populated area like LA and all of a sudden are in a part with open space and the stagg ering San Gabriel mountains as the backdrop.”

Horse racing wasn’t something Brackpool was unfamiliar with when

“thrill of seeing your course and your colors come down that lane.” He continues, “I love the sport as a fan, even though now it is a much bigger part of my life than when I was just a fan.”

Santa Anita has started to attract celebrities once again, who enjoy the stadium’s secluded private areas and the ability to “maintain a sense of a nice afternoon out without being surrounded by cameras and crowds.”

However, the ul timate show of success will be millennials flooding the stadium gates. Then “this would have been a very worthwhile last few years.”

presented with a business opportunity. An English native, he was a racehorse owner and fan his entire life. “There is greater exposure to the sport in England as a fan than there has been in the U.S. historically,” he says. “It’s like asking an American if you had ever been to a baseball game.”

By the time he become a minority equity partner with the Stronach Group, Brackpool had been Chair of the California Horse Racing Board for almost four years. He owns a dozen of his own horses and clearly feels connected to them, saying, “There is something about an individual horse that is like a human.” In fact, one of the first horses he ever bought, Elbio, turned out to be a world champion.

Brackpool wants to bring together owners and fans in experiencing the

As for his thoughts on leadership, Brackpool is quick to give praise where praise is due. “You are reliant on so many people to do the job. There is no possible way you could be successful unless you are very collaborative.” He adds, “Sometimes things are going well and you believe it’s because of your actions. Sometimes it can be in spite of your actions, so take a second hard look.”

KEITH BRACKPOOL Chairman, Santa Anita Park

AGE 58

EDUCATION After high school, he got a job at an investment bank fetching coffee (“‘the agent’s equivalent of working in the mailroom”)

RESIDENCE Santa Monica Canyon

FAMILY One daughter, one son

THE STRONACH GROUP

HQ Aurora, Ontario, Canada

EMPLOYEES 3,500

PROPERTIES Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Pimlico Race Course, Laurel Park

OTHER VENTURES The Stronach Group also own and operate several automatic wagering platforms, Horse Racing TV, a 304-acre horse training center, and numerous other assets

There is no possible way you could be successful unless you are very collaborative.

Brackpool is bringing iconic Santa Anita Park up to Millennial speed

RESULTS ORIENTED

Transitioning from the world of arthouse film to digital media, ZEFR co-CEO

Richard Raddon is shaping the future of video on the small screen

BY ANDREA ZARCZYNSKI

Richard Raddon values the rewards of living a life true to himself. Growing up with an entrepreneurial-minded father who was the CEO of Raddon Financial Group in Chicago inspired him to explore all types of media and follow his curiosity to become a self-made media connoisseur. Today he is the successful co-CEO of ZEFR, the world’s leading VideoID technology company on social platforms like YouTube for content owners and brands.

“I love movies, television shows and media in general,” Raddon says. “I learned from my father to never stop learning. Growing up in the early computer age of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, I was always obsessed with how technology worked and how it could improve lives.”

A curious, inquisitive mind and desire to learn might have foretold that Raddon’s path to becoming a media mogul would not be linear. After earning a business degree in finance from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, he applied for and accepted

a position as an assistant to the late American film director, producer and screenwriter John Hughes, Jr. who is remembered for his productions Sixteen Candles and Home Alone released in 1984 and 1990, respectively.

The Making of a Media Mogul

From 1992 through 1994, Raddon refined his business savvy and passion for media working alongside one of the film industry’s greatest. Spending time around a man who refused to conform to commonplace business systems further inspired Raddon to follow his own whims and segue from independent film to digital media.

“John was is a very interesting guy, really talented. He was a great example early in my career of someone who was passionate about being true to himself and about the way that he liked to do things - and to have the fortitude to stay the course. I just took his example about being really true to yourself and being very entrepreneurial,” Raddon says.

In 1994 Raddon packed up and left Hughes Entertainment to start his media career in Los Angeles. On his way west, Raddon chose to volunteer at Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Soon Raddon discovered that, not only was he attracted to media, but he was even more drawn to innovation. He was also moved while observing for the first time a successful, creative community of people that lived “outside the system,” telling stories and

RICHARD RADDON

Co-founder, co-CEO, ZEFR

AGE 48

EDUCATION BYU (B.S. in Finance)

RESIDENCE Pacific Palisades

FAMILY Wife, Kathryn; Nicholas (12), Clara (10), Ezra (4)

CAN’T MISS EVENTS Code Conferences, CES

CHARITABLE INVOLVEMENT My Church (Latter Day Saints)

ZEFR

FOUNDED 2009

HQ Venice, CA

$ RAISED $65M

EMPLOYEES 327

MISSION ZEFR has developed a unique signal surrounding the content of video. The company harnesses that signal on social platforms to monetize and merchandise the best videos for movie studios, music labels, brands, and media agencies.

1/ Richard Raddon (left) with ZEFR co-founder and co-CEO Zach James

2/ Raddon with Dawn Hudson and Dustin Hoffman at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival

3/ Raddon with Sam Rockwell and George Clooney at the inaugural Spirit of Independence Award Ceremony, honoring Clooney

changing lives in the process.

“It was really inspiring to watch everything that was happening there, and it took me years and years to figure out - I just love to innovate,” Raddon explains. “I love to be a part of new systems and new things that make people’s lives better. I was really just attracted to how innovative independent film was during that time, and what it represented.”

Ready for a new challenge, Raddon continued his travels west to L.A. where he enjoyed exploring and producing several of his own independent films, commercials and music videos. Naturally he was invited to join the team behind the LA Film Festival. He served as festival director of the annual affair from 2000-2008 and helped grow the gathering into the large, annual showcase of North American independent, feature, documentary, and short films as well as music videos it is today.

Raddon pursued his desire to change existing systems in the film industry and make an impact by offering consumers new choices of content to consume. Challenge met him along the way, apologetically proving just how static and resistant to change the world of media was during that time. Even as consumers were asking for innovation, Raddon saw little to no innovation among the leading film, music and television companies to bridge the gap with consumers.

He says, “I have never been a person to adhere to the general wisdom of ‘Oh, he’s got a playbook and he has to follow the playbook and the playbook always

works, so we shouldn’t question the playbook.’ I’m somebody that questions a lot of things and asks, ‘Why do we do it this way?’ Or, ‘Isn’t there a better way?’”

Impetus for Innovation

While working the LA Film Festival, Raddon asked endless questions and identified opportunities to evolve the industry’s products and services. His position placed him in the right location at the right time, leading to invaluable connections with leading media festival sponsors. Soon he discovered that his compelling ideas for innovation mirrored the spirit and mission of one of the world’s leading film and television streaming operations, Netflix.

“They were absolutely fulfilling a huge consumer need,” Raddon says. “Netflix clearly had a vision for something so much greater, and they were going to be the impetus for making that come to pass. That kind of visionary evolution and innovation is what I was really yearning for.”

In January of 2009 Raddon cofounded with investment banker Zach James a web startup operation called Movieclips that was eventually acquired by Comcast/Fandango in 2014. Based in Venice, the company now offers the largest, most diverse collection of movie scenes available on YouTube, and it allows consumers to interact with and share more than 25,000 streaming clips from film leaders like Paramount, Warner Bros. Pictures, and others.

While launching Movieclips, Raddon

looked at innovation in terms of forging together technology and media. Despite much isolated activity in both sectors, he said that media companies were not seriously considering the idea of short movies and television shows, much less monetizing promotional items for their own credit.

Raddon prioritized learning on the job, and he often sat with engineers and technicians to better understand the inner-workings of his operations. He discovered himself naturally migrating from media to technology, and in August of 2012 with James, he unveiled ZEFR, an innovative data and technology company that empowers companies and brands to discover key content and influencers, monetize and manage content, and best target advertising against it.

Current co-CEO of the Venice-based operation, ZEFR has made two acquisitions and gone through seven rounds of funding from 13 investors totaling $64.9M. He and his business partner employ 300 plus employees that manage a collection of more data than any other YouTube partner. As the leader in video rights management and targeting technology among top Hollywood movie studios, music labels, and brands the company manages almost 300 million online videos and tracks more than 31 billion views per month. The company has additional offices in New York, Chicago, and Provo, UT.

I love to be a part of new systems and new things that make people’s lives better.

Discovering the Tipping Point

Tipping points for growing his business came about while securing funding, connecting with institutional investors, and transitioning from Movieclips to ZEFR to optimize offerings for media companies and brands. Today Raddon remains passionate about discovering new technology and using it to create a meaningful impact for brand marketers, agencies, and media companies. He is excited about disrupting the common practice by large media companies to avoid innovation because, if they work towards only hitting quarterly goals, they are in jeopardy of long-term disruption.

Just eight years ago, Raddon says that he remembers forming his own ideas on streaming content. However when he shared his thoughts with others, he was met with blank stares. It was the subsequent release of the iPhone, smartphones, and app community in general, that made younger generations demand instant access to content on-the-go. In turn, media companies were forced to wake up, and for many of them, recognized that they could not keep up.

“Technology is the ultimate enabler for innovation,” Raddon says. “The spirit of innovation is embodied in young kids, they aren’t going to settle for status quo. They are going to push the limits and change the nature of this business.”

Despite his expertise, Raddon says that he can not imagine what the media landscape will resemble in five, much less 10 years. However he is confident that varying values among generations paired with continuing advancement of technology will bring about new disruption and positive change to media. As media and brand dollars help drive the economy, he also says that new and existing social media tools like Snapchat, would likely offer companies great leverage in coming years.

He also says that the stakes are heightening for traditional media companies to meet consumer demand to have the ability to engage with content anytime, on almost any screen they choose. The concept of an all-online Super Bowl experience, from purchasing the ticket to watching the game from the front row with AI technology, is not far away, Raddon explains.

Perfecting the Balance

With a spiritual outlook on life, Raddon says that the most important relationships he has in life are with his wife and three children. He balances business with family time and watching movies like X Men and television series including The Americans, Mr. Robot and Game of Thrones. Grateful to have close family living nearby Pacific Palisades, Raddon

is an example to his children of true humility. Committed to the idea that challenges and trials strengthen one’s character, he is also an example to them that success does not occur organically, rather by way of passion and hard work.

Raddon describes himself as an intense, highly-focused individual. Intently concentrated on the next business move, he has learned to also step back and appreciate the journey to living life as a successful entrepreneur. Though he feels proud to have established a sustainable, profitable operation, Raddon does not for one minute consider resting on his laurels.

ZEFR is growing 100 percent year over year. Raddon plans to continue pushing himself and his executives to grow the company into the future while making it an inspiring place where everyone wants to join together each day to offer his or her own personal best. He believes that no true entrepreneur stops evolving, or at least they should not plan to. Raddon measures business success by the quality and quantity of what a company produces for shareholders and employees.

“It kind of never ends,” Raddon says. “As a businessperson, I don’t think that if you have an appetite for growth, you ever fully arrive. I’m very proud of the success we’ve had, but we feel like it’s only the beginning.”

As the leading technology company among top Hollywood movie studios and music labels, the company

1/ Kaskade on stage at the LA Convention Center on May 7, 2016. His performance in front of more than 21,000 fans was the largest ever at the Convention Center and his largest-ever solo performance

2/ Though he has a summer residency in Las Vegas, Kaskade often takes the show on the road playing throughout the world

LIFE IS A FESTIVAL I

Genre defining and industry changing, Kaskade has spent more than 20 years atop his game, making him the 7th-highest-paid DJ in the world

BY HANNAH LEVY

RYAN RADDON

AGE 45

EDUCATION University of Utah

RESIDENCE Pacific Palisades

FAMILY Wife, Naomi; three children ages 6 to 12

KASKADE

YEARS ACTIVE 20+

KNOWN FOR Outdrawing Drake at the 2015 Coachella Valley Music Festival

SUMMER RESIDENCY Las Vegas’ Wynn XS Nightclub and Encore Beach Club

CAN’T MISS FESTIVAL Winter Music Conference in Miami

n June 2009, as the final traces of summer haze dipped below the walls of the Los Angeles Coliseum, Ryan Raddon knew. A message rang through from the frenetic mass of 100,000 Electric Daisy Carnival festival goers swaying below him, clear as a bell: We’ve made it. This is going to work!

Transcendence is a central theme in electronic dance music (EDM) culture, and as an artist very much at the forefront of the genre, Raddon’s revelation couldn’t have come at a more fitting time. “It was a moment for electronic music in general. They were estimating something like 40-50,000 people to attend that night and literally double that number showed up. Everyone was looking out and enjoying the moment but also thinking, ‘Wow, something special is clearly taking place right now.’ ”

As the electronic music act Kaskade, Raddon’s rising popularity has been linked in lockstep with that of the genre itself, the headwind in a formidable storm brewing just a hair’s breadth below the musical mainstream. On that warm LA night in 2009, looking out on the pulsating crowd below, Raddon, and EDM, had officially arrived.

To rewind a bit, Raddon’s entry into the burgeoning electronic music scene came at age 15, hopping the L train from his sleepy Chicago suburb (his high school was the inspiration for the John Hughes classic The Breakfast Club) into the city for early evening sets in the all-ages juice bars around town.

“The music wasn’t readily available

yet,” says Raddon. “At that point you really had to search for it. You had to be going out to clubs, going to see specific DJs who were curating that kind of sound.”

Frankie Knuckles, known as the Godfather of House Music, was the resident DJ at one of these clubs, a threestory dance factory called Medusa. In an auspicious turn, the young Raddon of the ’80s, a high school chamber choir competitor who played piano and sang in church, wandered directly into the pulsing epicenter of the electronic music scene. And that was that.

“I knew I loved the music right when I heard it. I thought, ‘This is amazing! I haven’t heard anything like this.’ ”

After completing his BA at the University of Utah, where his dorm room was outfitted with a turntable and thick stacks of vinyl, Raddon came to terms with the notion that his musical fixation had moved far beyond the label of “passionate hobby.” He gave in, throwing himself headlong into his mixing board, and became part of a second wave of DJs coming up in the mid-’90s electronic scene - a cohort that included Mark Farina, Derrick Carter, and DJ Colette, DJs from Chicago with whom Raddon felt a certain kinship. “I really aspired to do what they were doing. They were masters of their craft. They really understood music, they were writing interesting, intriguing stuff.”

As the new millennium rolled around and EDM teetered on the brink of the big leagues, Raddon was maintaining a taxing, 200-show-a-year touring schedule.

Photos

By: Mark Owens

The onset of social media, where hoards of followers track EDM artists with feverish devotion, provided the 11th-hour push the genre needed.

According to the International Music Summit’s most recent report, the electronic music industry is worth roughly $2B in North America alone. That’s around 30 percent of a global industry valued at around $6.2B. With more online streaming traffic today than country music — the de facto American music juggernaut — electronic music is finally cresting along the peak prophesied by industry insiders for more than two decades.

You will find Raddon at the helm. Voted America’s best DJ for 2011 and 2013, and at an estimated worth of $18M, Raddon is currently the seventhhighest-paid DJ worldwide. The lyrical primacy that imbues all nine of his studio albums (a holdover from early influences such as Morrissey, The Cure, and The Smiths) continues to resonate with fans and at the top of the iTunes charts. And in 2015, as the only electronic artist to grace the Coachella main stage, Kaskade’s performance drew a larger audience than record-breaking rapper and producer Drake. Those numbers, though certainly staggering to take in, didn’t seem to faze his own children.

“Surprisingly, they’re pretty stoic about it. I’ll lock up a show for 80,000 people and they’re at the side of the stage saying, ‘Yeah, that was good.’ Playing it very, very cool.”

Yes, his children. At ages 12, 10, and

6, the sight of crawling festival grounds and sold-out shows is old news to them.

Raddon, 45, an icon of the electronic dance music movement — a culture known less for its wholesome image than for many, many other things — is Mormon, happily married, and a devoted father. With a travel schedule encompassing 150 shows a year, including weekly summer trips to and from Las Vegas where he is the resident DJ at both the Wynn XS Nightclub and Encore Beach Club, it’s difficult to imagine how Raddon manages.

“It was a real challenge and a hard lesson for me to learn,” Raddon acknowledges, citing the time management learning curve as among the biggest music industry obstacles he’s overcome.

“I get asked this question, mainly from friends, and the answer is that I’ve made it a priority that my family comes first.”

It looks like staying closer to his top priority is getting easier these days, in large part because of his newly finished recording studio in Santa Monica. Raddon worked closely with seasoned designer Chris Pelonis (think Disney and Jack White Productions) to create a space unique to his musical needs, a painstakingly nuanced task. After some 20 years “working on a laptop in my kitchen, in the spare bedroom, the back bedroom,” Raddon has outfitted a space that fits like a glove. Now he’s spending some real time in it.

It means getting to stay closer to his home in the Palisades, focusing on his ambassadorship with the nonprofit

Operation Underground Railroad, throwing a few more of his small-scale Redux shows, and even carving out time to visit his own favorite LA haunts (The Misfit Restaurant + Bar). In the meantime, Kaskade’s 1 million-plus Twitter fans remain eager.

It’s been a big year for EDM. The Electric Daisy Carnival, the confetti-littered, pyrotechnic marvel that provided the backdrop for Kaskade’s watershed performance in 2009, turned 20 in June with Raddon in tow. That’s two decades in tandem now, spinning to some of the largest audiences in the music world.

“I’ve been very fortunate to be one of the leaders in an industry that has seen this huge growth. Very fortunate.”

The only electronic artist to grace the Coachella main stage, Kaskade’s performance drew a larger audience than record-breaking rapper and producer Drake.

CREATING SPACES OUT OF H.WOOD

LA nightlife entrepreneurs John Terzian and Brian Toll are elevating hospitality worldwide through R&R: relationships and respect

BY JESSICA FERGUSON

AGE 36

BRIAN TOLL

AGE 36

EDUCATION B.A., USC

RESIDENCE Los Angeles

THE H.WOOD GROUP

FOUNDED 2007

HQ Los Angeles

EMPLOYEES 140

ohn Terzian knows a thing or two about building a brand out of life’s tippingpoints.FromstudyingentrepreneurshipatUSC,tograduating Pepperdine law school and moving backinwithhisparentsat25then starting from scratch again at 27, to going on to build what has proven to be one of LA’s largest nightlife companies, hequicklylearnedhowtoadjusthis expectationsandredefinehisvision.

Partnered with longtime friend Brian Toll,Terzianco-foundedTheh.wood Groupin2008,justmonthsafterthe

duo lost nearly everything in a few substantial venue flops. “We have had our fair share of failures,” Terzian says, “but I have always had a no-fail mindset.” Having used that tenacity to find and establish success in the nightlife world, the native Angelenos are now focused on growing their brand and giving back to their community. CSQ sat down with Terziantospeakforthepartnership about how they were able to turn that resistance into resilience.

The h.wood Group as we know it –theeclecticnightlifeandburgeoning hospitality powerhouse perched above SunsetBoulevard–blossomedoutof asmallseedofdoubtplantedinthe minds of Terzian and Toll in 2007. After overhearing a colleague publicly suggest the two were merely promoters who had little-to-no say or stake in the venues they were working on, Terzian decided instantaneously to branch off onto his own ventures. “Even though we had a big following of loyal locals, nobody really thought we could be operators. And that stuck with me. It was a sore spot,” Terzian admits.

That frustration compelled Terzian to go back to investors, family, and friends with his newest concept idea in 2008. With little to reassure them other than his word, he considers the success of this second round of funding a direct result of having always remained above board in business – a practice imparted by his father. “We never took a salary. We made sure to communicate openly. We maintained good rapport and strong financials. We always had a good reputation for that,” Terzian says. “And reputation is something you can’t ever buy back. People may not like me or Brian, but even our own enemies won’t question our integrity.”

When asked to identify what exactly lit the fire for him to start building up

The h.wood Group, Terzian attributes it to an inner dialogue. “A lot of entrepreneurs are like that - they are crazy competitivewiththemselves,”hesays.“I don’t have anyone else to prove anything to.Ihavesupportivefriends,agreat family. I compete against myself.”

Learning the Nightlife Landscape

But from where does this drive stem? And why nightlife? “I have a passion for creating spaces,” Terzian states, reclining back briefly into the white glow of hisoffice’scustomneoninstallment. His passion extends beyond the spaces hecreatestothepeoplewhooccupy

JOHN TERZIAN

EDUCATION B.A., USC; J.D., Pepperdine

RESIDENCE Los Angeles

KEY PROPERTIES Bootsy Bellows, The Nice Guy THE HORIZON Expansion into the Middle East and Asia

them.WithapricelessRolodexfilled withA-listcelebs,trendingtastemakers, and a loyal list he considers “family and friends” since the beginning, Terzian emphasizes that his single most impactful business asset has been the relationships he has built.

Much like his venues, Terzian’s introduction into the industry was a bit unconventional. After playing football for USC, he began working with legendary sports agent Arn Tellem to help recruit high school kids to play college ball. His promotion work started organically as he began taking the recruits out to entertain them. “That is where my level of service came in. Most of my core [business] relationships started from and around sports and athletes. It’s a major aspect of what we’re doing at h.wood Group,” he says, nodding to the work they’ve done with the NFL, the big Superbowl party they throw every year, and the ESPY Awards events they host.

Tonourishthoserelationships, Terzian’s team keeps record of everything from drink preferences to dietary restrictions and so on. “We found that, at the end of the day, the difference between one of our tiny, eclectic venues and every other entertainment space is that very few in this industry are offering that same level of service. It’s a forgotten craft,” he says. “So, that is what we strive to do. I don’t view myself in the bar, nightclub or restaurant business. I view myself literally as a personal concierge.”

This individualized hospitality model, which thrives on exclusivity and exceeding expectations, just gained global room to grow with the team’s recent addition of Hakkasan Group. “We built a friendship with the heads of Hakkasan, and they bought out our old investors for a 51 percent stake,” says Terzian. “They’ve been pretty amazing. [Brian and I] are born and bred in LA. Our strengths are capitalized on in this city. Hakkasan has a wide reach globally and significant international access.” Together, the nightlife firms will elevate that relationshipbased business to a whole new level.

A Shared Vision of Hospitality

Partnerships are rarely so sweet, though. When asked how he and Toll have been able to sustain their lasting partnership in such a volatile industry, Terzian replies, “We are essentially family at this point. The key is that we are different [yet] the different hats we wear overlap, and the overall vision we have is the same.” He admits that they may disagree over small

issues but never over the core values or visionofthecompany.Heemphasizes the strength of their opposite personalities when he says, “I am extremely artistic, and he is extremely bottom-line oriented. That works. If you put me in charge, we would be homeless. When we are doing a deal, I let Brian handle the negotiating. A majority of the deals stem from my relationships, and he is the one who closes the business side of things.”

Whilebusinessrelationshipsareof great importance to Terzian, we wondered how his business has in turn affected his personal relationships. Events and entertainment moguls are probably propositioned frequently for favors and special treatment. “It’s hard,” he shrugs. “But I have learned to cope with it by reminding myself that, when you don’t have much, no one is asking you for much. The minute I don’t have those requests, I am doing something wrong. So I don’t really shy away from it. I do what I can,” he says. “But, for the most part, all of my friends ask for very little. It’s the people who don’t know me who ask for a lot.”

Giving Back and Making Rain

One thing Terzian prides himself on isvisibilityinmeeting,mentoringor advising. “I didn’t really have a mentor, aside from my father. And I felt that,” he says. He wants to do things differently for future upstarts in his industry. “If you email me,” he says, “I’ll meet with you. Because no one ever met with me. Whomever I can mentor, I will.”

He also prioritizes giving back through charity. “I used to volunteer. But, as our events business has grown bigger, I have beenabletoleveragethatexperience and success to help charities throw their events and raise money for their foundations.”HepersonallysupportsThe Children’sHospitalinHollywoodand ImagineLA,ahomelessrehabilitation and sustainability program for which he throws an annual Imagine Ball.

The h.wood Group has paved its own path in an ever-changing industry, and Terzianhasstrayedfarenoughaway from the set standards to help elevate the nightlife experience overall. His biggest advice to other entrepreneurs? “The biggest strength you can have is your own ability to rain-make. Your own book of business.” He’d also remind them that relationships, reputation, resilience, and respect are four core assets that don’t cost a thing, but cannot be bought back once lost.

1/ The h.wood Group co-founders Brian Toll (left) and John Terzian (right) met while working as promoters during their time at USC

2/ The h.wood Group’s flagship property, Bootsy Bellows

HOMETOWN HOLLYWOOD JOURNEY

BY KIRK HAWKINS

ROB FRIEDMAN

Co-chairman, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group

AGE 66

HOMETOWN Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina

EDUCATION North Hollywood High School

RESIDENCE Brentwood

FAMILY Wife Shari, four daughters

FIRST JOB A paper route at 12 years old

LAST BOOK READ Making Learning Whole:

How Seven Principles of Teaching Can Transform

Education by David Perkins

BOARDS AND CHARITIES SUPPORTED

Army, International Medical Corps, The Wilshire Boulevard Temple, United Friends of Children, The Curtis School, Saban Community Clinic, Motion Picture Pioneers, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

LIONSGATE MOTION PICTURE GROUP

EMPLOYEES 545

BOX OFFICE Averaging nearly $2B since 2012

NOTABLE PROJECTS RELEASED

The Hunger Games, The Twilight Series, The Hurt Locker

NOTABLE PROJECTS UPCOMING

Deepwater Horizon, La La Land, Saban’s Power Rangers

Rob Friedman isn’t the type of person to look back. As cochairman of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group, he is always looking forward. He sets goals on a daily and weekly basis. It’s a strategy that has served him well. Under the leadership of Friedman and Co-chairman Patrick Wachsberger, the Motion Picture Group of the fiercely independent studio has grossed more than $7B at the global box office over the past four years

It’s the latest milestone in a journey that began in a small town in North Carolina, continued in a theater in North Hollywood, and saw a pivotal plot twist on, of all places, a couch.

While Friedman has worked alongside the biggest stars of our day and some of the brightest executives in the film business, he is very accessible and down to earth—two of the qualities that have earned him respect from peers and

loyalty from employees over the span of his four decade-long career. Even though he can be competitive, he is most concerned with his family and the world around him.

Early Beginnings

Friedman grew up in a small town outside Raleigh, now known as FuquayVarina, where he loved to be outside. “I was pretty much outdoors until somebody had to drag me in,” he recalls. Exploring nature and wildlife, he was the son of a veterinarian, who decided after a family trip to Southern California for Christmas that they would join the rest of their extended family and make North Hollywood home. Friedman was just 11 years old at the time. He attended Walter Reed Middle School and loved going to the movies with his mother, later taking a job at what was then called the Lankershim Theater when he was 16. “It

Conquering fear while visualizing his personal summit, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-chairman Rob Friedman has persevered to produce a string of successes

[SANTA MONICA]

Photo: Albert Evangelista

was a career opportunity I had an affinity for and as I started to get more and more immersed in it I grew to love it,” he says. After graduating from North Hollywood High School, Friedman says he bounced from party school to party school over the course of 18 months. “I thought I was going to be a marine biologist. Then I realized you had to have chemistry and all sorts of stuff,” he says. It was that realization that brought Friedman’s life to a screeching halt. Not wanting to waste his parent’s money, he dropped out of college. Since he was no longer a student, and the Vietnam war was still underway, he submitted to the draft. A high draft number kept him from combat, so he decided to follow the path of other twenty-somethings seeking direction and headed to Europe for six months.

Fear Factor

Upon his return to Los Angeles, Friedman was dealing with a newfound fear. He didn’t have a college education and found he had very few job prospects. He spent the next six weeks on his parents’ couch worrying about his future. “I think it helped to understand that there was another part of my life that had to kick in. It wasn’t all about fun. It was about responsibility and planning for the future. With that in mind I became very career-oriented,” he says.

That same fear propelled Friedman to pester a cousin for a job at Warner Brothers. On September 8, 1970, Friedman began working in the mailroom. “One of those things I realized about myself is I was not a book learner. I was an observer and listener and so I learned everything from that,” Friedman says.

Over the next 27 years, Friedman held many posts, ultimately rising to become the studio’s President of Worldwide Advertising and Publicity where he was directly responsible for the release of more than 180 movies including Superman, Batman, Ace Ventura, and Oscar winners Chariots of Fire, Driving Miss Daisy, and Unforgiven. “I’ve always been a logical thinker and I’ve always been a problem solver. That’s kind of what I like and so that’s sort of how I grew. It just so happened that I have an affinity for people. I’m not intimidated very easily,” he confides.

Along the way, setting goals became an important way for Friedman to stay

on track. He told his parents and friends that he wanted to be a Vice President by the time he was 30 and ultimately head a major studio - two goals that eventually became reality. In 1997, Friedman moved to Paramount Pictures as Vice Chairman of the Paramount Motion Pictures Group. In 2000, he added the role of Chief Operating Officer. In 2006, Friedman joined forces with Patrick Wachsberger to form what became the very successful studio Summit Entertainment. After several misfires, Summit found success with the release of Twilight The Hurt Locker earned the production company its first Best Picture Oscar. Friedman’s partnership with his co-chair, Wachsberger,

from other people and being able to sort of understand where the opportunities are with those ideas,” he says.

In addition to his partnership with Wachsberger, Friedman credits the rest of the Lionsgate team with helping him achieve success. That team includes Lionsgate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer, Vice Chairman Michael Burns, Chief Brand Officer Tim Palen, and Motion Picture Group Co-President Erik Feig. Friedman is a strong believer in that collaboration and relishes the support he gets from it, so much so, that he argues 2+2 = 7: “I love what I’m doing and I love the people I do it with.”

Carpe Diem

Another aspect of Friedman’s formula for success is his marketing background. He says he always asks himself a series of questions when he’s first exposed to projects. Who is the audience? Is this a big or small idea? How big is the opportunity? With a competitive zeal, Friedman uses these questions to tackle opportunities in the current marketplace for film.

began as a friendship with informal chats that eventually evolved into their current long-term working relationship.

In 2012, Friedman began the next phase of his career when Lionsgate acquired Summit. Under Friedman and partner Wachsberger, the studio has grossed nearly $2 billion at the worldwide box office each of the past four years, including more than $1 billion at the international box office three years in a row, driven by The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Now You See Me films.

A Collaborative Business

Even though he never pursued a career as a marine biologist, Friedman has a Periodic Table of Elements embossed in the top of his coffee table at the headquarters of Lionsgate in Santa Monica. While he doesn’t have use for it, he does have a formula for success.

At Lionsgate, one aspect of that formula is collaboration. “I’m not one of those guys that could lock myself in a room and write a script or paint a painting. It’s just not who I am. But I love hearing ideas

The Internet, smartphones, and social media have provided new challenges for movie studios, but also new opportunities. “People consume film in a lot of different ways. The eyeballs are growing,” Friedman says, and it’s important for Lionsgate to create movies that will be exciting wherever they are viewed. He fully supports the evolution of Amazon and Netflix, who are both customers and competitors to Lionsgate, saying, “We all cross lines. We might be competitors on one project and partners on another.”

Of the advent of new technology, Friedman says, “Transformative media never ceases to amaze me.” Augmented Reality is a real world media environment like sports scores on television during a match. Virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one, like video games. While it’s an amazing process, Friedman doesn’t want these new technologies to be overpowering the future of the human race.

In China, Friedman sees opportunity. He cites statistics that predict it will be the largest single box office country in the world. Lionsgate works with Chinese investors and distribution partners

I love hearing ideas from other people and being able to sort of understand where the opportunities are with those ideas.

as part of their filmmaking process. Lionsgate is hoping to eventually expand its GlobalGate consortium, which identifies intellectual property opportunities around the world, to China. As part of the program, the studio already produces and distributes local-language films in markets around

In Pursuit of Philanthropy and Politics

Friedman enjoys the simple pleasures of life. His standing desk at the office, taking his dog for a walk, and kissing his wife before bed. “I’m excited every day. I like to be a problem solver. No lack of problems in our industry or in the world. The fact that my eyes open every morning and I can get up is a good thing,” he says.

Friedman has contributed to a number of groups in Los Angeles. “The more committed we all are to others is I think the only way we are going to continue to survive in this world that is constantly moving faster and faster.”

An early supporter of President Barack Obama, Friedman is now supporting Democratic Presidential Candidate

Hillary Clinton. “I really like what Secretary Clinton has to say. I really like what she stands for. I think it is way overdue that we have a female President.” Friedman is impressed that Clinton has been a public servant since college, investing her entire life in public service. “One of the things I think this country needs is somebody who can maneuver the political morass and get something done. I think she has that ability more than most.”

Friedman believes there are important lessons to be learned in the candidacy of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump and Clinton’s Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, saying, “The one thing all of us should be learning from this is that the political landscape needs to change. The way that the political process is unfolding has to change.”

New Reality

Friedman’s life has come a long way since his days in small town North Carolina, but his hobbies haven’t changed. Friedman enjoys fly fishing, golfing, scuba diving, bodysurfing, and

1/ Friedman’s wife, Shari, and four daughters

2/ Friedman’s business partner and Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Cochairman Patrick Wachsberger, Jennifer Lawrence, and Friedman at an event in Cannes

skiing the slopes of a resort near his Idaho vacation home. “You can pretty much put me any place in the outdoors and I’m good.”

But that fear factor hasn’t gone away. It now propels Friedman in a different way. Among other things, he is primarily concerned with providing for his family. “It always drives me. There used to be fear that I couldn’t do that. Giving back to others. Having friends. Being surrounded by people that love you and you love them is critical,” he says.

While his four daughters might think he isn’t paying enough attention, Friedman said listening is the key to his success. “It’s important to listen before you try to guide and direct. Shutting up is a way to improve. We’re in a fast-paced world and listening takes a little time,” he states.

Friedman keeps his goals in sight. “There are issues on the horizon every time. Whether it’s a fundraising event for a charity or a movie that’s opening in three months, there are definitely horizon goals that are out there. Some are tomorrow, some are months away. I think it’s a constant for me,” he says.

It’s important to listen before you try to guide and direct. Shutting up is a way to improve. We’re in a fast-paced world and listening takes a little time.

[LOS ANGELES]

THEIR VISION STAYS STRONG

Since the summer of 2013, CSQ has made it a mission to dedicate an entire issue in our run to the men and women who define what sports and entertainment mean to the fabric and culture of Los Angeles. Music mogul Clive Davis, television executive Dana Walden, and moving forward to Dan Beckerman and AEG’s sports entertainment juggernaut, we have spotlighted influential and inspirational leaders who champion Los Angeles.This year, we look back at where they are today.

Sound of the Century

Sony Music mogul Clive Davis’ life takes on the silver screen

IM Global, Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions, and director Chris Perkel will be drawing visual inspiration from Clive Davis’ 2013 memoir The Soundtrack of My Life when they bring Davis’ story to life in a feature length project. Davis originally broke the news himself in April at a private event at New York City’s Cutting Room, celebrating an Arista Records reunion. The 10-minute sneak peek was truly a sign of things to come, featuring interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Patti Smith and the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir. “It’s very special to see because I didn’t know who [would participate],” Davis told those in attendance at the event.

From the Ground Up

Dana Walden and Fox Television Group continue to play a pivotal role in television’s renaissance

Shortly after honoring Dana Walden as our Visionary of the Year in 2014, she and business partner Gary Newman saw their roles at 20th Century Fox elevated as they became CEOs and chairmen of the newly formed Fox Television Group, a consortium of media and content creation companies, including the network (Fox Broadcasting Company) and the studio (20th Century Fox Television). Since 2014, FOX has delivered hits such as Gotham, The Last Man on Earth, and the global sensation, Empire, the latter of which became the first series ever to grow its ratings week over week for its entire first season. Walden and Newman recently created the industry’s largest cable production unit, Fox 21 Television Studios, which produces Homeland, The Americans, and 2016’s critically acclaimed and smash hit The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

Filling the Room

The Las Vegas strip got a little shinier this year as AEG’s T-Mobile Arena opened

Los Angeles based AEG’s newest member of their flagship fleet, T-Mobile Arena, opened in Las Vegas in April, 2016. The $375M project originally broke ground in spring of 2014 and when the doors opened for the first time on April 6, 2016 for a concert from Vegas locals The Killers, the 20,000 seat capacity venue was filled to the brim. All in all, the opening weekend featured The Killers, Nicki Minaj, and Guns n Roses. Nestled between Bellagio and the City Center properties, the venue - a 50-50 partnership with MGM - is playing a prominent role in the NHL’s next expansion plans, which include a Las Vegas based team calling T-Mobile Arena home by the 2017-2018 season.

Q3 2013 Issue 20

Q3 2014 Issue 24

Q3 2015 Issue 28

AMERICAN VISIONARY

From Lady Gaga to Uber, Troy Carter’s sixth sense for recognizing potential has earned him a dual position of influence in entertainment and tech

BY JASON DEAN

PHOTO BY ZACH LIPP

Troy Carter is a master developer oftalent.Whetherhe’sguiding a mega popstar to the next No. 1 hit or investing in a young entrepreneur with the next billion-dollar idea, Carter understandsthelevelofsupportthat creative thinkers of any stripe need to achieve their highest potential.

“There’s a patience with the process that I’ve been able to carry over to startups,”heacknowledgedinearlyJune sitting in the library at Atom Factory, theCulverCitymusicmanagement company he founded in 2010. Carter, however, didn’tbuildthecareersof Lady Gaga, Meghan Trainor, and Eve, among others, by being patient. He’s a consummatestrategistandpart-time psychologist, highly skilled at dealing withstrongpersonalities.“Inspiration can come from anywhere at any time,” he said. “You have to be incredibly empathetic and have a respect for art and process. But you also have to be able to deal with crisis.”

Lessthanaweekafterourinterview, news broke that the 43-year-old CEOofAtomFactorywouldbecome the global head of creative services for streaming-musicgiantSpotify.Carter postedonsocialmediadaysafterthe announcement that his commitment to Cross Culture Ventures and the Smashd Labs accelerator (both under the Atom Factory umbrella) would not be affected by his new role at Spotify, a company he first invested in five years ago. Carter has invested in more than 75 companies since 2011 as an angel investor (includingDropbox,Lyft,WarbyParker,The Skimm). In 2015, Smashd Labs (accelerator) and Cross Culture VC (venture fund) were launched to continue to build upon Atom Factor’s technology portfolio.

A Notorious Introduction

There’sapictureofCarter—aslight 21-year-oldwithapenetratinggaze— with Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” WallaceandSean“Puffy”Combsthat hangs behind Carter’s desk in his Atom Factory office. A friend had discovered a forgotten roll of negatives a few years ago and had the photo enlarged and framed for Carter’s birthday. “I wasn’t one to take a lot of photos along the way,” says Carter, “but that one is my favorite.” The pic was snapped backstage at Wallace’s first Philadelphia show; Carter had just startedworkingforCombs’BadBoy Records, Wallace’s label.

But it was the trio’s first meeting a few months earlier that makes the photo hanging on the wall all the more impressive.

The year was 1994. Carter was promoting parties, bringing in acts like Wu Tang Clan, Foxy Brown, and Jay Z from New York City. Most hip-hop shows had difficulty securing liability insurance back then, and Carter was circumventing the requirement by booking pop-up parties atdifferentlocations.“Biggiewasone of the acts I brought down to Philly, and the first time, he was a no-show,” Carter recalls. “I got into a huge argument with his manager on the phone […] and with the head of his label, who ended up being P. Diddy. They ended up coming to town late, the show was over, [but] we went to this after-party and just kind of hit it off from there.”

Carter subsequently started working as an intern at Bad Boy, and he used the experience to soak up knowledge about every aspect of the industry, eventually rising to the position of assistant to the president. “I was a sponge. I read every contract. I knew all of the deals that weregoingthrough,”saysCarter.“It was a real education.”

He also observed the way Combs conducted his business. “I studied this guy, every single thing that he did.” Still, Carter deems P. Diddy a passive mentor. “I was an intern and he was a CEO,” he reasons. “So it wasn’t a close relationship.”

Building Harsh Realities

Growing up presented an assortment of challenges for Carter. The family was poor. His parents divorced when he was a toddler. And his father, who remarried, was convicted of murdering his second wife’s brother after an argument. Carter was eight years old. His mother raised her three boys as a single mom, worked full time, and did her best to provide guidance and direction.

ItwasaroundthistimethatCarter wrote himself a letter. In it, he described whathewouldbeaccomplishingat certain ages during his life – five, ten years down the line. He’s written many of these letters over the years, and it’s a practice he continues to this day.

WestPhiladelphiawasaharrowing place to grow up, but it also planted seeds of grit and resilience in Carter, qualities that have served him well over the years that he relishes in those with an entrepreneurial spirit. “I grew up falling asleep to the sound of gunshots, you know what I’m sayin’? To make it through half the stuff that even my peer group came from, there’s something in you that’s different.” Carter was lucky in one respect; he lived in the same neighborhood as Jeffrey Townes and Will Smith, better known as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. By ninth grade, Carter had decided that he wanted to pursue a career in music. A fan of early ’80s hip hop, he took note

whenNewYorkrapactSalt-N-Pepa signed a deal with a West Philly label. A music movement seemed to be building momentum right in his own backyard.

Carter eventually dropped out of high schooltopursuemusicfulltime.His family was dismayed by his decision but remained supportive. “My mom put me in a program called Job Corps, which was like college meets jail,” he recalls. “She said, ‘the only way you’re going to pursue music is if you get a GED.’ ” He appeased his mom by honoring her ultimatum.

Carter met Will Smith when he was 17. Four years his senior, Smith and business partner James Lassiter took the aspiring rapper under their collective wing. Carter performed in a rap duo, Too 2 Many, but soon realized that while he did thrive in the environment, performance wasn’t his strong suit.

Smith and Lassiter were active mentors to Carter. He got his first taste of Los Angeles, migrating west for the first season of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. He

hated the city and returned home. He gave LA a second chance, but this time it was Lassiter who sent Carter packing back to Philly to readjust his attitude.

He struggled a bit but found his way, and things started to come together. “I fell into being a manager quite naturally. It was the first time I realized that I was really good at something,” he says. “It’s theabilitytolisten,understand,and problem solve. I’ve always been able to take a really complex situation and break it down in an incredibly simple way. And the natural protectiveness I have over my clients is an instinctive thing.” Carter’s previousexperienceworkinghisway up in the industry provided additional framework for his approach to managing, promoting, and branding his clients.

In 1999, Carter began to manage Eve, Nelly,andFloetryamongothers.He formed the music management company Erving Wonder with Jay Erving, son of NBA star Julius “Dr. J” Erving. In 2004, the pair sold Erving Wonder to Sanctuary

Records in the U.K. The deal ultimately fell apart and Carter, who was now back in Los Angeles, got a double punch to the gut when Eve fired him months later. He was deep in debt. His car was repossessed and his house went into foreclosure.

The Edge of Glory?

Just as the downward spiral of his life seemedtobeintensifying,Cartergot acallfromVincentHerbertaboutan amazing performer from New York he had just heard. He was flying her out to LA tomorrow. Did Carter have time to meet with them? Herbert was a child prodigywhoproducedrecordsforthe likes of Celine Dion as a teenager. While the two had known each other for years, they had never done business together.

The artist Herbert introduced Carter to that day was Stefani Germanotta, soon to take the world by storm as Lady Gaga. Carter did a masterful job of packaging the singer, whose style had previously been considered too dance club for mainstream pop radio. Gaga has gone on to sell more than 150 million records globally, win six Grammys, and consistently push the artistic envelope.

In 2010 Carter formed Atom Factory, continuing to grow the music management business and adding John Legend to his roster of clients. Fresh from the breakoutsuccessofGaga,Carteralso made his first venture into startup funding, with mobile app Tinychat in a deal that closed around Christmas.

The following year, he went to “Summit at Sea,” part of a conference series that was started by a group of entrepreneurs. “I just so happened to be sitting next to a guy, [and] he made the statement, ‘In your life there’s only people who extract value and people who add value and there’s no neutral.’” Carter leaned over and the two got into a deep conversation on the subject. The “guy” sitting next to Carter was none otherthanShervinPishevar,anentrepreneur who had just sold Social Gaming Networkandwasconsideringventure capital investing as his next career step. The two became friends.

ShortlyafterPishevarjoinedMenlo Ventures as managing director, he introduced Carter to Uber founder and CEO TravisKalanick,tellingCarteronthe spot, “I’m going to lead the Series B on this deal, and I’d love for you to be a part of it.” That marked the beginning of a fruitful relationship, as Pishevar connected Carter with other promising startups,

I’ve always been able to take a really complex situation and break it down in an incredibly simple way. And the natural protectiveness I have over my clients is an instinctive thing.

including Warby Parker.

“To marry my diligence process that I was developing with a more sophisticated [one] like Menlo really helped me figure out what my own view of deals would be,” Carter says. “For me, I get satisfaction from sharing deal flow and learning from other investors.GoogleVenturesbuildstheir practicearoundco-investment.There’s datathatshowswhenyouhavesmart money around a table, the company becomes more successful.”

Sufficetosaythat2011wasavery good year for Carter and his portfolio of investments.

As Carter became a more active presence in the VC world, he had a conversation with another investor that left him astonished. The man, who managed a fund to funds, candidly told Carter that peoplewerereluctanttoinvestinhis new fund because they thought Carter was only interested in African-American entrepreneurs,notinfindingthenext UberorLyft.“Itwasaneye-opening experience,andithurtmyfeelings…. Sometimes as an entrepreneur, you get discouraged and you think your idea just isn’t there or that something is flawed.” He’s sharing the exchange with others so they have a more accurate picture of the scope of the challenges facing them on either side of the negotiating table.

Swimming With Sharks

In2013,Carter’sworldwasrocked again when Lady Gaga fired him as her manager. While it was a substantial hit to his cash flow, Carter had other irons in the fire. He got up, dusted himself off, and got back to work.

He appeared as a guest shark on ABC’s Shark Tank this past season. Though it is a TV show with certain elements staged for the benefit of the viewer, Carter recalls the experience as being fairly accurate in terms of the negotiating that takes place. “You’re playing with your own money,” he says. “So once the lights go up, your investor instincts kick in.” He hopes to return to the show next season.

While he can capably sift through P&Ls andROIstatements,Carterhasvivid memories of the scarcity that defined his youth. “I call it ‘financial PTSD.’ When you grow up poor, and you come from hard circumstances, it’s a fear that lives in you and you never want to go back.”

One day, Carter arrived in the office and his heart skipped a beat. His wife, Rebecca, the company’s CFO, was in the conference room. Sitting across the table from her was The Bank. “Where I come from, your relationship with the bank is like with the police,” Carter says. “You stay away from it. You go to the ATM and hope the ‘insufficient funds’ messagedoesn’tpopup.”Rebecca,who came from a finance background, explained to her husband that it’s common practice for businesses and banking institutions to foster a cordial relationship with each other.

Having his wife’s support and feedback is something Carter clearly treasures. “My mom was always a big believer in me, and having that [quality] carry over to my wife has been extremely helpful.”

Cartercomesfromabig,tight-knit family and while there were the naysayers along the way, he came to rely on certain familymemberswhosevalidationkept him going through difficult periods. “Just being able to hear, ‘You can do this. I got your back. I don’t care what the outcome is.’ It means a lot.”

A strong believer in the importance of modeling, Carter believes that a change inthinkingneedstooccur.“AfricanAmericanmeninthiscountryhavea certain image that’s ingrained in people’s psyche,” he says. “I think it was Mark Cuban who said when he sees a black guy in a hoodie, he crosses the street. It’s an image problem.”

While music or professional sports offer the dream of a lucrative career path for young African-Americans, Carter wants to open up the conversation so that completing your education, going into business, or being an entrepreneur are considered just as desirable and attainable. He points toRobertSmith,recentlyonthecover of Forbes and one of the most successful

AGE 43

HOMETOWN Philadelphia RESIDENCE Los Angeles

FAMILY Wife, Rebecca; 5 children

EDUCATION GED

ATOM FACTORY

FOUNDED 2010

HQ Culver City

CROSS CULTURE VENTURES

FOUNDED 2015

NOTABLE PORTFOLIO

COMPANIES Dropbox, Lyft, Spotify, Thrive Market, Uber, Warby Parker

and learning from other investors. Google Ventures builds their practice around coyou have smart money around a table, the company becomes more successful.

TROY CARTER

Founder & CEO, Atom Factory

hedge fund investors today, as a great role model for today’s youth.

Thrivingmagnificentlyattheintersectionofentertainmentandtechnology, Carter himself is a strong role model. Intelligent and articulate, his determination and resilience are inspiring. His feelingsaboutLosAngeleshavechanged markedly since the early ’90s. “It was an actor’s town,” he recalls. Today, he points out, LA boasts the fusion of the culinary scene, multiple thriving arts districts, and wears the crown of music capital of the world. “Technology is booming, we have a young mayor…. There’s a sense of optimism that I’m feeling.”

Music Moves Forward

During our interview, Carter discusses the core issue behind music piracy (“Bad product that was mispriced”), the emergenceofstreamingmusicplatforms (“People don’t mind paying for value”), and his thoughts on where the industry is heading (“Drake has adjusted to the new consumerbetterthananybodyelse”).

Elaborating on the latter, Carter observes that by rejecting the conventional model ofdistributioninfavorofmorefluid interactionswiththeaudience,Drake keeps his fanbase constantly engaged by adjusting to consumer behavior.

CarterrecentlyusedSpotifytotest market a group of songs by Mishcatt, a popsingerfromCostaRicahe’sbeen workingwith.Theyuploadedafew songs in March, seeing what worked and what didn’t, identifying similar artists for

propercategorization,gauginglistener feedback and so on. “We’re learning a lot as we go,” Carter says. It was a masterful move that created intrigue (because not much else was known about her) while giving its platform exclusive content that people wanted to hear. In just over three months,Mishcatt’stop-rankedsong, “AnotherDimension,”garneredmore than 8.5 million plays.

While Carter’s new role at Spotify will curtailhisday-to-dayinvolvementin Atom Factory, he has expressed a commitment to keeping the company – including Smashd Labs and Cross Culture Ventures – fully operational.

Withallthathehasaccomplished, Carter’s response is refreshingly simple and close to home when asked his definition of success. “Being happy most of the time.” What makes him happy? “I don’t know if there’s anything better than my kids being happy.”

When Carter turned 30, his mother and wife presented him with a “This Is Your Life” scrapbook highlighting his accomplishments to date. Also included were all of the letters he had written to himself over the years, outlining his goals and vision for the future. Carter never saved the letters, but unbeknownst to him, his mother had. “When I opened it, it was like waterworks went off,” he recalls.

When Carter’s mom passed away two years ago, he pulled out the scrapbook again, which he had never properly examined, and noticed that his mother had included a Bible scripture and a note expressing how proud

she was. “Look what God has blessed you with,” she wrote. “These are the things you dreamed of and you accomplished your dreams.” More waterworks.

“As a kid, you want to make your mom proud. With that said, I don’t rest on my laurels. I always keep trying to keep pushing forward,” Carter says.

As Carter grows into his new role at Spotify and continues to groom musical and entrepreneurial talent, one thing is clear: the next letter he writes to himself is sure to be epic.

1/ Troy Carter (middle) at 17 with Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy backstage at Biggie’s for Philadelphia show

2/ Carter and Chelsea Clinton speaking at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s 2016 Global Showcase, in New York City

3/ Carter speaking at SMASHD Labs Demo Day

4/ Carter with Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban testing a product on Shark Tank

5/ Another Carter venture, SMASHD.co’s debut publication

DESTINATIONS

PGA Tour Hall of Famer Gary Player (left) (p. 88) with Jack Nicklaus (middle) and Arnold Palmer (right) in 2014 at Augusta National’s famed Amen Corner prior to the annual Champions Dinner.

Red Carpet Arrivals

Hollywood may be the global entertainment capital, but whenever Cannes, Berlin, and Toronto pull out the stops for their film festivals, the whole world is watching!

BY ELYSE GLICKMAN

2016 Toronto Film Festival

September 8-18, 2016

Toronto, Canada

Cost for a week-long Premium Pass $845-$930 CDN

MARQUEE CULTURAL SITES The Royal Ontario Museum blends fine art, natural history, and anthropological exhibits, while the Art Gallery of Ontario houses 80,000 works. Casa Loma is a find for architecture buffs in midtown Toronto, but if you’re a hockey fan, the Hockey Hall of Fame should be on your list.

HAUTE HOTELS As the Four Seasons Hotel group was born in Toronto, it makes sense to give its Yorkville location a spin. Fairmont, another Canadian hotel group, has equally grand representation at its historic Royal York Hotel in Downtown. Other top picks include Delta Toronto, Le Germain Mercer, and Le Germain Maple Leaf Square

CELEBRITY CHEF HAUNTS In higher-end dining, Chef Susur Lee, known for his playful takes on Asian cuisine, and business partner Drake (yes, the rapper/actor) are taking Canadian comfort food in fresh directions at Frings. Mark McEwan, a fixture on Chopped Canada, enjoys critical mass with his One Restaurant, a morning-to-night go-to for the business crowd. The menu of Ruby Watchco, by chef Lynn Crawford, changes daily, to the delight of her fans.

OUT AND ABOUT Queen Street West has enjoyed a long reign as Toronto’s trendiest neighborhood, while Beaches, on the far eastern stretch of Queen Street has a village-y boho vibe. Little Italy, Danforth (Greek Town), and Chinatown may have had some gentrification over the years, but maintain much of their original character. If you’re looking to escape the hipster trail, hightail it to Don Valley Trails, High Park, Cedarvale Ravine, and Toronto Islands.

GETTING THERE Air Canada offers Los Angeles-Toronto flights, but if you’re coming in from an east coast city, check out Canadian Porter Airlines (flyporter.com). When you land, board UP Express, the new train direct from YYZ Pearson Airport to downtown Union Station. / seetorontonow.com

Berliniale Film Festival

February 9, 2017

Berlin, Germany

Cost for Festival Accreditation & Market Badge €75-425 (US $84-$475)

MARQUEE CULTURAL SITES Plan an afternoon on Museumsinsel (Museum Island), a UNESCO World Heritage site with several magnificent museums housing everything from antiquities (including the great Nefertiti at the Neues Museum) to fine art through the 19th century. Groundbreaking work from the 20th and 21st centuries makes a statement at Hamburger Bahnhoff. Unique perspectives on political history can be found at newly opened, multi-media The Gate Berlin and through memorabilia on display at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum.

HAUTE HOTELS The Westin Grand Berlin blends old world splendor, an excellent breakfast, location and abundant conference space. The Ritz-Carlton Berlin has full-on luxury, plus the extraordinary Fragrance Bar, which replaces paper cocktail menus with innovative displays juxtaposing fine colognes with a cocktail’s foundation spirit.

CELEBRITY CHEF HAUNTS At least one of rock star chef Tim Raue’s five restaurants is a must, not just for his unexpected takes on eastern and western flavors, but his flair for design. Other restaurants epitomizing Berlin’s cuisine-as-art zeitgeist include Restaurant Reinstoff, Einsunternull, and Volt.

OUT AND ABOUT Hike and bike trails abound in Berlin Metro, including those through the re-purposed Templehoff Airport. Other up-and-coming neighborhoods include earthy-but-posh Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, and Kreuzberg, with a rock and roll vibe that may remind one of New York’s East Village or Hollywood’s eastern reaches.

GETTING THERE Air Berlin offers direct service from Los Angeles to Dusseldorf (connecting to Berlin) during certain times of the year and a lie-flat business class. / visitberlin.com

Cannes Film Festival

May 13-24, 2017

Cannes, France

Cost for a week-long VIP Pass at the 2016 Festival €3,750-4,050 (US $4,200-4,537)

MARQUEE CULTURAL SITES Festival or not, the Boulevard de la Croisette is waiting to be strolled. Le Suquet, the “old town,” is a former fishing village and the birthplace of the area. It retains its medieval ambiance, with narrow staircases, courtyards, and historic ruins, including the city’s ancient walls.The Castre Museum features Mediterranean antiquities, pre-Columbian primitive art, and 19th-century Provencal landscape paintings. Le Malmaison, opened in 1970, focuses on contemporary art and grand expositions of Europe’s top artists.

HAUTE HOTELS When your film festival gathers a constellation of the world’s biggest stars, directors, producers and entertainment industry execs, you need fabulous places to put them all.Top hotels that shine year round--with history as rich as the festival itself--include the InterContinental Carlton Cannes, the Hotel

Martinez and Majestic Barriere in the heart of Cannes and Hotel du Cap Eden Roc outside the city. If smaller boutique hotels are more your style, check into Villa Garbo or Five Seas Hotel.

CULINARY FINDS As one may expect from a place attracting the rich, thin, and fabulous, cuisine here is distinguished with its locally grown produce, fresh-caught seafood, and a glass of rose or white wine. Restaurants that take full advantage of the local bounty include Noisette Café Et Cuisine, L’Eponyme, Aux P’Tits Anges, La Brouette de Grand-Mere, and L’Epicurieux.

OUT AND ABOUT While yachts and sailboats are an integral part of Cannes’ scenery, for a change of scenery and pace, enroll in a tour that will take you on hikes around its medieval cities, including Gourdon, Roquebrune Cap Martin, Eze, St. Paul de Vence, Mougins, and Vallauris

GETTING THERE Air France (which flies into nearby Nice Côte d’Azur Airport) lives up to its reputation as one of Europe’s finest carriers, from its new premium economy to business and first class cabins.

/ cannes-destination.com; cannes.com/en

New York Minute

BY BRITTANY FUISZ

STAY Park Hyatt {Midtown}

This sanctuary in Midtown is located one block from Central Park. Oversized guest rooms are outfitted with the latest technology and many rooms boast unforgettable views of the New York skyline. Dog lovers will rejoice to discover this pet-friendly hotel. A stunning indoor pool is so tempting, you’ll definitely want to pack a swimsuit. / newyork.park.hyatt.com

newyorkparkhyatt

DINE Momofuku Nishi {Chelsea}

The Momofuku group does it again, this time in Chelsea where they make Italian dishes with an Asian flair. Seating is communal, and so is the food. Raw woods remind you that you’re in one of David Chang’s restaurants, as does their no tipping policy. Diver scallops with tiger’s milk are refreshing and light, and fried whole shrimp are tiny with a pop of flavor. The stars of the show are the pastas: Clams Grand Lisbon with chow mein, oregano, and cabbage is undoubtedly one of the best dishes I’ve had this year. Ceci e Pepe, although void of cheese, is full of umami flavor with chickpea hozon and black pepper and rivals the best versions in Italy. / nishi.momofuku.com

nishimomofuku

SHOP

Kit and Ace {Nolita}

If you enjoy espresso and pastry while shopping for a suit, then look no further than Gym clothes meet your everyday clothes at this Vancouver-based apparel boutique. Kit and Ace is known for their technical cashmere that is stylish enough to wear to a meeting but machine washable and soft enough to wear to bed. / kitandace.com

kitandace

DESTINATION: ONLINE

Visit

EAT Chalait {West Village} / chalait.com

SHOP Domenico Vacca {Midtown} / domenicovacca.com

STAY Hotel Giraffe {Flatiron} / hotelgiraffe.com

When you find yourself back in New York refer to our quarterly picks to make the most of your experience

Hitting the Century Mark

BY BEN BLOCH

The LA High Life

Century City has always been known as an iconic, central point in Los Angeles, where glistening towers join together to form a destination identifiable from just about anywhere. With a massive new expansion underway at the Westfield Mall, including Mario Batali’s renown foodie market, Eataly, and many new residences set to open such as Crescent Heights’ glamorous, new Ten Thousand building, Century City is expanding its claim to be one of LA’s best all around places to live, work, shop and dine. It’s no secret, as it was ranked by Money and CNN as the seventh-richest ZIP code in the country.

Then and Now

Once a vast ranch owned by movie star/cowboy Tom Mix, Fox Studios bought the land now known as Century City, then sold part of it to a commercial developer after it was rumored that they ran over budget with the film Cleopatra. The new owners conceived of Century City as a, “city within a city,” and Time named it the “Modern Acropolis.”

Today, Century City is still the home of 20th Century Fox Studios, along with Fox Broadcasting, Fox Sports, and two of the biggest talent agencies in the world in ICM and CAA, along with other major entertainment, law, accounting and real estate businesses. Century City is evolving. In addition to new residences and retail, the historic Century Plaza Hotel, known for holding major events and award shows in their ballroom, is undergoing a major renovation and in the next 10 years, the purple line heavy rail subway system will be expanded to provide additional public transit to and from the area.

WHERE TO EAT

CRAFT

“Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio’s American sea and farm-to-table fare is perfectly fit for power meetings in this sleek, modern space. Expect to see agents and lawyers brokering deals over $105 Dry Aged Ribeye with the not-so-occasional celebrity sighting.

EATALY

Not slated to open until early 2017, Mario Batali’s eatery and market will beckon Angelenos from every ZIP code. First pioneered in Italy by Oscar Farinetti, and then developed in New York City by star chef and restaurateur Mario Batali, Eataly celebrates many of the best traditional Italian delicacies along with local produce and artisanal products.

HINOKI

& THE BIRD

Brought to life by one of the city’s under-theradar restaurateurs, Sang Yoon, Hinoki & the Bird offers guests a modern take on authentic Southeast Asian Cuisine. From spicy chicken pops and Bhutanese red rice to cured lamb belly and Hawaiian Butterfish, Yoon has concocted one of the city’s best menus.

BY THE NUMBERS

0.7 Square miles

5,934 Population*

48,343 Daytime Population

$98,135 Median household income

$945,800 Median home value

* As of 2008

Source: Los Angeles Time, Zillow

DESTINATION: LA CENTURY CITY TOP EMPLOYERS

Hot spots abound in this corporate mecca that is being redefined by rampant mixed-use expansion

WHAT TO SEE

FOX PLAZA

20th Century Fox’s official headquarters may be separate from the studio but has been the setting for numerous major TV and film productions. Most notably, it served as the fictional Nakatomi Plaza in 1988 action film Die Hard.

THE

ANNENBERG SPACE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY

A cultural institution with beautiful exhibits of digital and print photography, the space also plays host to lecture series, concerts and many special events. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 AM to 6 PM and highly recommended.

WESTFIELD CENTURY CITY

Already one of LA’s best and biggest shopping malls, Westfield Century City has an $800 million transformation underway, adding an additional 422,000 square feet of retail and dining therapy in 2017. This will include Nordstrom’s three-level Los Angeles flagship store, a completely remodeled three-level Bloomingdale’s, a brand-new two-level Macy’s, the world-renowned Eataly, LA’s second Shake Shack location and many more of the world’s most prestigious retail brands.

Roman Speron Vice President Crescent Heights

Roman Speron works out of Crescent Heights’ corporate office on Century Park East, just down the street from the site of his company’s newest 40-story project, Ten Thousand. The features an angular, all-glass façade by Handel Architects and the design was inspired by the work of 20th-century modernists Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler.

CSQ How has Century City changed over the years and why is it a great time to live there?

ROMAN SPERON Century City has always been a great place for business. Some of the biggest professional services firms and entertainment companies in LA are headquartered here including CAA and Fox Studios. With the Westfield Mall, there’s already a strong pre-existing retail anchor and great dining options, but there are so many great additions coming in 2016 and 2017, that it’s a very exciting time to move here.

CSQ How do you see Century City evolving over the next 5 years?

RS With major construction finishing in the next year on not only new residences like Ten Thousand and incredible retail experiences such as Mario Batali’s Eataly,

Century City will draw many who wish to live in an urban high-rise environment similar to what they might expect in Manhattan but with all of the perks of great year-round weather and other enticing benefits of Los Angeles. Over the next five years we are going to see people begin to look to Century City as their new permanent home, moving here to take advantage of all these new attractions which will bring more life to the community than it has seen ever before.

CSQ Tell us about the new Ten Thousand property and why it is exciting for this community.

RS Ten Thousand is located at the gateway to Beverly Hills, on the edge of Century City, giving residents the best of both areas not to mention Santa Monica and the beach communities just 10 minutes to the west. Along with beautiful panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, downtown LA, and Beverly Hills, our building has been designed to offer residents incomparable fullservice living. Ten Thousand is the only residential high rise in Beverly Hills to offer an all-access leasing experience, where residents will be immersed in a true five-star hotel environment all of the time, but with the added convenience of being home. Ten Thousand will include a one-acre south-facing park on the third floor, both an indoor lap pool and an outdoor sunning pool, indoor and outdoor movie theaters, and an array of other amenities.

A rendering of the view from Ten Thousand’s fitness center

Newport Beach Retreat

BY ALLISON DEAN

The charming seaside community of Newport Beach, known for its luxurioushomesandmansions and its role as a playground for the rich and famous for more than a century, is a truly delightful place to work or play. Seeking a nearby escape from the gridlock? Newport’s eclectic offerings await.

Situated between Huntington Beach to the north and Laguna Beach to the south,thegreaterNewportBeach areaincludesNewportCoast,Corona Del Mar, San Joaquin Hills, Santa Ana Heights,WestNewport,andBalboa Island and Peninsula. The area is served primarily by John Wayne Airport, followedbyLongBeachAirport,Los AngelesInternationalAirport,and Ontario Airport in order of proximity.

Newport Harbor welcomes those arriving by sea to Newport Beach and the surrounding areas. The harbor, which

servesashometomorethan10,000 privatevessels,isalsogracedbya handful of residential islands. Perhaps the best known, Balboa Island, was artificially created before World War I and features the historic Balboa Pavilion, a famous area landmark dating back to the city’s 1906 incorporation, as well as other attractions and dining options in a boardwalk atmosphere. Both Balboa Pier and Newport Pier offer visitors a lovely walk out to watch the waves and take in this beautiful stretch of coast.

A link between the Hollywood and Newport Beach elite has long existed; numerouscelebritieshavecalledthe NewportBeachareahomeoverthe years,includingKobeBryant,Jay Leno, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicholas Cage, LaurenBacall,RockHudson,and Shirley Temple (crowned the first Miss Newport at age 13). The long-running

TV series Gilligan’s Island set out from theNewportwaterfrontonitsfateful departing sail, and scenes for movies and TV shows from A Few Good Men and All Quiet on the Western Front to Lost and TheOC have been filmed in the area as well.

Opulence and Comfort in True Italian Style

Nestled into the hills above the southern Californiacoastlineisanenchanting enclaveofluxuriousaccommodations that feels a world away. Easily accessible from most areas of Orange County yet removed from the bustle of the myriad freeways crisscrossing the county, The Resort at Pelican Hill is a place like no other. Luxury and comfort go handin-hand at this gorgeous coastal resort, which dominates the hillside rising up from Pacific Coast Highway.

Pullingintothecurveddriveway frontingthemainbuildingtransports visitors to a world of beauty and ease facilitatedbyfive-starservice.Italian Renaissanceinspiredarchitectureis accentuatedbybreathtakingviewsat every turn, and the resort’s 750 mature olive trees attest to its authentic Italian vibe. In a successful attempt to recreate the warm community of a Tuscan

The Resort at Pelican Hill immerses its corporate and leisure guests in Newport Beach’s fabled luxury milieu

villageyetmaintaintheprivacyofa vacationescape,thebungalowguest rooms and bungalow suites are nestled into the terraced hillside.

Enter your private bungalow below a vaulted ceiling with rustic wood beams and let travertine flooring pave the way toafeather-topbedwithluxurious European-style linens. The bungalows featurelimestonefireplaces,deep marble soaking bathtubs and walk-in showers, granite wet bars with refrigerators, and open onto furnished ocean view terraces to boot. Watch your favorite shows on the large plasma TVs whileaccessinghigh-speedwireless Internet and enjoying the Bose stereo system. These modern conveniences –coupled with lavish bath robes, a gourmet espresso maker and milk frother andsignaturebathproductssuchas bath caviar – are just a few of the perks awaiting fortunate guests of the resort. Significantly larger than the bungalows but similarly outfitted, the villas serve as a home away from home. Both the villas and bungalows are available for stays of varying lengths, and the resort offersanextendedstayprogramfor those who simply cannot bear to leave.

Take a stroll on the beautifully landscaped pathways to one of the myriad restaurants or take time to relax by one of two gorgeous pools on property. More

than a million glass mosaic tiles form the perfect 136-foot diameter circle of theuniqueColiseumPool.TheVilla ClubPool,aprivatepoolexclusively for Villa guest use featuring a radiant blue glass mosaic tiled bottom, sits adjacent to a whirlpool spa and children’s wading pool. At both pools, attendants provide full service dining and beverage options. In addition, bungalow and villa guestsmayreservefurnishedprivate cabanas beside the pool to best enjoy the panoramic coastal view. Lounge in a luxurious cabana outfitted with a flatscreen TV, Bose audio system, lounges, and dining tables with chairs. Withindoorandoutdoorvenues that can accommodate groups of 10 to 400 guests in casually elegant settings, meetings are certain to be memorable at Pelican Hill. Whether gathered for personal or professional reasons, the attentive staff will help make your meeting or event unforgettable. Experience the magic of an afternoon spent with loved ones under the domed cupola inspired by the views of the Pacific.

Voted#1spaby CondeNastTraveler magazine and recipient of the Forbes Five-Starforthesixthconsecutive year, the resort spa is a destination in and of itself. The spa offers a personalized experience tailored to your specific needs and desires, whether you seek

an invigorating, replenishing, or relaxing treatment. Where better to shed the stresses of everyday life than a full-service spa complete with a steam room, sauna, and large jetted hot tub?

Thoseseekingabitofsportwill gravitate toward Pelican’s Hill’s legendary golf courses. With a panoramic view from each of the 36 holes, every round is spectacular regardless of the outcome. Memberships are available to Oak Creek Golf Club and the two 18-hole courses, Ocean North (par 70) and Ocean South (par 71), designed by golf architect Tom Fazio.Fazio,whohasmoredesigns on GolfDigest’s list of the country’s 100 GreatestGolfCoursesthananyother livingdesigner,tookpainstomake certain each course reflects the natural beauty of the environment. The result is stunning, challenging golfers to focus ontheirgameamidstjaw-dropping scenery.TakeadvantageoftheGolf Academy, led by Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Glenn Beck and a team of PGA professionals.

ExecutiveChefJeanPierreDubray, whoisresponsiblefortheresort’s culinaryselections,bringshisFrench upbringingandstellarculinarytraining to Pelican Hill. The resulting cuisine is,simplyput,infusedwithculinary passion.Theseasonalfarm-to-table offerings of the three restaurants and two cafes are accentuated by the lovely surroundings in which they are enjoyed.

Andrea’satPelicanHill isknown foritsfineNorthernItalianregional cuisine,outstandingwinemenu,and fabulous ocean views. The restaurant’s authentic pasta, handmade daily in a temperature-controlledPastaRoom by in-house pastaia Julia (who offers weekly classes in the art of traditional pasta making) is fresh and absolutely delicious.Trythetraditionalrisotto, prepared tableside in a Parmesan wheel, for an explosion of classic Italian flavor. The varieties of gelato are all amazing as well!

ThePelicanGrill&Lounge isalso a great place to enjoy the spectacular view from the ocean view terrace while appreciating the best in quintessential coastal California cuisine. Featuring an extensivewinemenu,theopen-concept kitchen produces excellent seafood and pasta dishes as well as artisan sandwiches, salads, and starters inspired by the flavors of the Napa Valley.

Inbrief,theviewisunbeatable, thecuisineincomparable,andthe

1/ A view of the Pelican Hill grounds seemingly a world away from Los Angeles.

2/ A view from the 17th hole of the Ocean North course

3/ Tableside risotto wheel at Andrea’s

4/ The largest round swimming pool in the U.S., located at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach

NEWPORT BEACH BY THE NUMBERS

44.6 Median age

72 Average high temp (F) in July

87,266 Population

$1M+ Average home value

NEWPORT BEACH SUMMER CALENDAR

SUNSET JAZZ AT NEWPORT

July 6 - Sept 14

PAGEANT OF THE MASTERS

July 7 - Aug 31

ORANGE COUNTY FAIR

July 15 - Aug 14

LOBSTERFEST AT NEWPORT BEACH

experience a breath of fresh air at this gorgeousresort.Whetherstayingin one of the luxurious ocean-view villasorbungalowsorsimplystopping bytoadmirethespectacularview from a chic restaurant over handmade pastaanddelectablegelato,theresortofferssomethingforeveryone. /pelicanhill.com

Coastal Jaunts

AvisittotheNewportBeacharea isn’tcompletewithoutexperiencing thecaptivatingnaturalbeautyofthe coast. At Crystal Cove State Park , you can walk the length of the beach and explore the tide pools or hike the 17 miles of hiking trails carved into the 2,400acresofnativewildernessin the backcountry adjacent to the coast. Just across the road perched above the beach, the popular Beachcomber Café welcomes diners for breakfast, lunch, anddinnerwithaspectacularview. Rent a fire pit on the beach and watch thesunsetoveroneofCalifornia’s most beautiful coves.

Those seeking adventure on the water

will likely find what they seek along the shores of Newport Beach and the surrounding coastal areas. In addition to multimillion-dollar yachts, visitors can rent everything from kayaks, sailboats, paddleboards,andmorealongthe waterfront.

Lookingforthelatestandgreatest inshopping?Theelegantcommercial area known as Fashion Island contains upscaledepartmentstores,boutiques, and restaurants in addition to a business park. The open-air shopping center offers the discerning many opportunities to indulge and discover treasured items. Restaurants such as Fig & Olive, Sushi Roku, and R+D Kitchen can be a destination in and of themselves or a stop on a shopping excursion.

Aug 7 6

Steepedinhistoryandflushwith luxurious charm, Newport Beach beckons visitors with its gracious accommodations, elegant shopping, fine dining, and coastal pursuits. You will not regret the decision to spend a day – or week or longer – at Pelican Hill or surrounding accommodationsexploringthisgorgeous stretch of coastline.

5/ Poolside dining

6/ The resort also offers corporate meeting space

Still a Player

As the well-traveled legend continues on his mission to make the world a better place to golf, CSQ picks three Gary Player Signature courses worth the drive (or flight) in 2016

BY RYAN BYERS

Winner of 167 professional golf tournaments world-wide over seven decades, including nine majors on both the PGA Tour as well as the Senior PGA Tour, Gary Player is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of golf. With victories in 27 consecutive seasons (10 more than the closest competitor), the spry legend’s various accolades cover ample ground. A 13-time winner of The South African Open and 5-time winner of the World Match Play Championship, the 80-year-old South African still lives for the thrill of competition.

Gary Player’s impact on the game of golf, however, extends beyond his championships. His fitness regimen is legendary. The fact that he’s won 40 tournaments on the senior circuit amplifies this. He was an early advocate of mandatory drug testing and stood his ground against initial backlash. The longtime rivalry he shared with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus is the height of world-class competition between three guys who actually liked each other.

And then there are the golf courses he has designed – upwards of 350 around the world.

With more than 50 years of playing professional golf, Player has traveled the globe and played the finest golf courses

in the world. In the early ’80s he decided to apply all that he has experienced and learned about golf courses to start Gary Player Design. Since the inception of Gary Player Design, they have been a global leader in course design, marketing, and real estate planning services. As of summer 2016, there are projects completed in 38 countries on five continents, as well as current and future projects in the works. It is no wonder that Gary Player Design is regarded as one of the elites in golf course design.

Player has a great outlook on his design philosophy. “The design of a golf course is a far more sophisticated process than many people would ever imagine, as it requires not only an understanding of the game, but a great deal of vision and clever planning. To a large extent the topography of the land one works with will determine how the golf course is to be laid out, and in this regard it is always my objective to work as much as possible with the natural topography, environment, and features of the site.”

Destination Rancho Mirage

With the majority of the Gary Player Design courses being overseas and only two in California, we as Southern California residents are fortunate to have one of the Signature courses just a

couple hours’ drive away. Mission Hills Gary Player Course in Rancho Mirage is among the greatest golf courses in the Coachella Valley. The course opened for play in 1992 and was soon after named one of the Top 10 New Resort Courses in the United States by Golf Magazine. While challenging in its length at just under 7,100 yards and with its small greens and strategically placed bunkers, the Gary Player course was designed with playability in mind.

The design of the Mission Hills Gary Player course is phenomenal. Player masterfully used the natural desert surroundings and mixed in multiple water hazards and waterfalls, positioning holes in such a way that the views of the San Jacinto Mountains are dramatic and breathtaking. There is a nice variety of tightly tree-lined fairways (mostly on the shorter par 4 holes) along with wide landing areas on some of the longer holes, however, hitting the fairways is just the first challenge on many of these holes. With a mixture of water on more than half of the holes, endless amounts of bunkers and fast sloping greens, even some of the best players can face quite the challenge out here. With five sets of tees making the course playable for any level of golfer, make sure you choose the right set so that some of the forced carries over water are not too overwhelming. / playmissionhills.com

South Carolina Greens

Another Gary Player Design signature course in the United States just opened for play in 2013 and is rapidly being

recognized as a world-class golf course. The Cliffs at Mountain Park course is the seventh and most recent course to be added to the Cliffs collection of courses in South Carolina.

The Cliffs at Mountain Park features an 18-hole championship layout that blends perfectly into the topography of the surrounding beauty. Set on a breathtaking wooded valley along the North Saluda River in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the 7,218-yard course offers wide fairways outlined with native landscaping that is playable and large gently rolling greens - all surrounded by towering trees that create a second to none scenic background. Along with the North Saluda River which comes into play on eight of the holes, the course also features a 12-acre lake that runs along holes 11 and 12. There is no shortage of water hazards at the Mountain Park course.

“Our purpose with Mountain Park was to create a golf experience that offers a wide range of playing scenarios unique to The Cliffs’ compendium of world-class courses,” says Scott Ferrell, President of Gary Player Design. “Members and guests will experience an environmentally friendly landscape, with native grasses incorporated to create a links feel.”

Ferrell came on board with Gary Player Design in 2001 and has played a huge role in the success of the company. / cliffsliving.com

South African Links

Finally, The Links at Fancourt is near and dear to Player’s heart. Located in his home country of South Africa, The Links is currently No. 1 in South Africa (Golf Digest Rankings 2014/15) and was ranked 34th in the world in 2014 by Golf Digest USA. The Links

course opened for play in 2000, and it offers a unique and challenging South African golf experience. Gary Player’s team wanted to create a classic Scottish links course and they nailed it on this project.

The Links has hosted some of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, including the 2003 Presidents Cup, the 2005 South African Open, and the 2012 Volvo Golf Champions European Tour.

Apart from its distinctive design, The Links has been recognized for its vital role in environmental sustainability and awarded a designation as a Certified Audubon Cooperation Sanctuary. This certification necessitated a degree of ecological value that includes wildlife and habitat management, outreach and education, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation, and other environmental factors. / fancourt.com

Player recently made a trip out to Vietnam, where the design company is currently working on a course in Hanoi on Phu Quoc Island. Player predicts Vietnam will become a major player in Asia’s emerging golf market. With golf set to be on sports’ biggest stage at this year’s Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Player feels the world will soon realize the impact golf can have on a local and national economy.

With 40 projects currently in the works all over the world, there’s no telling when the Johannesburg resident will stop adding to his millions of air miles. As one of the best golfers ever to play, and one of the top course designers as well, Gary Player is well qualified to hold the title of golf’s global ambassador.

1/ The view from the 6th green at Mission Hills Gary Player Course

2/ Cleared wetlands at the 15th hole at The Links at Fancourt

3/ The 6th hole at the Saadiyat Golf Club in Abu Dhabi, home to the 2016 Gary Player Invitational

4/ The 14th hole at Thracian Cliffs

Gary Player discusses his memories of competition, inspiration, and integration

CSQ Looking back on your career, what is your proudest moment on the golf course?

GARY PLAYER Winning the Grand Slam on the Senior Tour. I’m the only one in the world that’s won the Senior Grand Slam. When I turned 50, I was in as good of condition as when I was 25.

CSQ Your battles with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus over the years qualify as the greatest three-way rivalry ever in professional sports. What was it like behind the scenes?

GP We were fiercely competitive, but we were great friends. We went hunting together and visited each other’s homes. [Golf] is more of a business today. It’s play, get in your jet, and go. But the young guys we have out there today are terrific ambassadors for the sport.

CSQ Who do you feel was the greatest of all time?

GP Ben Hogan. He won nine Majors and then went to war for five years. Then he came home and got in an accident. The greatest athlete I ever saw in golf, by a mile, was Sam Snead.

CSQ How was your early support for racial equality received in your home country of South Africa?

GP I was called a traitor. I went to [South African Prime Minister B.J. Vorster], a very staunch believer of Apartheid, in 1969 and said, ‘I want to break Apartheid in sport.’ In those days, you could get 90 days in jail for even suggesting it. Luckily I played some golf with him. And I was criticized for doing so. [Player ultimately convinced Vorster to allow black PGA golfer Lee Elder to complete in the country’s largest tournament.]

CSQ Your incredible fitness regimen is inspiring. Where did it start and what keeps you going?

GP My brother went to war to fight with the Americans and the British at 17 years of age. He asked me, ‘What do you want to do?’ I said, I want to be an athlete. He said, ‘You’re too small. I bought you some second-hand weights. Promise me you’ll exercise for the rest of your life.’ I was eight years old. And I’ve kept my promise.

TRAVEL LIKE A PLAYER

WITH MORE THAN 15 MILLION AIR MILES TRAVELED, GARY PLAYER HAS THREE TIPS FOR STAYING ONE STEP AHEAD OF JET LAG.

ONE TWO THREE

Don’t eat on the plane. If you do, make it a papaya or an avocado. The minute you wake up, look out the window and let the sun in your eyes. Work out every day, no matter where you are.

6/ The picturesque Glen Arbor Golf Club in Bedford Hills, NY

7/ Gary Player celebrating at the 1965 US Open, which he would go on to win

Under the African Sun

Boasting abundant natural resources - not to mention a number of world-class golfers - European sophistication meets African culture in South Africa

BY LISA GILD

As the African sun sets and the plane descends on the runway, youimmediatelyfeelthesoul of the country, sense the warmth of the people, and are captured by the vibrancy of the culture. Often called the “Rainbow Nation,” a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu post-apartheid, it’s the spirit of South Africa’s peoplethatmakesthiscountryso magical.HavingbeenborninSouth Africa, I feel a strong connection to this enchanting land and privileged to provide an “insider’s guide” to journey to this part of the world.

With one of the world’s most progressive constitutions and eleven official languages, the New South Africa is layered on many senses with a unique blend of flavors and cultures, mixed

withWesternizedluxuriesandraw Africannativism.Whetheritbethe dramatic landscape of tribal villages, world-classmetropolises,unrivalled wildlife or the spectacular wine region, youcantrulyexperienceitallwith no more than a three-hour plane ride fromoneendofthecountrytothe next.

Johannesburg: Where Old Meets New

The first stop of our African journey is Johannesburg, the main urban and financial center of South Africa that has become the “Capital of Cool.” It’s an urban blend of hip music, cutting-edge art, and chic fashion epitomizing the old and new South Africa.

Brammfontein, anewlygentrified, trendypartofJohannesburg,isan epicenter of stylish streets lined with designerboutiques,world-renowned galleries,andthefamed Alexander Theatre. Mandela Square and Sandton ShoppingCenter ,thesecond-largest retail complex in Africa, is a central hub of shopping and finance. And to get a true education in South African history,visit Liliesleaf Farm ,known asaplaceofliberation,andThe Apartheid Museum - the heart of the apartheid story.

NovisittoJohannesburgiscompletewithoutatriptoSoweto,the largest township in South Africa with a population of close to a million and arichhistory.Takeaprivatetour

andexperiencehistorybyvisiting the homes of Nobel laureates Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Or take anurbancyclingtourandstopata localshebbentoenjoyatraditional umqombothibeerwhilelisteningto some cool jazz.

Foraworld-classexperience,stay at the luxurious Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa , rated amongst the top hotels in the world. Set on ten beautifully manicured acres near Sandton, the resort features extensive and lavish amenities including award-winning restaurants, state-of-the-artspa,wellnesscenter and vibrant art collection of both contemporaryandAfricanart.The property’s commitment to green efficiencies reduces their carbon and ecological footprint. Be sure to watch the sun set over the Gauteng skies as you enjoy a glass of Amarula./ saxon.co.za

SafariExperiencesinKruger Private Game Parks

Experience the true essence of South Africa with a bespoke safari blending old-worldluxurywiththerawindigenous elements. Renowned for its wildlifereserves,explorethelargest and most well-known protected area of Kruger National Park , which will leave you breathless.

As your hour-and-a-half flight from Johannesburg via Airlink Airlines descends on the Skukuza Airport strip, the immediate beauty captivates you. With the sounds of Africa and the innate spirit of the land permeating your

Photo Courtesy Ellerman House

senses,youareinstantlyimmersed inyoursurroundings.Anopen-air range rover drives you through the unspoiled landscape to your destination, &Beyond’s Ngala Tented Camp in the PrivateNgalaReservewithinKruger NationalPark.&Beyond,aleaderin tailor-made,luxurytravel,offersan assortment of South Africa safaris in iconicsettings.&Beyondcelebrates sustainable luxury with its deep commitmenttosustainabletourismand support of its social development partner, the Africa Foundation.

At Ngala (meaning lion in the local tongue), the spirit of the safari comes alive.SetalongtheTimbavatiRiver, stayinoneofthe21cottages,each withanoutdoorshower.Experience thecolonialatmospherejuxtaposed withtheuntamedwilderness,when youawakentothesoundsofthe

Hoopoe bird chirping and trees canopying your luxurious tent.

Youaregreetedwiththesmells ofAfricancoffeeandhome-baked cakes at the main lodge, before your early morning game drive. The ranger andtrekkerguideyouthroughthe reserve,usingtheirnativeinstincts to track down the Big 5 — buffalo, elephant, lion, leopard, rhino — looking forthesubtletyofalion’sfootprint orlisteningforthedistantmurmur of a lion’s roar. After this breathtakingexperience,relaxpoolsidewith vistasoftheriver,followedbya massagetotrulyingratiateyourself intothesurroundings.Then,setoff onaninterpretivebushwalkwhere youfeeltheexcitementofexperiencingnatureupclose.Endyour adventures with cocktails in the bush whereawhite-linendrapedtableis linedwithraresinglemaltscotches as you watch the sunset over majestic plains. Experience a bush dinner, diningonexoticAfricandelicacies, surroundedbythesoundsofAfrica. / www.andbeyond.com

For another diverse sojourn, venture to &Beyond’s Exeter River Lodge in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve (adjacent to Kruger). Stay in one of Exeter River Lodge’seightsuites,whereyoucan take an afternoon dip in your own private plunge pool, overlooking the Sand River. After a day in the bush, unwind atthelodgeshadedbyebonytrees gazing out at elephants drinking in the river below. Experience a true African dinner as you dine by candlelight in an open-air boma under a sea of stars. Andforthetrulyadventurouswho want to feel like an explorer in untethered territory, take a thrilling night drive to spot nocturnal wildlife.

CapeTown:Architecture,Wine… and Penguins

CapeTown,otherwiseknownas the “Mother City,” hosted the Soccer World Cup in 2014. Just over a twohourplaneridefromJohannesburg,

also via Airlink, it is a cultural metropolis with a strong European influence, framed by the iconic Table Mountain , dramatic and jagged cliffs, and magnificent white sand beaches. This cosmopolitan city by the sea is surrounded by nature with the world-renowned wine country, quaint fishing villages up the coast and a beach filled with a colony of African penguins.

For an ideal day sojourn, hire a private driver to take you on an excursionalongtheAtlanticcoastwhere youwillbeginbydrivingalongthe dramaticcliffsofChapman’sPeak Drive. Explore the unspoiled beaches of Noordhoek by horseback, stop at the picturesque Hout Bay and Fish Hoek and then visit Olympia Café in Kalk where the local catch is featured daily on the chalkboard. To get some wildlife viewing by the ocean, Boulder’s Beach is a rare wonder with a colony of over 2,000endangeredAfricanpenguins sheltered by granite boulders. And for

the finale, land at Cape Point to witnesstheIndianandAtlanticoceans splashing together at the tip of Africa.

Fornaturelovers,themagnificent Kirstenbosch Gardens , spanning 1,300 acres at the foot of Table Mountain, is a unique conservatory of some of the most rare biodiversity on earth. And for a relaxing day in Cape Town, Clifton Beach , rated one of the top beaches intheworld,isadefinitemust.To end a perfect day, vi sit Bantry Bay for sundowners(whatthelocalscall cocktails at sunset) at one of the many watering holes for jet setters and locals alike.

Foraculturaladventure,visitthe colorfularchitectureoftheCape Quarter filled with an eclectic mix of artisanandcoutureboutiquesalong with local farm-to-table fresh fish restaurants, located in the unique piazza of De Waterkant , the former District 5 of Cape Town.

Ellerman House , one of Cape Town’s

1/A view from the Ellerman House spa

2/ The ground in South Africa

3/ Colorful Cape Quarter in Cape Town

4/ An often overlooked aspect of South Africa, the beaches

5/Africa’s true beauty, her nature

Photo Courtesy South Africa Tourism

Photo Courtesy &Beyond

Photo By Tony Gild

most regarded properties - a beacon of luxury. Perched on Signal Hill with stunning views of Bantry Bay and Table Bay,ithashousedmanyesteemed guestsincludingBillGates,Oprah Winfrey,andSeanPenntonamea few.Oncehometoshippingmagnates Sir John and Lady Ellerman, this Edwardian mansion feels more like a regal estate than a hotel with 11 rooms, two suites, and two private villas. This boutique hotel personifying grace and elegance,featuringallthenecessary luxe,modernizedamenitiesincludingasophisticatedandserenespa experience ,a7,500-bott lecollection of South African wines, and a distinguishedartcollectionspanningtwo centuries. Ellerman House is a featured partner of &Beyond./ ellerman.co.za

TouringtheCapeWinelands

Knownastheculinaryandwine capitalofSouthAfrica,theCape Winelands(Constantia ,Franschhoek, andStellenbosch)willigniteyour senses. Surrounded by seemingly endless fields of fragrant flowers and the famed Cape Dutch architecture, drive throughwindingcountryroads.The CapeWinelandswereinfluencedby theFrenchHuguenots,whobrought vines from Europe and cultivated the area in the late 17th century.

Delaire Graff Estate in Stellenbosch is widely considered the jewel of the region. A perfect intersection of wine, art,andculturedelegance,Delaire GraffEstateisownedbyrenowned

visionary Laurence Graff, Chairman of Graff Diamonds International. Its aweinspiring setting, exquisite collections of fine wines and unrivalled art collection, consisting of many of Laurence Graff’s personal collection, makes it an indulgence worth experiencing.

AlsoinStellenbosch,visit Jordan WineEstate ,thewineryoffamed SouthAfricangolferErnieEls,and for delicious ports, visit the Muratie. In Franschhoek - a gourmand’s paradise - visit the farm-to-table Foliage Restaurant and BabelRestaurants , housed in an old cow shed.

Upon arrival at Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek, one feels as if they’ve escapedtotheexquisitecountryside whereallyoursensescomealive, surrounded by the flourishing Pinotage vines,fragrantflowersblooming, and spectacular mountain ranges. Le Quartier Francais, with its 21 rooms, encapsulateseleganceandgrace with the warmth of the countryside. You can experience a decadent culinary adventure of African delicacies, masterfullypreparedbyexecutive chef Margot Janse, complemented by award-winningwines.Unwindfrom a full day of wine tasting in the rosefilled courtyard or take a dip in the refreshing swimming pool./ lqf.co.za

SouthAfrica,whereEuropeansophisticationmeetsAfricanculture, embodies the magic of Africa. So if you are seeking a country rich in heritage andculturalexperiences,yethighly advancedwithAfricanroots,South Africa is your timeless paradise.

SOUTH AFRICA

BY THE NUMBERS

11 Official languages (more than any country in the world)

14 Number of rand (South Africa’s currency) for 1 USD

27 Years Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for conspiracy to overthrow the state

46 Number of years Apartheid was in place (1948-1994)

1,738 Miles of South African coastline

1994 Year Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa

53 Million Population

326.5B GDP (2016 estimate)

GETTING THERE From the U.S. to South Africa - South African Airways (member of Star Alliance) flysaa.com. Within South Africa - SA Airlink, partner with South African Airways, flyairlink.com

6/ The Nelson Mandela Statue

7/ Africa’s pride and joy, lions

8/ The Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg

Since 1942, our accountants have counseled medium- and small-si ed usinesses ith the est in accounting, tax and nancial advisor . oda , e focus on the same goals meeting our clients’ needs and exceeding their expectations.

The C-Suite Advisory section is comprised of the best of the best in each respective field. Spanning multiple industries, these tenured advisors are engaged to share their expertise on topics helpful and relevant to the C-Suite professional both for business and in life.

MARKETING

108 NBA’s Approval of Corporate Brand Partnerships Speaks Volumes for Marketing

LAUREL MINTZ PRESIDENT & CEO

ELEVATE MY BRAND Studio City, CA

110 Bringing Brands Across the Pond

MICHAEL SCHAFFER CEO

ECHO-FACTORY Pasadena, CA

112 From Business to Buyer

NOAH BREMEN FOUNDER & CEO BDIRECT COMPANIES Santa Monica, CA

REAL ESTATE

114 3-Pointers, Hot Dogs, and Office Space?

JASON HUGHES PRESIDENT & CEO HUGHES MARINO, INC. CORPORATE REAL ESTATE ADVISORS Los Angeles, CA

For information on becoming a C-Suite Advisor, please contact us at advisory@csq.com

C-Suite Media is an executive leadership publisher and does not recommend or endorse investment, legal, insurance, or tax advisors. The listing of any firm in the CSQ Advisory Program does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement by CSQ magazine of any such firm and is not based upon CSQ magazine’s experience with or prior dealing with any advisor. The information presented for each advisor is the sole responsibility of the advisor. CSQ makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of such information, assumes no liability for any

inaccuracies or omissions therein, and disclaims responsibility for the suitability of any particular investment recommendation or strategy for any person. Nothing contained in CSQ magazine constitutes or should be construed as any form of investment, legal, insurance, or tax advice or as a recommendation to buy, sell, hold, or trade any securities, financial instruments, or assets. Readers are advised to consult their legal, financial, insurance, and tax advisors prior to making any investment or pursuing any investment strategy.

Scott M. Sachs, CPA

Regional Managing Partner

West Region

CohnReznick LLP

Los Angeles, CA

Mr. Sachs’ career includes significant experience in both initial and secondary public offerings, debt and equity financing, and acquisition and divestiture analysis. He is actively involved in such organizations as the Boys & Girls Club of the West Valley, the Los Angeles Jewish Home, the Girl Scout Council, The Entrepreneurship Institute, and Junior Achievement. Scott is also a member of the Ernst & Young LLP Alumni Association of Southern California board of directors. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Mr. Sachs is a member of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Public Accountants.

PHONE 818/205.2609

EMAIL scott.sachs@cohnreznick.com

WEBSITE cohnreznick.com

ADDRESS 1900 Avenue of the Stars 28th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90067

Airplanes, Artwork, and Vacation Homes

IRC 1031 Rules Extend Well Beyond Real Estate

If you are selling certain property and plan to reinvest the proceeds from the sale into similar, “like-kind” property, you won’t have to pay capital gains tax on the sale of your property. This is the basis for IRC Section 1031, also known as the 1031 exchange. Put simply, a properly structured 1031 exchange allows an investor to sell property,

qualifying property is defined as property (or equipment) that is held for investment purpose or explicitly used in a taxpayer’s trade or business. Qualifying property must also meet the definition of “like-kind” property which is property of the same nature, character, or class. Most real estate is like-kind to other real estate. However,

Would you rather pay to play, or lose market share and have less dollars to spend as you spiral towards extinction?

reinvest the proceeds into new property, and defer all capital gains taxes on the property being sold.

While many people are aware of Section 1031 exchange rules as they pertain to the sale of real estate, they are pleasantly surprised to learn that the rules extend to many other property types. Selling your private jet and buying another? Are you an art collector wishing to trade in your Degas for a Monet? Section 1031 exchange rules may very well apply to your sale.

Which Types of Property Qualify?

Both the property you are selling and the property you are buying must meet the criteria for what is called “qualifying property.” For a Section 1031 exchange,

Section 1031 can also apply to a host of non-real estate properties such as airplanes, vacation homes, or works of art. These will also need to meet the like-kind threshold, when exchanging one of these property types for another, to qualify for the capital gains tax exclusion. For purposes of section 1031, both real property (e.g., real estate holdings) and personal property (e.g., airplanes and artwork) can each qualify as exchange properties. However, Section 1031 does not allow real property to be like-kind to personal property.

For real estate assets, perhaps the most common type of property where Section 1031 could apply, there are a wide variety of interests that are

considered like-kind to each other. These include:

Fee interest and fractional (tenancy-incommon) interest

Leasehold interest, 30-year plus lease

Easements for conservation and right-of way

Water and mineral rights

Oil & Gas interests

Transferrable development rights

Exclusions

While many different types of property that will benefit from the Section 1031 exchange rules, there are also many types that are specifically excluded. These include:

A personal residence

Land under development or property specifically purchased for resale

Construction or fix/flips for resale

Inventory or stock in trade Corporation common stock

Partnership interests, certificates of trust, LLC membership interests

Bonds and notes

The “Held For” Requirement Regulations under Section 1031 do not specifically define what “held for investment” or “for productive use in a trade or business” mean in terms of qualifying for the capital gains tax deferral. The length of time a property must be “held for investment” is also not clearly spelled out. We do know, however, that the following general rules apply in cases of “qualifying property”:

The property must be used in a trade or business in which the taxpayer is engaged. While personal use property is not qualifying property, a minimal amount of personal use property will not disqualify property from being trade or investment property. Therefore, some personal use property may, indeed, be qualifying property. Mixed-use property has its own set of challenges and complexities. It will need to be scrutinized on a case by case basis to determine if it qualifies under Section 1031.

Give Boot “the Boot”

Any “boot” received (e.g., cash, debt relief, or the fair market value of any “other property” received by the taxpayer in an exchange of like-kind replacement property) is taxable. Depending on your business objectives, receiving this boot can be okay. However, if you want to structure your 1031 exchange to be completely tax free, you should avoid boot at all costs. To do this, always target replacement property of equal or greater value than the property you are selling.

If properly structured, taxpayers can benefit substantially from Section 1031 tax deferred exchanges. The rules are complex and the property types that qualify are somewhat limited. However, with a trusted tax advisor to guide you, Section 1031 can provide you with a significant tax savings benefit in deferring capital gains on the sale of your property.

Andy Popov

Principal, Head of Digital, Media, & Entertainment Avasant

El Segundo, CA

Andy has over 19 years of experience working as a Partner at an international strategy consulting firms. He has also been a Senior Executive, working in private equity and mergers & acquisitions in the US, Europe, and the Middle East. He has built P&Ls from $0 to over $240+ million in revenues, and led international teams across multiple countries. Andy also has extensive hands-on experience with setting-up successful Strategy, Business Development, Corporate Transformation and PMO departments for international, multibillion dollar companies from the ground-up. As a consultant, Andy has served clients from a wide range of industries including banking, media, telecommunications, real estate, hospitality, healthcare as well as serving clients in the public sector.

The Digital State of Media and Entertainment

Titanic shifts in how content is distributed and consumed are

It is no secret that the traditional media and entertainment industry has experienced extraordinary value destruction in the past 20 years. The music industry right-sized from $26.6 billion in 1999, to $14.9 billion in 2015. Print media lost the fight for classified advertising to Craigslist, Yelp, and Groupon, and legacy brands like the New York Times have survived only by exchanging analog dollars for digital pennies through their subscription services. Only film has held up reasonably well with studios like Disney tapping into multiple revenues streams (musicals, mobile apps, theme parks, etc.) to monetize their brands.

But despite the upheaval, the digital age has also created hundreds of billions of dollars of new value with players such as Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube pioneering new forms of content creation, marketing,

Understanding the Revolution

There are four main themes running through the disruption of traditional media and entertainment. The first of these is the shift toward digital consumption in an industry entrenched in its analog traditions. Gone are the days when consumers were slaves to linear TV programming. Tivo and DVR technology allow viewers to skip advertisements entirely, weakening a historically solid revenue stream. These ‘fly by’ viewers now turn to social media to find their next favorite show or news source.

This leads to the second theme, the proliferation of digital advertising. Digital advertisers have an advantage over their traditional counterparts in that they can directly measure the return on their investment by accurately tracking traffic, leads, sales, brand perception, and net promoter scores. This advantage

distribution, and monetization. With so much to gain at a time rife with industry uncertainty, it’s easy to become paralyzed by indecision as to how to move forward. But the truth is, a clear understanding of the changes at hand and a forward-thinking attitude can help the media and entertainment industry – and almost any business – not only survive, but thrive in this innovative and versatile digital future.

is tipping the scales: digital advertising is projected to account for more than 50 percent of total media spending by 2019.

The third theme is at least partly precipitated by this new data-driven market: the explosion of free and pirated content. As legal avenues for digital content failed to meet demand in a timely manner, illegal and questionably legal services filled the void, the most famous of which was Napster. Legality remains a

the digital age has also created hundreds of billions of dollars of new value with players such as Apple, and YouTube pioneering new forms of content creation, marketing,

redefining landscapes around the world

significant hurdle to legal distribution, as licensing content from Hollywood is still one of the most difficult and unpleasant experiences that a distributor has to suffer every year.

Only a handful of global digital players have been successful in this new digital arena, which brings us to the fourth theme: the rise of digital platforms. Companies like Spotify, Vevo, Hulu, and Netflix have attempted to fill the digital gap by combining advertising revenue with subscription options for their allyou-can-eat streaming and freemium business models. In today’s digital world, content is king, but distribution is King Kong.

Solutions and Resolutions

With these themes in mind, there are some rules of thumb and attitude adjustments that can be helpful when looking to the future. The first of these is to accept that digital is here to stay and is likely to expand even further. Companies that failed to embrace this have been left behind and even new media players like AOL and Yahoo have struggled to keep pace. Speed is essential, but direction is important too. No one knows what the ‘right’ direction is, but one approach

would be to become a ‘fast follower’ and copy successful models so as to adapt them to serve your market.

Along these lines, you might also consider orchestrating digital collaborations with partners to achieve your goals. Hollywood may not have the skill set or culture to catch-up with Silicon Valley, but there are many innovative startups vying for the attention of major Hollywood players for a chance at reinventing film, TV, and the music industry. Partnering offers opportunities otherwise closed to many businesses.

The last bit of advice is to embrace

innovation – and not just the technological sort. Technology is merely an enabler, not a destination. Uber is a superb example of this, having invented a completely new business model and approach to ride sharing that is aided but not driven by technology.

Though technology and innovation may have played a role in triggering the digital revolution, they have also opened the doors on new opportunities as well. It is important to acknowledge and learn from the mistakes that have been made, and to work together creatively to achieve success going forward.

Two Rodeo Drive and Galerie Michael support the children of Operation Smile GALERIE MICHAEL

Michael Schwartz Founder and CEO

Galerie Michael, Inc.

Beverly Hills, CA

their FINANCE COLLECTIBLES

Michael Schwartz provides expertise from a lifelong career and love of art. His career as a fine art dealer spans more than 45 years. In 1978, he founded Galerie Michael in Los Angeles, a gallery dedicated to exhibiting four centuries of top-quality European art. Together with clients, he has built several museum-quality collections, which have been exhibited internationally at more than 20 museums in the past five years. Galerie Michael’s model is built on posterity rather than prosperity, which means a long-term view on working with collectors in “building museum quality collections, one work at a time.” Located for the past 30 years on the fabled Rodeo Drive in the heart of Beverly Hills, the gallery specializes in European paintings, drawings, and prints from the 17th century to the present, including works by Picasso, Renoir, Rembrandt, Dalí, Miró, Chagall, Matisse, and 19th century pre-Impressionist Barbizon painters. Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese spoken.

PHONE 310/273.3377

EMAIL

art@galeriemichael.com

WEBSITE galeriemichael.com

A Look at the Aesthetic Imperative

The ability to define art on their terms gives collectors the means to further appreciate works

We build museum collections for our clients. They come to us for help and honest direction on buying museum works that can resemble a period of time or significant period in an artist’s life that will remain relevant centuries from now. A great work of art will always have value. You get the cerebral joy you can never get from a stock certificate. You get something you can commune with every day. A beautiful work of art resonates with you and that’s the artist’s vocabulary and what they’re communicating with me. People are interested in us because it enables them to put together world-class, museum-quality collections that can be exhibited or even shown anywhere

Perverted Art?

Often artists are acquired for the wrong reasons because many people are influenced by sociological and cultural factors. Many dealers make a keen living because they’ve identified art that is desirable and fashionable in the moment. People buy that art in order to have “arrived” or be part of the Hipster culture, so to speak. People will often buy a work of art just because it identifies them as someone who is insightful or part of a trophy process.

That is what I call perverted art. That’s art being sold and art being acquired for what I call the wrong reasons -- art as fashion or fashionable when fashion can

age, to imitate life in its purest sense.

in the world. People who have a high level of wealth or disposable income can magnanimously create something that gives back.

I’m currently working with a collector, a former banking wizard – I can’t mention his name – he is resembling the New Testament through the eyes of Rembrandt. It’s been a three-year project so far. He is acquiring every painting Rembrandt did related to the Bible. He will have an original Rembrandt plate in his collection. This will be one of the most illuminating examples of Biblical interpretation in 17th-Century Europe, interpreted through the eyes, emotions and feelings of arguably one of the world’s most defining artists.

move in or out in the briefest of moments. Bell bottoms were once fashionable. Edwardian suits were fashionable. [Art] being created for monetary reasons; pressure from dealers who are making a fortune; pressure from false artificial demand. They’re not buying for the sake of art, but because a great actor bought the artist’s work, or perhaps some irreverent social critic buys work.

You have to also have the eye. You have to be able to pick art that is really great. You have to pick artists that are genuinely talented.

When I was a young dealer, during my first trips to Paris, I had a couple friends who had a gallery in Oak Brook, Illinois. They had opened a gallery that was user friendly because when they went

to several galleries they were treated shabbily. In those days the negativity was a way of selling art. You had to be part of the art fraternity and if you were young and walked into a gallery you were dissuaded. So these young guys said we represent the future buyers – the doctors, the attorneys, the entrepreneurs and in 7 to 10 years we’re going to be the art-buying public. Because American fine-art galleries used erudite intimidation, they were not addressing the future of the art business. So they opened a gallery that was user friendly and instead of being intimidating when an uninformed person came in, they taught them. Their gallery became extremely successful and it was a gallery in a shopping center in Oak Brook.

The Tipping Point

So, at that time I would go to Paris frequently because my work dictated that I make these European trips. They asked that I buy a Picasso and said they’d spend $3,000. The French were arrogant and Machiavellian toward Americans in the early stages after World War II and Americans weren’t regaled with

niceties. I didn’t know about the culture and I got turned down at nine galleries. My tail was between my legs.

I sat on a bench, smoking a cigarette, reading a French paper The Gazette. A French man walked up and asked why I look disconcerted. I told him about my horrible experiences. Every gallery I went to I was treated shabbily and intimidated. I can tell you it wasn’t a warm and fuzzy experience. He took me to his own gallery and he pulled out three little Picassos and he asked for my budget. I told him and he asked which of the three I liked. I didn’t know.

“I’m an old man and I bet I’ve spent 2 percent of my life with you. You have the gall to not tell me which Picasso you like after I spent 2 percent of my life with you? I thought you Americans had balls,” he said to me in French. So I looked carefully at the three and I thought the one in the center might be a prudent choice. He said “ah! Masseur you have the eye. You’re going to be a great art dealer.” He said, “I’ll let you take the middle piece for $3,500.” Today that Picasso is worth $3 million to $4 million.

We had a decision to make when we

opened Galerie Michael. We could get involved with pop artists, who were selling like hot cakes, but we elected to work with art that is part of history – to buy the best, bring the best art to our clients and have confidence in our ability to select the very finest work that the artist does. So we work with art that is rare, unique, defining, significant, and made a tremendous statement of integrity. Because the artist’s original thoughts and ideas were an opportunity to communicate at the deepest level the most aesthetic, technical, genius interpretations of the day of the artist’s creative act. That work is authentic.

Great artists have the ability to define their age, to imitate life in its purest sense. Ultimately, if the artist has true and genuine talent, insight, authenticity, the artist can document an ephemeral moment that can permanently become a part of art history, thus maintaining its purity, insightfulness and relevance for centuries.

The great artist is like a great runner. If you metaphorically look, great artists are always just ahead of the pack. Art imitates life and life is art.

Ed Bagdasarian CEO & Managing Director

Guts, Glory, and Winning Valuations

Sports, entertainment, and the art of company valuation

Jim Freedman Chairman & Managing Director Intrepid Investment Bankers Los Angeles, CA

Jim Freedman is a Founding Partner and Chairman of Intrepid Investment Bankers, a specialty investment bank that provides M&A, capital raising and strategic advisory services to middle-market companies across various industry sectors. He has more than 30 years of investment banking and corporate finance experience and is an expert on the financial aspects of corporate strategy.

Ed Bagdasarian is a Founding Partner, Managing Director, and CEO of Intrepid. During an investment banking career spanning over three decades, Ed has led transaction teams in a variety of industry sectors, including consumer, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, industrial, and business services.

When we sold the Los Angeles Kings hockey team to Edward P. Roski, Jr. (Majestic Realty Co.) and Philip F. Anschutz (AEG: Anschutz Entertainment Group) in 1995, its $113M price tag represented a record for an NHL team. That value is even more astounding considering that the team had financial problems and a stretch of poor performance. Fast forward to 2012 and the LA Kings won the Stanley Cup, a first for the team, only to win it again in 2014.

Then you take Steve Ballmer’s $2B mega-buy of the Los Angeles Clippers: the roar was heard not only through the NBA but the entire sports industry. When many in the mainstream media asked why he paid such a high price for the LA Clippers, Ballmer said: “I feel like I paid a price I’m excited about. It’s not a cheap price, but when you’re used to looking at tech companies with huge risk, no earnings and huge multiples, this doesn’t look like the craziest thing I’ve ever acquired. There’s real earnings in this business. There’s real upside opportunity.” 1

inside view on what drives a company’s value. Without taking away from the valuation models used by professionals, the biggest valuation outliers share one of two characteristics, and sometimes both: an ability to disrupt current nor ms or ignite an emotional reaction in the acquirer who sees a big future promise. Like beauty, value is often in the eye of the beholder, determined by supply and demand equilibrium. But what drives demand is where the mystery begins. Depending on the asset, value is determined largely either by scarcity or income producing potential, and sometimes both.

Some Assets Stir Emotion

PHONE 310/478.9000

EMAIL ebagdasarian@intrepidib.com

jfreedman@intrepidib.com

WEBSITE intrepidib.com

ADDRESS 11755 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 2200 Los Angeles, CA 90025

Today, Apple is valued at $566B, which represents just over seven times its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), seemingly a bargain for the world’s largest company by market value. Looking at values of unicorns like Uber, VRBO, Snapchat, and Pinterest is enough to send one questioning whether businesses are valued like art—a dash of hype, some fancy optics, supply and demand imbalance, all shrouded in a cloak of mystery manipulated by knowledgeable market players. At the risk of oversimplifying, I’d like to share our

Scarcity drives value in assets such as collectibles, and the motivator is often a collector’s passion. These assets may include art, rare vintage cars, professional sports teams, historic buildings, and celebrity memorabilia. Whether it’s Jackson Pollock’s “No. 5,” which sold for $140M; the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, which sold at Bonhams’ Monterey auction for $38M; or the Los Angeles Dodgers which sold for $2B, they all appealed to their acquirers’ passion or need to own it. These asset values bear little relationship to their intrinsic income generation potential. A close look at some of the record price fetching art would also dispel the notion that there is any correlation between beauty and value. So the price tag reflects psychic or emotional value, or an expectation that someone else will pay more in the future.

Once we leave the realm of collectibles and “passion assets,” most

business assets are valued based on their income generating potential, and such potential is highest when the business has the ability to disrupt the status quo. The most common approach for estimating enterprise value involves applying a multiple to a company’s operating cash flow, or EBITDA. But what determines the magnitude of the multiple, and what happens when EBITDA is negative or negligible?

In Business Enterprises, the Promise of Earnings Drives Value

A good banker focuses the acquirer on future, potential EBITDA, pointing to synergies between buyer and seller. The power of potential EBITDA is seen best in entertainment asset acquisitions. Many thought Disney had lost its way when it paid $4B to acquire Marvel, a company that had only two major theatrical releases: The Incredible Hulk ($263M in box office sales) and Iron Man (total series sales reached over $1B domestically). Disney proved the wiser, ringing in more than $9B in receipts since then, not even counting the merchandising bonanza from these movies. Disney used the same playbook when it paid $4B for LucasFilm, only to gross $936M domestically from its first movie in the Star Wars series The Force Awakens

The seller will capture far greater value when negotiations focus on potential versus historical earnings. We used this approach when we sold Cycle Gear, the largest and fastest growing chain of motorcycle accessories and apparel in the United States. The company’s rapid rate of new store openings was depressing earnings, as many of its stores were less than two years old. By focusing acquirers on pro-forma EBITDA on a “mature store” basis, we captured the value of what the stores “could” earn rather than what they “did” earn.

Traits that Attract Champion Valuations

Determining the proper multiple to apply to EBITDA is part valuation theory and p art negotiation art. Three main factors influence

the multiple: market conditions , company attributes and the competitive process used in selling the company. Each of these can have a significant impact on value. The company that would have sold at six times EBITDA in 2002 could fetch eight times EBITDA in 2007 because lenders were taking excessive risk, and equity capital was flooding the market. So paying attention to the valuation cycle when planning an exit can make a difference.

Company attributes relate to one of three value drivers: growth potential, profitability and risk. They include a ttributes such as intellectual property, customer diversification, managemen t, competitive mote, business model, scalability,

experiences for adventure travel enthusiasts worldwide. Investors visiting the company could not help but fall in love with the passion that everyone shared at the company— employees and customers alike. EagleRider offers riders from all over the world, who come to experience freedom on a Harley or Indian motorcycle, the opportunity to see the world’s most iconic destinations. The enthusiast cu lture and passion in that company are impossible to duplicate, hence an acquirer would need to buy it. Investors were convinced that EagleRider will disrupt and transform adventure travel.

The Competitive Process: Play to Win

There’s nothing like a competitive bidding frenzy to drive up price. In our experience, competitive processes often drive final bids 25% to 100% higher than the initial bids. When was the last time anyone paid top dollar without the threat of losing the asset to a competing bidder? So what is the appropriate EBITDA multiple? It depends on several factors. But when you have the right market conditions, you run a competitive proc ess and focus the acquirer on your company’s ability to disrupt your industry, frenzied bidding becomes emotional, and disciplined valuations give way to the emotional imperative to own an irreplaceable asset.

market share, addressable market, regulatory environment, recurring revenue, and corporate culture. While these all impact value, one of the most difficult ones to create is culture, especially a disruptive culture. The skeptic need only look at the impact that disruptive cultures have had in changing the industries of companies like Apple (innovative), Southwest Airlines (fun and irreverent), Amazon (convenient and efficient), and Walmart (low price). The companies that attract the highest valuations and acquirer interest are those with distinct, differentiated cultures.

One of our client s, EagleRider, is the largest purveyor of motorcycle

When emotional bidding replaces discounted cash flow formulas, EBITDA multiples go beyond market norms and values start reflecting what a company “could be.” And whether it is in art, entertainment, sports or business, we value most what stirs our emotion, creates positive disruption in our lives and offers a promise for the future.

1 USA Today, August 2014

By focusing acquirers on pro-forma EBITDA on a “mature store” basis, we captured the value of what the stores “could” earn rather than what they “did” earn.

Stacy D. Phillips Partner Blank

Rome LLP

Los Angeles, CA

Stacy D. Phillips represents high net worth clients during the significant life transitions involved in divorce, paternity, and custody matters. After more than 30 years of handling complex, high-profile cases, Stacy is known for her adept negotiation, aggressive advocacy, and compassion. Stacy is a tireless advocate for children and families, sought-after speaker, and philanthropist. She is the author of Divorce: It’s All About Control Stacy is most proud of the Blank Rome/Phillips Lerner Adopt-A-Center Program, which annually selects a deserving non-profit organization that benefits children and families in Los Angeles. The 2016 recipient is The Advot Project, a grassroots nonprofit organization working with incarcerated youth. Stacy is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia University School of Law. She resides in Beverly Hills.

Protecting Your Family Matters

Important nuances in high net worth divorces

As a family lawyer specializing in high net worth and high profile cases for over 30 years, you can imagine that I have seen it all. Representing many individuals in the sports and entertainment fields -- often involving complex, high conflict matters - I have observed that whatever the particular facts and circumstances of each case, there is one important commonality: control.

It is a given that every case I handle will have its share of “issues,” many of which go beyond the division of assets. Frequently, some urgent situation or chronic problem creates a dispute

various personal and business associates. Many of the clients I represent face the same issues as other divorcing individuals; however there are important nuances at play. There are issues of income, support, child custody and legal fees, of course, but not of the garden variety. Often it is precisely these complications that can cause the Control Wars, leading to prolonged litigation and negotiations. There are no cookie-cutter solutions.

Many wealthy individuals and, especially, entertainment and professional sports figures, often face what I have

involving the need/desire/obsession of one party to dominate the other. Neither gender has exclusivity when it comes to pursuing, possessing, and asserting control, whether during the marriage, the divorce, or its aftermath. The reality is: Control is prevalent in any relationship. And, when couples are jockeying for it, a legal case becomes a contest. All too often, contests escalate to wars because, by nature, human beings are competitive.

Control is a fickle power. It can change hands at the flick of a need or want, or due to external forces (such as employment or health problems), or internal circumstances (such as falling in love with someone else.) The battle for control is amplified in most personal relationships that fail, and may not be limited to the former couple. It can also include

come to refer to as “The Deep Pocket Syndrome.” It is an unfortunate reality that men are targeted in paternity cases, no matter if they know the “accuser” or not. Some women, it seems, make it their job to become pregnant by men of renown – and in some instances, it becomes a serial job position. Innocent children become a lever for control. Moreover, if paternity is established, the father could be set up for substantial child support responsibilities, considerable legal fees and, although the court filings in paternity cases are sealed and the Court has the power to seal the hearings, professional images can be tarnished by leaks to the media from the party trying to gain leverage. Sadly, after the dust settles in these battles, the children of such “relationships” frequently become collateral damage.

In dissolutions of marriages or domestic partnerships, intellectual property rights, profit participation, residuals, and royalties often represent the most valuable of all the assets and they frequently become a battleground for control. Contracts are typically made over long periods of time, and are constantly renegotiated and amended. Valuing such assets can quickly become a hotly contested issue. These assets require a sophisticated and experienced family law attorney, working with a top forensic accountant, who understands the nuances involved.

The matter of support is often a difficult challenge when the major earner of the couple is a professional sports figure. Because their ability to play and earn at the highest levels is limited to a finite time period, support (both spousal and child) – and custody, for that matter - could change dramatically when the professional’s career

ends. The lifetime of an entertainer’s career can be similarly brief or span decades, presenting equally complex implications. These are nuances that must be managed when the income of the earning spouse/parent exceeds the couple’s marital standard of living and/ or the reasonable needs of the children. Child custody is another highly nuanced area of family law, particularly when one or both parents are required to be on location or travel extensively for business. The amount of time spent with the children, where that time is spent, the level of child support, the ages of the children – all are factors that impact custody agreements. If a parent’s absence is due to filming away from home, for example, is that parent entitled to makeup time? Are the children to visit on location, missing school, friends and their normal routine? Are the children of an age to fly alone? These sorts of custody arrangements

are, in many cases, subject to annual renegotiation depending on the working parents’ professional demands. All too often, I have seen these negotiations become contentious Control Wars. What is especially difficult about most divorce and custody cases is that this tug of war over control does not begin or end in my office or the courtroom. It may go on for years, long after the divorce decree or judgment of paternity is official. I truly believe that a better understanding of how to mitigate control battles would greatly benefit anyone contemplating or in the midst of divorce, and those who suffer from what I term “divorce residue.” Attorneys, even the best ones, cannot be expected to stop these battles or manage the other party. I have seen, however, that if both parties resolve to diminish the legal, financial and emotional Control Wars, there is hope for the prospect of healing and peace.

NBA’s Approval of Corporate Brand Partnerships Speaks Volumes For Marketing

Laurel Mintz President & CEO Elevate

My Brand

Studio City, CA

Laurel Mintz works with prestigious restaurateurs and global brands including Public House, Bassett, iCoffee and Susan G. Komen. She founded Elevate My Brand, a marketing agency, in 2009, sits on the boards of directors for the American Heart Association and the Fender Music Foundation, and is a mentor for The Women’s Global Leaders Initiative. Laurel received LA Business Journal’s 2014 Women Making a Difference Award, Comerica’s 2015 Women of Promise Award, and was nominated for Ernst and Young’s 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She also runs an exclusive networking group, “The Taste Salon.” Laurel received her B.A. from UCSB and J.D., M.B.A. from Rutgers University.

This past June there was palpable excitement around the NBA championship between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. But in the marketing world, the big excitement and discussion was around the NBA’s board of governors approving a three-year pilot program for the 2017-18 season, which will allow teams to sell corporate logos. That means corporate brands will be able to place a small branded patch in the left shoulder on NBA uniforms. This new

Every year individuals all over the country long for fun in the sun that only the summertime brings, but what some may not notice is the influx of marketing on various platforms featuring the coolest products, services, sports and entertainment, all fighting for the attention of the same audiences. In 2015 the marketing industry spent approximately $600 billion worldwide. The United States alone spent approximately $180 billion. As we are not even halfway

program is estimated to bring in between $100-$150 million dollars annually into a league that is already projected to make approximately $7 billion dollars in overall revenue for the 2017-2018 season. Consequently, next year we all can potentially look forward to seeing our shampoo, chip or beer of choice emblazoned on the jerseys of teams across the NBA. Is it good? Is it bad? That’s up for debate, but it shows the impact and influence marketing has on even the most historically untouchable avenues.

through the year yet, it’s reported that the advertising spend for 2016 is projected to reach the $200 billion dollar mark by year’s end. At this point the marketing industry is a living breathing entity that has exponentially exploded from the simple newspaper and billboard ads of our parents’ day, evolving into a ubiquitous daily experience. Consumers are marketed to on their mobile devices, online, television, video, radio, and print. Furthermore, with the sophisticated data mining that is now available, our

would you rather pay to play, or lose market share and have less dollars to spend as you spiral toward extinction?

From sports to entertainment, there’s no escaping the impact of marketing on today’s consumers, but it all starts from one unique narrative

online footprint is capable of being aggregated based on individual behavior so marketers now have the opportunity to potentially reach their target audience(s) when, where, and exactly how they like to be reached. And while that’s admittedly a little creepy, it works. Based on a comScore study, retargeted ads led to a 1046% increase in branded search and a 726% lift in site visitation after four weeks of retargeted ad exposure. Done correctly, retargeting ads, which follow users around the web, through apps and other channels, are highly effective, and have higher click-through and conversion rates. With so many avenues to reach your consumers and so much money being spent worldwide, it raises the question, are you missing the opportunity to be where your consumers are?

Companies as a result are doing their brands a disservice by not allocating at least 10%-20% of their gross revenue to marketing. Yes, we know that you’re doing the math right now and that the numbers might make you a little sick to your stomach, but would you rather pay to play, or lose market share and have less dollars to spend as you spiral toward extinction?

I always say marketing is not rocket science, but make no mistake; there is a science to it. No one likes to be beat over the head, even when they do intend to purchase (think of the old adage of a car salesman) so one of the most effective facets of marketing is executing a seamless and timely strategy, that is so buttoned up and organically integrated into the daily lives of consumers that they don’t even feel like they are being targeted. Implementing a strategic marketing approach that aims at consumers with a mix of online and offline strategies to draw them to the brand through a variety of platforms (i.e., company website with strong conversion tactics, online advertisements with bold calls to action, newsletters, blogs, social media, and print) will cultivate the foundation of any brand. It’s important to not fall

victim to the piecemeal style of marketing that only focuses on one of these areas and is quite frankly one of the simplest failure points for most brands. Depending on the competiveness of your market, providing multiple touch points for your consumers to act when they are ready will create brand awareness and capture their attention.

Here are some slam-dunk tips to elevate your brand to reach your audience:

Define Your Target Market. An inexpensive solution to this is using online surveys to send to current, past, and potential consumers/clients asking what your company can do better. The results may surprise you.

Implement Engaging A/B Testing. Have you ever heard the phrase, “you don’t know, what you don’t know?” If you have really great ideas in reaching your market, performing tests is a great way to find out what works best and adjusting your strategy as needed.

Stay Up to Date . New technologies are here to stay and only going to get more complex so embrace the new marketing age we are in. If your target prefers emails as opposed to phone calls, then start typing; furthermore if your target is on social media- you need to be as well.

Don’t Be a Copycat . Just because it worked for your best friend’s business doesn’t mean it will work for yours –make sure your messaging is streamlined for your industry and audience.

Have Fun With Your Marketing and Be Honest With Yourself! You don’t need a focus group to know what your gut is telling you to fix. Sometimes the best way to find out what works is falling flat on your face.

The time is now. Don’t let this exciting and experiential time in the industry pass you by because your loss is another company’s bottom line gain.

Sources: ESPN, SB Nation, AdAge, Shopify

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Echo-Factory

Pasadena, CA

Mike is a founder and partner at Echo-Factory, a creative agency headquartered in Pasadena, California. Echo-Factory works with a range of clients, including established companies like MagLite, Audi USA, and Troy Lee Designs, as well as startups and smaller companies that are investing in rapid growth. The agency has been awarded many times for its work, including two “Best in Show” ADDY® awards. Mike started out as an advertising photographer, and partnered with creative director Dea Goldsmith to found Echo-Factory in 2008. Today, Mike’s primary role is as a marketing consultant and brand strategist.

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Bringing Brands Across the Pond

How European brands can succeed in the U.S.

This country has a strange relationship with foreign-ness. Our presidential candidates talk about building a wall along our border with Mexico, while at the same time our consumers are paying premium prices for Italian leather, German cars and Swiss chocolates.

For all our talk of buying local and our love of “Made in America,” American consumers are very happy to buy blatantly, proudly foreign goods.

But only when those goods are presented in the right context with the right backstory. Only when those goods come backed by the right brand.

Why Bother?

The U.S. represents an enormous market for European brands. Consumer confidence and spending in the U.S. are on an upswing. Plus, U.S. consumers spend more, sometimes significantly more, per household than anywhere in Europe. And there are over 300 million of us.

But the U.S. is also a competitive, sometimes challenging market. And not everyone succeeds.

Swedish fashion brand H&M opened their first U.S.-based store in 2000, and their five-hundredth U.S.-based store this year. For them, expansion into this market has been an overwhelming success.

Tesco’s bid for the U.S. market didn’t go so well. After opening 150 Fresh & Easy stores, the British grocer’s U.S.expansion ended in cut-rate liquidation and retreat in 2013.

So is the risk worth the reward? Maybe. Entering a new market is a complex thing. But successful, intelligent marketing and branding can easily mean the difference between success and failure. Here are four tips that will get you on the right track.

1. Leverage Your Country’s Stereotype

If you’re a European brand, there’s a good chance that American

consumers already have a perception of the country you come from. You’re selling a mechanical product that originates in Germany? Consumers will already assume it’s well-engineered and well-made. But sometimes, the connection isn’t that obvious.

Several years ago, Dainese/AGV, an Italian manufacturer of motorsports protective gear and helmets, came to our agency looking for help increasing their sales in the U.S. The company was extremely successful in Europe, based largely on their longtime associations with Formula One and sponsorship of MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi.

That’s a marketing strategy that didn’t translate well for U.S. audiences. Mention Valentino Rossi to the average American consumer, and they’re more likely to think of a rare cocktail than Italy’s racing legend.

To U.S.-based consumers, Dainese/ AGV’s Italian roots were its biggest asset. Americans may not know much about Formula One or MotoGP, but every American knows that Italy is the land of Ferrari, Gucci, Prada and Pirelli. Italy, in the mind of the American consumer, is a place that produces high fashion, stunning vehicles and a lifestyle worth envying.

So we made that stereotype the basis of Dainese/AGV’s marketing.

We developed and executed a strategy that focused on the fine hand-stitching in Dainese motorcycle leathers, the stunning design and function of AGV’s helmets, and the fact that consumers could get custom-fitted by an honest-to-god Italian tailor for their next set of protective gear.

We helped make Dainese and AGV not just European brands that no one in the U.S. had heard of, but Italian luxury brands that offered style and sophistication. Brands that U.S.

consumers aspire to be associated with.

We didn’t invent any new perceptions about Italy, we just connected Dainese and AGV to the perceptions that U.S. consumers already had.

2. Launch & Localize Social Media Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat know no geographic bounds. They give European brands a chance to lay the groundwork for success long before a single CEO, salesperson or marketer sets foot in the U.S.

But it’s not simply enough to tweet to your local audience and hope that consumers in the U.S. will pick up on it. Even though they (often) speak the same language and share many cultural connections, European and American consumers are different. Especially when your brand is new to the country.

When the Netherlands-based watersports manufacturer Jobe launched a push to introduce their stand-up paddleboards to a U.S. audience, they already had a strong social media team in-place in Europe. Still, they brought our agency’s social media team on-board to handle their U.S.-based outreach and promotions for those same accounts. Our local knowledge and cultural understanding allowed us to make their social media outreach far more effective to consumers in this country.

3. Let Consumers Interact with Your Product

The Internet’s great, but for many products, especially products coming to the U.S. for the first time, the Internet isn’t enough. Consumers need to experience your products and your brand in-person.

For H&M, this means spending billions opening retail locations. But that’s not the only way.

Jobe knew that its American

consumers would need to experience the company’s paddleboards firsthand to fall in love with them. Retail outlets would be a good start, but most retail outlets aren’t located on a lake or river that would let consumers paddle the goods. So Jobe planned a demo tour, and asked us to help.

We helped to build their demo tour into a multifaceted U.S. Jobe SUP launch that brought together a strong social media aspect, co-sponsored events, PR and much more. For a fraction of the cost of deploying a single retail outlet, Jobe will activate a significant amount of local dealers, get their paddleboards under the feet of hundreds of U.S. consumers and their message on thousands of U.S.-based screens.

4. Find a Local Expert No-one knows his country, and its consumers, like a local.

I’m proud of my agency, but if you asked us to deploy a marketing campaign in Belgium, we wouldn’t be as effective as a firm working out of Brussels. Similarly, the most capable European agency will be at a disadvantage here.

If you’re bringing a European brand into the U.S., find a U.S.-based marketing partner who you trust. Let them fill in the local knowledge you might lack, and help your European brand reach American consumers effectively.

Take the Plunge

There may be no better time in history to bring a European brand to the U.S. American consumers have money to spend and the willingness to spend it. Logistics are easier than ever, and you have more options to reach U.S. consumers than ever before. Do it right, and your European brand might become a piece of the next chapter in the American dream.

Dedicated advertising creatives understand their purpose and embrace the challenge of using their artistic

Noah Bremen Founder & CEO bDirect

Companies

Santa Monica, CA

Noah Bremen is the Founder of bdirect Companies, an industry leading retail sales and marketing force behind many of the nation’s hottest products and brands, including Five Hour Energy, Beats by Dre, VitaCoco, NutriBullet, and Muscle Milk, among a host of others. Born in Detroit and raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Bremen graduated from Michigan State University where he studied marketing and advertising and played collegiate baseball. Once in Los Angeles, Bremen became enthralled with brand marketing while working for Peter Bieler, the innovator behind ThighMaster, as vice president of sales, who instilled in him the value of anticipating the consumer’s needs before they arise. Bremen’s expertise is in bridging the gap between retail stores hungry for the next big thing and to innovative new brands. In that vein, Bremen founded bdirect, a 360-degree provider of sales and marketing leadership for consumer product developers. Bremen maintains offices in New York, California, Washington, and Arkansas. When he’s not in Los Angeles, he spends one third of his time in Bentonville, Arkansas, home to the corporate headquarters of Walmart, with whom he does a large percentage of his business. Bremen also has close ties with Sam’s Club, Costco, 7-Eleven, Target, Walgreens and many other big box retailers. An avid sports enthusiast, his hobbies include baseball, basketball, tennis, skiing, and golf.

From Business to Buyer

Marketing trends in the digital to retail pipeline

When Amazon exploded onto the retail scene in 1995, it shook the very foundation of how customers went about tracking down and purchasing everything from books to baseball bats. It ushered in the era of e-commerce, granting buyers instant access to products previously limited to whatever their local brick-andmortar stores happened to have in stock. Now, twenty years later, the reverse is happening and rising star brands that start out online must reach out to big box stores in order to fully reach their audiences.

With 17 years of experience in helping to connect brands and buyers, our company, bDirect Companies, has seen just how vital marketing and brand management is to the success of any product. With more and more products getting their start on the web, we’ve identified several trends in the brandto-buyer marketing process of which all brand oriented business owners should be aware.

Bridging the Divide

The first thing to be aware of is the amount of consolidation happening in the retail landscape. Thousands of brands all must compete for the attention of fewer and fewer retailers. This rift can make or break a new brand, so sales and marketing agencies like ours, which work to pair brands with retailers, are a vital step in the process. For this to succeed, however, marketing agencies must already have deep, established relationships with the biggest retailer players so that the retailer trusts that the brand being recommended is worth the investment. As this trend is likely to continue, working with partners that have good track records is paramount.

Trending Is Trending

No matter how good a marketing agency is, though, at the end of the day only the buyer for big retailers like Walmart or Target can decide what to stock. The best way to get a product onto their shelves is to have it be part of something that is currently trending – basically what’s already selling and working in the marketplace. Knowledge of the wider industry is key, particularly which companies are established trendsetters, like Apple for personal tech, or Amazon for customer interaction: things like free and next day shipping. Beyond that, though, which trends to follow depends on which trends you follow. Authenticity is key as the core consumer becomes more Millennial. If you’re not authentic, you’re done. It helps to have a personal connection to your brands. For example, if you played baseball in college and sports nutrition was something that personally interested you, that passion could translate into representing diet brands and energy drinks – it’s easy to champion something you’re already passionate about.

Social Media Monster

The business fundamentals haven’t changed much in the last twenty years, as far as how to bring in data and interpret it. What has changed is the fact that success is now increasingly directly related to how well you can interpret social media analytics: for example, extrapolating what happens within Facebook marketing to determine the size of the prize once you expand that into larger distribution big box retail. If an item is hot, it’ll translate to the masses, but before you do that, often times it is wise to first position a brand within a bellwether retailer or class of trade to test the waters. As the saying goes, ‘fail cheaply; win big.’

Looking to the Future

Dovetailing off this, the final trend to be aware of is the increasing speed at which a brand’s reputation – both positive and negative – spreads. Social media’s influence doesn’t stop with metrics. Social media users and Millennials in particular are closely keyed into hot social and cultural issues, and they share their reactions regularly and instantly. Today’s consumers like to understand where their products come from, how they are made, and whether their purchase represents something they support from a social or political perspective.

But they also expect that the brand will ship in two days or less. Interactive agencies like Conversion Systems - a turnkey platform with digital marketing to help brands sell direct to consumer via the Internet - can now assist in providing service and technology suites to brands

to make that possible. In addition to pure play or retailer sales, customers can go directly to a brand’s e-commerce enabled website directly. We’ve already seen successful models of this for brands like ThighMaster and Dollar Shave Club. This model won’t replace Amazon or big

box stores because brands still need a physical retail presence in order to reach the majority of consumers. But as far as looking to the future, it’s all going to be a part of the new norm, and the shift is happening right now.

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Customers can go directly to a brand’s e-commerce enabled website directly. We’ve already seen successful models of this for brands like Warby Parker and Dollar Shave Club.

Jason Hughes President & CEO Hughes Marino, Inc. Corporate Real Estate Advisors Los Angeles, CA

Jason Hughes is president, CEO, and owner of Hughes Marino, a tenant representation company with offices in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and the Bay Area. Hughes Marino is committed to only representing tenants in their lease and purchase transactions of commercial space throughout California.

Jason founded Hughes Marino in 2011 and previously was president of Irving Hughes for over 20 years. In 2013, Jason helped draft California’s real estate broker agency disclosure bill which was signed into law and states commercial tenants must now be advised in writing when a broker represents both tenants and landlords, creating a potential conflict of interest.

3-Pointers, Hot Dogs, and Office Space?

How changing the way the game is played can revolutionize an industry.

A Wall Street Journal article last month authored by Ben Cohen about the Golden State Warriors struck a chord with me. The premise was that the data-driven owners of the team felt there was an opportunity to exploit the three-point line as a market inefficiency. Then they built a team around doing just that.

Mr. Cohen states that, in the past, only 22% of the shots put up were 3-pointers. But the new team owners, with limited basketball experience, decided to rewrite the rules for how to run a basketball team. The data showed that NBA players made nearly the same number of shots from 23 feet as they did from 24 feet, but the “value” increased from .76 points to 1.09 points – a 43% increase in value –as a result of exploiting the three-point line!

The Warriors are breaking records and widely anticipated to win the championship again this year thanks in part to three-point phenom Stephen Curry. How was it that executives, with really no expertise in professional basketball, could see an opportunity when so many veterans working in the industry for decades missed it?

Or how about Takeru Kobayashi? He set a world record by eating 50 hot dogs at the 2001 Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest – doubling the previous record. Mr. Kobayashi completely rewrote the way to excel at massive hot dog consumption, ultimately devouring 69 hot dogs in a later contest! By rethinking the best and most efficient way to eat hot dogs – in a gargantuan way – Kobayashi ate double what the others thought would be a winning amount. He separated the dog from the bun and scarfed them down separately. Brilliant!

Rewriting the Rules

For those of us not named Curry or Kobayashi, how do we apply the same unique thinking to rewrite the rules of our mostly antiquated industries?

Take the commercial real estate industry – it has done business nearly the same way for over 100 years. First, it was, and continues to be, set up to service landlords. Brokers help landlords buy their buildings, lease their buildings, manage their buildings, and ultimately sell their buildings. They do the same dance over and over, generating significant cash flow and profits from their clients – the landlords.

Second, most brokerage companies have found that it is cheaper to employ independent contractors (aka real estate agents, salespeople, and brokers) to work “independently” and then split the revenue stream. It eliminates the employer risk. These companies look for agents with a “sink or swim” mentality who can figure out how to do everything. They then provide as little operational support to their agents as possible, as that costs lots of money. They’ve found that resourceful agents have a way of servicing clients with nominal overhead — typical support is one admin per 8-to-12 agents.

Third, most of these brokerage companies have found that being landlords themselves is the most profitable business of all. Most of the public real estate brokerage companies have vast ownership holdings in buildings that they can buy, lease, manage and sell with no competition, so their fees are protected. They are highly incentivized to have a profitable experience, as that will boost their stock price and thereby their retirement portfolios. So the brokers who fill these buildings with tenants ensure the landlords (aka their bosses) always get the better end of the deal. Not a bad gig at all!

But what if you step back and reevaluate the entire industry? What if you questioned who the ultimate client was, be it the landlord or the tenant?

Changing the Game

Hughes Marino did just that. Nearly 25 years ago, we questioned foundational

assumptions about the commercial real estate industry. We determined that the industry should center on corporate tenants – the ones paying rent – not landlords. We felt that landlords were another service provider no different than the brokers, property managers, and janitors, who serve the same clients. Without the tenants to pay rent office buildings would not exist, just as without consumers to purchase clothes Nordstrom wouldn’t exist. Yet Nordstrom makes it clear that the consumer is the customer – not the other way around. Our industry has been slower to adapt.

If commercial real estate were the NBA then customer service would be our three-point line. Our company has revolutionized the level of service we provide to our clients, which in turn has paid huge dividends. We hire seasoned pros in all disciplines – actual employees, not just independent contractors – and provide deep operational support with a 2-to-1 admin to broker ratio. We have 30-year veterans who have worked on some of the most complicated real estate

transactions in the state, as well as real estate attorneys, construction managers, and lease audit experts to round out the brokerage team’s capabilities. All told we are able to take care of our clients’ needs in a way that our sink-or-swim competitors simply can’t match.

Our belief is that, as a high-performing team of experts having total alignment with our clients – corporate tenants – we can provide better service than our competitors. We also avoid conflicts of

interest by never representing landlords (or worse – being a landlord), and we guarantee our services and results 100%. I won’t compare us to the Warriors or Kobayashi, but our business has quadrupled and our clients often tell us “they wished they’d known us sooner!”

While we will always look for ways to improve our model in order to better serve companies with their real estate, I am proud to say that, as for office space brokerage, we’re changing the game.

How was it that executives, with really no expertise in professional basketball, could see an opportunity when so many veterans working in the industry for decades missed it?

“Hannah An steps behind the stoves and into the spotlight after learning the ropes first at her grandmother’s restaurant Thanh Long in San Francisco and later at her mother’s restaurants Crustacean, AnQi and Tiato. ”

-L.A. TIMES

“ONE OF L.A.’S SEXIEST NEW RESTAURANTS” -ZAGAT

NOW PRE-BOOKING HOLIDAY PARTIES AT OUR VENUE OR YOURS AND ASK US ABOUT OUR NEW CORPORATE CATERING MENU

CULTURE & TASTE

Letter from Jackie Robinson to Doc Ellis, 1971. Courtesy of Donald Hall Collection, Milne Special Collections, University of New Hampshire Library.

Photo by Robert Wedemeyer. (p. 118)

EXHIBITS & PERFORMANCES

Summer of Thrills

BY SARAH CZERWINSKI

The Art of Election

{Los

Angeles} Hammer Museum

Through August 24

In light of the 2016 national race for presidency, UCLA’s Hammer Museum has voted to include a series of election-themed talks and screenings on its ballot of free summer offerings. The remaining talk, Predicting the Unpredictable: The 2016 Elections, will present a lecture by UCLA political science professor Lynn Vavreck and American University political historian Allan Lichtman. The pair have correctly predicted every presidential election with inconceivable accuracy since 1984. Bets will be on as Vavreck and Lichtman will be staking the more than likely results of the November races. In addition to the talk, screenings will include a range of genre films featuring documentary Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed, realistic-fiction feature Medium Cool, the comedic styling of Swing Vote, and television drama Recount. For a detailed schedule, please visit the website. who inhabited the land of the National Parks. / hammer.ucla.edu

The Power of Pastime

{Los Angeles} Skirball Cultural Arts Center

Through October 30

Competition has always held the power to rally, inspire, and uplift. Sports in particular forge loyalties that supersede friendships -- and even nationality. Organized by the The National Museum of American Jewish History, Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American at the Skirball Cultural Arts Center takes a look at this profound power that became a game changer for Jewish Americans, immigrants, and other minority groups as they discovered what it meant to be American through its national pastime. The large-scale exhibit exhibit features over 130 artifacts, original films and interactive experience that explore themes such as identity, ethnicity and solidarity as it highlights the impact of everyone from greats like Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, Fernando Valenzuela, and Ichiro Suzuki to the coaches, media, scouts and fans who played an equal part in making American baseball and its culture what it is today.

/ skirball.org

Yellow Submarine Time Machine

{Los

Angeles} GRAMMY Museum

Through September 5

On Friday, February 7, 1964, four lads from Liverpool deplaned at JFK Airport and America and its music history would never be the same. Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beatles! takes a comprehensive look back at the rock & roll empire of The Beatles from early 1964 through mid-1966 as their contagious act caused a pop culture revolution in the States. Pieces on display include instruments, posters, photographs, interviews, interactive displays, and an oral history booth in which visitors are invited to leave their own impressions of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Take a stroll down Penny Lane with the legends who left a legacy on fashion, art, advertising, media and music as it’s known today. / grammymuseum.org

Monster Mash

{Los Angeles} Los Angeles County Museum of Art

August 1 - November 27

Death, magic, monsters, horror: things of lucid dreams for film and artistic visionary Guillermo del Toro. Step inside the mind of the Cronos, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, and Crimson Peak director in the exclusive, self-titled exhibit Guillermo del Toro: At Home With Monsters. Beyond his dark and fantastical works of film, Del Toro is internationally-renowned for his contribution to television and book projects partly inspired from childhood dreams. At Home With Monsters embodies the visionary’s distinct, often macabre style in a collection of paintings, drawings, maquettes artifacts and concept film art organized thematically, rather than chronologically, inviting the viewer to journey through visions starting with death and the afterlife and arriving at innocence and redemption.

/

lacma.org

Demons on Display

September 2-January 16

Artists are often described as tormented souls, but this assemblage of 20th-century macabre works elevates the phrase to a whole new level. Dark Visions: Mid-Century Macabre walks its visitors down the dark hallways of anxiety, depression, lust and murder as expressed by artists Edward Kienholz, Joseph Cornell, Claire Falkenstein among others. Macabre in the 1900s is considered a complex and often overlooked genre in comparison to its contemporary styles of Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art or Minimalism. A glance is enough to reason why the comparison has been held to be starch and unapproachable -- until now. Dark Visions’ sinister subjects range from paintings like Jack Stuck’s Self-Portrait rendering a profile of a man strapped into a gas chamber chair to woodworks such as Kurt Schwitters’ formerly lipstick-laden Lust Murder Box No. 2. Enter this visual collection of humankind’s grapple with death and life’s evils but only if you dare.

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nortonsimon.org

{Pasadena} Norton Simon Museum

The CSQ Lifestyle Report

Insights from the top

Ever wish you could know what your favorite brands are thinking? Now you can. Introducing The CSQ Lifestyle Report, where every quarter, we will bring you the perspective of local leadership from your favorite brands and properties to discuss their company’s core values and their personal business strategies.

“Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world. Sun Air Jets has grown to have a successful history of providing aircraft charter and aircraft management solutions to many of the entertainment industry’s most successful and busy luminaries. To have an aviation company and a brand that services the dynamic entertainment industry, we have needed to create a foundation

“As the leading global superyacht brokerage, Burgess has a very interesting portfolio of clients worldwide. That being said, I feel that the Burgess Los Angeles

clients are an incredibly exciting, dynamic, and diverse group that are brought together largely by the entertainment culture that thrives in LA. As a result,

“At Ocean Prime we try to capitalize on the amazing culture and buzzing entertainment scene that Los Angeles offers This city is always evolving and changing and we are excited to see those changes

Ocean Prime dining experience.”

Sun Air Jets’ greatest brand asset is the trust our clients have with us when it comes to providing an aircraft anywhere around the world exactly when they need it.”

– as well as building client relationships – that much more fun!”

Brian Counsil President & COO, Sun Air Jets

Summer Osterman

Gregory Sage

Every child is a start-up Invest now!

Since 1922, Woodcraft Rangers has been one of Los Angeles’ most inovative and successful providers of expanded learning. Over 1.1 million youth, and their families, have received support since its inception. n the last year alone, more than 1 , young people ages 6-1 bene ted from NVISION After-School and Summer Programs, all infused with STEM. We work with at-risk students at over 65 public elementary, middle and high schools throughout the greater Los Angeles region.

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Bre(a)d for This

La Brea Bakery founder Nancy Silverton continues to build on a career of milestones and accolades as she runs the Mozza Restaurant Group alongside partners Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali

BY MATTHEW SEUKUNIAN

Nancy Silverton says it plainly, from across the table. “I’m a cook, not a chef,” she corrects. I ask the difference, more curious than aware of my ignorance. Her answer, though subtle, is not without conviction. Silverton’s pride, she says, resonates not with her craft in the kitchen, but her impact outside of it.

Silverton was born in a Los Angeles suburb within the San Fernando Valley in 1954. Her father was a lawyer and her mother a writer. Silverton recalls dinner being essential and not auxiliary growing up; dinner was served at 6:30 each night. As she remembers it, “I had interest in the table but not food.”

suggestion, she would enroll in Le Cordon Bleu in London in 1976 and spend the maj ority of her next few years studying and traveling.

By 1979 Silverton had returned stateside, deciding to make her home in Los Angeles where the culinary scene and its professional prospects were much more promising with the likes of Trump’s, Michael’s, and Ma Maison.

Silverton’s career, like that of so many other culinary legends, can be traced to moments in time in particular kitchens. Her first such moment would come at Michael’s in Santa Monica.

Partner, Mozza Restaurant Group

AGE 64

RESIDENCE Los Angeles

FAMILY Two sons, one daughter

NEIGHBORHOOD DINING Connie & Ted’s

MOZZA RESTAURANT GROUP

FOUNDED 2006

Though not particularly fond of her mother’s food, Silverton harkens back to nights spent at her grandmother’s home where she would indulge in a Swanson’s TV dinner.

It wasn’t until her freshman year in college that Silverton would step into a kitchen. As she explains it, “There was a guy cooking in the dorms and I thought the quickest way to meet him was to cook there, too.”

Silverton would ultimately drop out of college and spend time apprenticing in Northern California at 464 Magnolia. Following her father’s

Though her interest was the kitchen, she started at Michael’s running the restaurant’s new digital Point-of-Sales (POS) system which proved difficult. “I was terrible,” Silverton recalls with a laugh.

Silverton made the transition from front to back of the house when Michael’s chef Jonathan Waxman found himself in desperate need of a pastry chef. Still not what Silverton truly desired (she notes that while at Le Cordon Bleu she fe lt dessert lacked creativity and was intimidating), it was nonetheless a step in the right direction. It was at Michael’s and under Waxman that Silverton came to view dessert as “not only fun but also not

NANCY SILVERTON

PARTNERS Joe Bastianich, Mario Batali

PROPERTIES Chi Spaca, Pizzeria Mozza, Osteria Mozza

Photo: Emily Hart Roth

limiting,” adding that she “felt so at home at that point in the kitchen.”

Silverton spent a year or so at Michael’s before heading to France to study baking. Upon her second return home, she was given the opportunity via future husband Mark Peel (the two met at Michael’s) to be the pastry chef at Wolfgang Puck’s new restaurant, Spago.

Silverton and Peel spent the next few years transitioning from Spago, where Silverton graduated from pastry chef to running Spago’s entire bread program, to Maxwell’s Plum in New York City before they took the sabbatical most people only dream of: a month off in Italy where they did nothing but cook and eat and eat and cook.

By 1988, the pair had returned to LA and raised money to open their first restaurant in a space large enough to support a separate retail and wholesale bakery. The ball was in Silverton’s court; the pressure was on and the clock was ticking. What followed was one of the more clutch performances in the history of the culinary arts.

Expanding on the foundation she had built thus far in classrooms and kitchens, Silverton continued to build her skills as a baker. She describes the months leading up to their opening as “the hardest of my life.” She explains that if you want to be a baker today, there are resources: books to read, schools to attend, and apprenticeships to be had. This was not the case in 1988.

The months following their opening were not any easier on Silverton, who recalls a few times when she “closed the window shade and put up the ‘closed’ sign.” Speaking to the obsessive process required to truly excel at baking, Silverton would bake from midnight to 10:00 in the morning, sleep for a few hours, wake, and start her day again in the restaurant.

With the breadth of her current responsibilities, Silverton no longer bakes regularly, and that’s probably for the best, she says. “I know how much time it takes and what it takes to be obsessed with something and how it drives you … now I feel like I am obsessed with running my business correctly but I do not want to be obsessed with a process again.”

Many years after the success of Campanile and La Brea Bakery, Silverton was summering at her home in Italy when she prepared lunch for celebrity chef Jeremiah Tower. What was on the menu? Silverton designed “a lunch around Mozzarella.” Once full and satisfied, Tower told Silverton that she had just produced a better version

1/ Silverton’s menu highlights flavor profiles that include prosciutto and artichoke hearts

2/ One of Los Angeles’ hottest culinary corners, Osteria Mozza sits at the intersection of Highland and Melrose

of something happening at a restaurant in Rome called Obica, imploring her to check it out.

Silverton followed Tower’s advice, found further inspiration, and decided when she returned home to open “a little something small with a counter where Mozzarella is the star.” Things got interesting upon her return when Tower ran into friend and peer Mario Batali, who promptly replied “I’m in” when Silverton uttered the words “Mozzarella bar.”

Batali sent out his partner Joe Bastianich who, along with Silverton, scouted Los Angeles for locations. The Mozza Restaurant Group now operates Chi Spaca, Pizzeria Mozza, and Osteria Mozza on the corner of Melrose and Highland. They also have two properties in Singapore, via a partnership with the Sands Group (whom Batali and Bastianich work closely with in Las Vegas).

Silverton still works five days a week in a managerial capacity, and when

you dine at Osteria Mozza, you will see her in her element, perched behind her Mozzarella bar.

As our time tog ether winds down and I reflect on the stories I have just heard, I ask Silverton how she defines success. “It’s not about possessions or wealth or reviews,” she says, adding that “it all comes from how you feel as a person … it is very personal and all about the journey.”

This fall will mark another leg on that journey. Silverton’s ninth book, Mozza at Home , comes out in October, and she will also make an appearance on the third season of Netflix’s “Chef’s Table.” In 40 years Silverton has much to call hers: a lifetime of memorie s and friendships as well as dozens of awards and accolades, including 2014’s James Beard Outstanding Chef Award, which the modest Silverton reluctantly admits made her feel jubilant - if only for a few, fleeting moments.

Photo: Rick Poon

Photo: Rick Poon

I know how much time it takes and what it takes to be obsessed with something and how it drives you.

Creative Indulgence

BY BRITTANY FUISZ

Lucques

West Hollywood

Chef

Suzanne Goin (Outstanding Chef)

Eighteen years is a long journey for any business, but it is a comparative eternity for a restaurant. Yet Suzanne Goin and her team have made it seem like the blink of an eye for their flagship Lucques, which opened on Melrose back in 1998. Since then, it has received distinct praise and reaped considerable rewards. This year was particularly special for Goin, as the James Beard Foundation awarded her with outstanding chef.

Lucques was a seasonal restaurant from the start and, while staying true to its focus, has managed to evolve yet remain a go-to for Sunday suppers and farm-to-table dining. The ivy-covered back patio is intimate yet inviting. Enjoy a handcrafted cocktail before dinner at their open fireplace or bar. Nibble on warm bread with butter and olives, as you look over the market driven menu. Starters include ricotta dumplings with morels, spring vegetables, ramps and parmesan or beef carpaccio with fried artichokes, green garlic, sundried tomato and olive salsa. Goin does an excellent grilled market fish at many of her restaurants, and the first was likely at Lucques. The version here is served with carrot-beet slaw, harissa, kumquat, and za’atar labneh. A jaw-dropping grilled club steak for two with arugula salad and decadently creamy Parisian mashed potatoes is perfectly seared to your liking.

Desserts are plentiful from a brown butter date bar with toasted walnuts to a vanilla semi freddo with mandarinequats and cashew brittle, or a chocolate pavlova with caramel custard. There is something for every sweet tooth.

Goin has opened many more restaurants including a.o.c., The Hungry Cat, Tavern, and several Larder’s, yet there is something special about the first… Maybe it is the history, maybe it is the excellent location, or maybe it is because it perfectly combines casual and chic. Lucques is the quintessential American restaurant. / lucques.com

A trio of James Beard Award nominees and 2016 Outstanding Chef Suzanne Goin continue to cultivate Los Angeles’ culinary scene

Rustic Canyon

Santa Monica

Chef Jeremy Fox (Best Chef, West)

Founder Josh Loeb opened Rustic Canyon afterhostingaseriesofdinnerparties in his Santa Monica canyon home. The farmer’s market inspires the everchangingmenuledbyExecutiveChef

Jeremy Fox of Ubuntu in Napa. Dishes likehomemadefocacciawithburrata and beet molasses or steak tartare with Santa Barbara uni, mushroom, yuzu, egg yolk and sunflower are too good to resist. White yams are cooked with green garlic butter, celery, hazelnut dukkah and aioli. Mains include a local halibut with jade beans, spring onions, and tomato; a roasted half chicken with carrots, beets, andgreens;andaflatironsteakwith poblano mashed potato. Dinner here is not complete without a drink. Wash it all down with one of their artisanal beers, or an expertly sourced wine from their list focusing on boutique wineries. / rusticcanyonwinebar.com

Providence

Los Angeles

Chef Michael Cimarusti (Best Chef, West)

At a time when formal dining is trending out, Providence embraces the formal dinner experience with a choice of three tasting menus. Michael Cimarusti is devoted to seafood and goes to painstaking efforts to find only the best in sustainable American fish. Unless you are feeling particularly famished, the four-course signature and seasonal menu is the way to go. You will begin the meal with what seems like a neverending succession of small bites or amuse bouche - mint mojito jellies, green tea with rice cracker, and wagyu cigar rolls, each item more interesting than the last. Main courses include fluke sashimi with blood orange and pearl onion, followed by sea scallop with cauliflower and vadouvan and then a wild king salmon with sunchoke, peas, pancetta, and black truffle or Liberty farms duck with Japanese turnip and tangerine. Desserts are artful with classic flavors, and again a series of treats arrive to end your meal including a coffee cake to take home for breakfast.

/ providencela.com

Animal

Fairfax District

Chef Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo (Best Chef, West)

Animal was the first LA restaurant by duo Jon Shook and Viny Dotolo. It was an instant success when it opened in 2008. Lucky for Angelenos, this has led to many more smart restaurants from the pair including Son of a Gun, Trois Familia, Trois Mec, and Jon & Vinny’s. Who would have guessed that in salad-hungry LA, a restaurant named Animal would be such a success? The menu is brimming with offal meats, but I have always found some of the lighter fare to be the true stars of the show. The hamachi tostada has been on the menu since opening and features the freshest fish with fish sauce vinaigrette, peanut, and avocado. Winter citrus is paired with endive, avocado, macadamia, and yuzu kosho. But it would be a shame to miss the balsamic pork ribs with green bean, potato, and pistou. The ribs are also featured in their award-winning cookbook Two Dudes, One Pan, one of my favorites to date.

/ animalrestaurant.com

1/ Lucques’ grilled club steak for two with an arugala salad and “potatoes parisienne”

2/ Rustic Canyon’s simple yet delicious roasted chicken

3/ Providence’s black bass sashimi 4/ Animal’s bone marrow, servied with carmelized onions and chimichurri

A Cultured Palate

These conversation-starting restaurants elevate simple ingredients into works of art

BY TROY BRIARCLIFF

SCRATCH BAR

Encino

ONLINE

Visit csq.com to find out about additional meeting locations. BUSINESS

BUSINESS LUNCH

THE VIBE Welcome to Top Chef’s Phillip Frankland Lee’s home kitchen! Thanks to the restaurant’s intimate scale and location, that’s exactly how you and the colleagues you want to impress will feel after a meal painstakingly prepared by Lee’s nimble team.

THE BITE Goat Camembert with Cashew Curry and Vegetables; Foie Gras, Sea Urchin and Red Caviar; Branzino, Carrots and Brown Butter.

THE SIP Leave yourself in the capable hands of the staff, who will expertly pair the dishes they just crafted with something from a list of California-only beers and wines, produced by small craft producers.

OUTDOOR SEATING? Yes

PRIVATE MEETING SPACE? No, but the restaurant can be booked for meetings. / sratchbarla.com

PLAN CHECK Downtown

THE VIBE The industrial-chic Wilshire Boulevard outpost of the crafty comfort food emporium is perfectly suited for DTLA’s artsy renaissance and the mercurial palates of trendsetting professionals living and working in the area.

THE BITE The PCB (Plan Check Burger) and Chef’s Favorite burgers are essential picks, as they both feature signature KETCHUP LEATHER™ and other succulent toppings. The Smokey Fried Chicken is a southern belle of a dish, dressed with smoked milk gravy, yam preserves, and spicy pickled okra.

THE SIP Bourbon dominates the cocktail menu. Superb choices include the Kentucky Bubble Bath and Little Osaka Sour, both with Buffalo Trace Bourbon. There is also an “on tap” Old Fashioned with craft spirit Slow & Low Rock and Rye Whiskey.

OUTDOOR SEATING? Yes

PRIVATE MEETING SPACE? For parties of seven or more, call ahead for reservations or email events@plancheck.com. / plancheck.com

HAPPY HOUR

CECCONI’S West Hollywood

HAPPY HOURS 4-7pm weeknights

THE VIBE The West Hollywood mainstay, which took over the iconic Morton’s space with great success, is especially light, fresh, and airy with the summer sun pouring into the public areas.

THE BITE Although Cecconi’s is known for its handcrafted pasta, during happy hour, the kitchen offers two sublime “pizzettas,” Baked Gnocchi Romana, and an exquisite Fontina and Black Truffle Burger.

THE SIP Red wine lovers will embrace the rich Barbera ‘Paolina’ Ca’ Baio, while a cocktail fan cannot go wrong with the bar’s updated classics, including Tommy’s Margarita, Bellini, Aperol Spritz, and the Eastern Standard.

OUTDOOR SEATING? Yes

PRIVATE MEETING SPACE? Yes. The palatial Butterfly Room (accented by a painting by British artist Damien Hirst) has seating for up to 40 guests. / cecconiswesthollywood.com

FIG Santa Monica

HAPPY HOURS 5 - 6pm every night

THE VIBE FIG enchants with an interior design where the lines between indoors and outdoors blur, and cool beach air flows freely. Under the direction of Chef Yousef Ghalaini, the menu also dives deep into Mediterranean territory, with dishes informed by his early childhood experience cooking with his grandfather in Lebanon.

THE BITE Most menu items are offered half off during “FIG at Five.” Particularly summery options include steamed manila clams with vadouvan potato puree, and fresh bucatini pasta with heirloom eggplant, asparagus, sundried tomato, and pecorino.

THE SIP How Do You Like Them Apples? (House Infused Apple Dickel Whiskey); Utah! Get Me Two! (Gold Rush Shot and High West Double Rye Mint Julep); Silencio Por Favor (El Silencio Mezcal, Punt e Mes, Cherry Heering).

OUTDOOR SEATING? Yes

PRIVATE MEETING SPACE? Yes / / figsantamonica.com

Reading the Coverage

BY MATTHEW SEUKUNIAN

Chuck Klosterman redefines revisionist history, Nike is presented in Phil Knight’s words, and an analysis of the prep-to-pro generation – led by Kobe Bryant – that shaped the NBA

&A Jonathan Abrams

The LA native has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Grantland and is currently a staff writer for Bleacher Report. The New York Times bestselling author resides in Charlotte where he is working on his next unidentified book.

CSQ Where did the idea for this book come from?

But What If We’re Wrong: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past

Chuck Klosterman

Blue Rider Press

262 pp.

THE PLOT A profound analysis of some simplistic questions: How seriously should we view the content of television? Are all sports destined for extinction?

THE MEAT Built on the backs of interviews with an assortment of personalities – Neil deGrasse Tyson, Richard Linklater, and Ryan Adams among them – Klosterman bounces across a broad spectrum of objective and subjective problems.

THE TWIST Don’t assume what has previously been taught and learned is how reality will be viewed from here on. Ideas shift, opinions invert, and what once sounded reasonable eventually becomes absurd. See, the Earth is flat.

Shoe Dog: A Novel by the Creator of Nike

Phil Knight

Simon

and Schuster

383 pp.

THE PLOT In a never before seen manner, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight peels the curtain, delving into the company’s early days and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic global brands.

THE MEAT Though Knight is traditionally a man of mystery, this memoir presents a humble and humorous look at Nike’s trajectory. From early setbacks to the rise of cutthroat competitors, triumphs, and narrow escapes, Knight touches on all aspects of the startup’s stardom.

THE TWIST As the story goes, Knight was fresh out of B school with nothing but $50 (borrowed from his father) and a dream. Year one, 1963, Knight sold shoes out of his Plymouth Valeant’s trunk, grossing $8,000. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30B.

Boys Among Men: How the Prep-toPro Generation

NBA and Sparked a Basketball Revolution

Jonathan Abrams

Crown Archetype

336 pp.

THE PLOT The first definitive analysis of the prep (HS) to pro (NBA) generation of basketball prodigies who reshaped the league culturally and economically from 1995 to 2005.

THE MEAT Pioneered by Kevin Garnett in 1995, dozens of high school basketball players, including Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, would forego college and enter the NBA Draft straight out of high school until the NBA instituted an age limit in 2005.

THE TWIST Today, a first round draft pick is viewed more often as a commodity (worth upwards of $25M to their organization) than an individual (who socioeconomically, may need the financial comfort more than a year of electives at University X).

JONATHAN ABRAMS Writing about some of these guys while at Grantland got me thinking. Also, my senior year of high school was the year of Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, and Kwame Brown, so I was closely following their careers. None of them panned out perfectly; Eddy was supposed to be the next Shaq, Tyson the next Garnett. These little things coupled together hit me and I decided to run with it.

CSQ What surprised you most during the process?

JA How many guys successfully made this transition. It’s a significant jump, going from high school and adolescence to the NBA and professionalism. By and large, a lot of guys were successful even if they weren’t the next LeBron James or Kobe Bryant. The thinking for most people is that for every LeBron or Kobe there’s a bust like Korleone Young, but the numbers don’t back it up.

CSQ Do you think the NBA should abolish the age limit and allow players to make the jump from high school?

JA I don’t think so. If anything I think the NBA wants to go in the other direction with a two-year rule. It would be in the best interest of the player to be able to make the jump knowing if they go to college they at least have two years in school.

CSQ What about Kobe’s story stands out to you?

JA I grew up in Los Angeles and was 12 when he made the jump, so I watched it in real time. It was interesting going back and retracing the 1996 NBA Draft, which was full of twists and turns. People don’t realize or forget that every team before Charlotte at #13 debated taking him with their pick. It is such a huge coincidence he ended up with the Lakers.

CSQ Do you have a favorite anecdote from the book?

JA TOne of my favorites is the story about Kevin Garnett nearly missing the deadline to sign his $127M extension in 1997 because he was at Jimmy Jam’s house previewing Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope.

VISIONARIES SERIES

CSQ’S VISIONARIES IN REAL ESTATE & FINANCE

CSQ’S 2016 Q2 SPRING REAL ESTATE & FINANCE COVER FEATURE SCOTT MINERD, GLOBAL CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER OF GUGGENHEIM, WAS THE PRIMARY HONOREE AT THE EVENT HELD AT SUN AIR JETS PRIVATE HANGAR ON MAY 10.

SUN AIR JETS VAN NUYS

Every Spring CSQ spotlights one of the region’s pillars of economic success and – the worlds of real estate and finance. Whether a third generation family business or a startup that uses crowdfunding online to generate their investments, Los Angeles is home to some of the world’s greatest builders and financiers, all of whom are innovating, disrupting, and shaping their industries locally and globally.

In recognition of his industry impact, his leadership, and the growth his company has seen and will continue to see, CSQ honored Visionary of the Year Scott Minerd with a Visionary Award in Finance.

CSQ honored the evening’s host, Edward G. Atsinger, III. Known for founding Salem Media Group, Atsinger pursued a passion 20 years ago and founded Sun Air Jets. Today, Sun Air Jets operations in Van Nuys and Camarillo shuttle business leaders to and from the city with effortless grace.

In addition to Scott Minerd and Edward G. Atsinger, III, CSQ recognized individuals whose passion, dedication, and hard work have paid off for themselves, their organizations, and the community. Keith Wasserman and Damian Langere (Founders, Gelt, Inc.), Nadine Watt (President, Watt Companies), Shivani Siroya (Founder & CEO, InVenture), Mark Weinstein (Founder & President, MJW Investments) were also honored as Visionaries.

Also honored were two dynamic thought leaders whose contributions to CSQ’s Spring edition were inspirational and educational. Jilliene Helman (CEO, RealtyMogul.com) and Andrei Cherny (CEO, Aspiration) were awarded and spoke to the innovations and passions driving their companies.

Attendees included leadership from Aspiration, Aon Private Risk Management, Merrill Lynch PBIG, CohnReznick, The Johnston Group, Avasant, The PGA Tour, Koss REsource, InVenture, RealtyMogul. com, Watt Companies, Ernst & Young, and more.

SPONSORS

The evening was made possible thanks to the host, Sun Air Jets, who graciously opened their doors to CSQ and our guests. The event’s supporting sponsors were Human Touch and Marathon Coach.The patron sponsors were Ernst & Young, Gelt, Inc., and Koss REsource. The event’s brand partners included Monrose Catering, Wilshire Media Systems, and Birdview Distillery.

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Neil G. Phillips, Albert Evangelista

EVENT CONTACT

Dana Santulli-Muhlgay, dana@csq.com

Melissa Duguay, Damian Langere, Keith Wasserman, Gelena Wasserman, Adam Shekhter

Nadine Watt

Edward G. Atsinger, III

Jilliene Helman

Visionary of the Year Scott Minerd

Jason Dean, Andrei Cherny

Patrick McClenahan

Meyer Rosenberg, Michelle Hurst, Bill Andreozzi

Greg Stapleton

Cal Johnston in a Human Touch massage chair

VISIONARIES SERIES

Lew Jaffe, Mark Weinstein

Jennifer Principe, Tony Principe

Leroy, Ashley Evans, BAML Event Guest, Whitney Leets, Kevin S. Parikh

Brian Counsil, Edward G. Atsinger, III

Brad Fahlgreen, Stella Debibi, Samson Lov

Curt Castagna

A guest getting lost in virtual reality

Desiree and Mahtab Partovi inside a Prevost Marathon Coach

Dagmara Alman, Rami Yanni

BRITWEEK BUSINESS INNOVATION AWARDS

INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL CENTURY CITY

ORGANIZATION BritWeek

SPONSORS AFEX, Truphone, the InterContinental Los Angeles Century City at Beverly Hills, Air New Zealand, and RSM US LLP.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS Organized by the GREAT Campaign and BritWeek, and presented by AFEX, the Business Innovation Awards recognize cutting-edge American and British companies. Additionally, the event recognizes individuals, such as this year’s honoree Simon Fuller, who have been great innovators in the UK-US business partnership. The evening closed with a guest performance by the recent winner of American Idol’s final season, Trent Harmon.

HONOREES American Idol creator Simon Fuller; Squawka won the Best of Britain & Northern Ireland Award; ScoreStream won the Business Services Award; Playmob won the Social Impact Award; Drawbridge won the Technology Award; Kin Community won the Springboard Award

EVENT CONTACT Matt Reents, matt.reents@fco.gov.uk

Chris O’Connor, Simon Fuller, Bob Peirce

Shaun Fortney, Leo Harrison

Andy Bird

Chris O’Connor, Trent Harmon, Simon Fuller, Bob Peirce, with award winners

Trent Harmon Nigel Lythgoe, Simon Fuller

AMERICAN RED CROSS 2016 VENTURA COUNTY HEROES RECEPTION

MADEWEST BREWING COMPANY VENTURA ORGANIZATION

American Red Cross of Ventura County

SPONSORS Wells Fargo, County of Ventura, Line 6, SoCalGas/Sempra Utilities,Ventura County Star, MadeWest Brewing Co.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS Red Cross staff and board members, our generous sponsors, representatives from various elected officials’ offices, and notable members of the Ventura County community such as Sheriff Geoff Dean and Naval Captain Chris Janke gathered at MadeWest Brewing Co. last Monday to honor everyday heroes who are saving lives, showing compassion, and acting courageously in our local community. Awards were presented to local heroes in each of the following categories: Service to the Armed Forces, Health & Safety, Lifesaving Blood, and Youth. Approximately 100 people attended the event, which was catered by Scratch Food Truck.

EVENT HONOREES Service to the Armed Forces Heroes, Kevin Delson and Ken Bauer; Health & Safety Heroes, Jon Osumi, Suz Montgomery, and the Ventura County Medical Trauma Team; Lifesaving Blood Hero, Shannon Houston;Youth Heroes, Julia Wright and Emma Faciane.

EVENT CONTACT Melissa Durand, melissa.durand@redcross.org

PHOTOGRAPHER Paul Graham

YOUTH LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

PASADENA CITY COLLEGE PASADENA

ORGANIZATION Woodcraft Rangers

SPONSORS Dwight Stuart Youth Foundation, Chick-fil-A, the Laureus Foundation, Telemundo 52, Nickelodeon Halo Effect, Bank of the West, and CSQ

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS Two hundred elementary, middle, and high school youth selected from 68 schools in the Greater Los Angeles area presented their “Giving back to the Community” projects. This competition was the culmination of several months of training in collaboration, developing partnerships, communication skills, and advocacy. Three-minute presentations were presented to community leader panelists for review.

PANELISTS Rand Ferris, Chief Operating Officer, Caliburger; Marcellus Wiley, Host/ Commentator, ESPN; Dr. Ref Rodriguez, LAUSD School Board; Felipe Fuentes, City of Los Angeles Councilmember; Robert Reyes, Owner, Reyes Winery; Peter Rivera, Senior Program Officer, California Community Foundation; Lindsay Rodolico, Sr. Manager Game Operations, LA Sparks; Dunia Elvir, Co-anchor, Telemundo 52; David Wurth, Publisher, C-Suite Quarterly; Miguel Flores, St. Pius X St. Matthias Academy; Duyen Tran, Civic Engagement Specialist, The Wilderness Society

EVENT CONTACT Chris Johnson, Woodcraft Rangers, cjohnson@woodcraftrangers.org

Kim Milstein, Dr. Javier Romero, Dr. Casey Babaro

Lisa Davis, Kelley Reszetylo, Chris Janke

Melissa Livingston, Maria Ventura, Monia White, Geoff Dean

Students from San Antonio Elementary School

Students with Dunia Elvir

200 students attending Summit listen to TED talk introduction

Felipe Fuentes, Chris Johnson, Marcellus Wiley

Who’s In? An index of editorial content for this issue

PEOPLE

Abrams, Jonathan ........................127

Anschutz, Philip F........................104

Aquiar, Chara Lynn........................54

Austin, Tavon .................................51

Ballmer, Steve ..............................104

Bastianich, Joe..............................122

Batali, Mario ...........................83, 122

Bennett, Brianna ............................54

Blank, Michael ...............................54

Bourdain, Anthony .......................117

Brackpool, Keith ............................58

Brazil, Eric ....................................126

Brown, Foxy ...................................72

Brown, Kwame.............................127

Bryant, Kobe...........................49, 127

Butts, James ....................................51

Campbell, Joseph ...........................52

Carbone, Melissa ............................56

Carter, Rebecca ..............................74

Carter, Troy .................................... 70

Chandler, Tyson ...........................127

Chang, David ..........................80, 117

Cimarusti, Michael ......................125

Clinton, Hillary ..............................67

Cohen, Ben ....................................114

Combs, Sean “Puffy” .....................72

Cuban, Mark .......................22, 57, 75

Curry, Eddy ..................................127

Curry, Stephen. .............................112

Davis, Christopher .........................54

Davis, Clive .....................................69

Dion, Celine....................................73

Donald, Aaron ................................51

Dotolo, Viny .................................125

Drake ..............................................63

Dubray, Jean Pierre ........................85

Duncan, Donrad.............................22

Erving, Jay ......................................73

Erving, Julius ..................................73

Eve ..................................................72

Fazio, Tom ......................................85

Ferrell, Scott ...................................89

Fisker, Henrik ................................34

Floetry ............................................73

Fox, Jeremy...................................125

Friedman, Rob ...............................66

Gaga, Lady ......................................70

Ghalaini, Yousef ...........................126

Goin, Suzanne ..............................124

Gurley, Todd. .............................51, 73

Hirst, Damien ...............................126

COMPANIES

James, LeBron ..............................127

Jay Z ................................................72

Johnson, Zach ................................22

Kalanick, Travis .............................74

Klosterman, Chuck......................127

Knight, Phil ..................................127

Knuckles, Frankie .........................62

Kobayashi, Takeru ........................114

Kroenke, Stan.................................51

Lassiter, James ...............................73

Lee, Phillip Frankland .................126

Legend, John ..................................73

Leno, Jay .........................................31

Loeb, Josh .....................................125

Lucas, George .................................53

Meguiar, Barry ...............................31

Mishcatt ..........................................75

Nelly ................................................73

Nicklaus, Jack ..........................77, 88

Palmer, Arnold.........................77, 88

Parsons, Bob ...................................22

Peel, Mark ....................................123

Pelonis, Chris .................................63

Player, Gary..............................77, 88

Puck, Wolfgang ............................123

Raddon, Richard 59

Raddon, Ryan ................................. 62

Roski, Edward P., Jr. .....................104

Rossi, Valentino ............................113

Ryan, Chris .....................................54

Salt-N-Pepa ...................................73

Sanders, Bernie ..............................67

Scully, Vin ......................................49

Shook, John ..................................125

Silverton, Nancy........................... 122

Smith, Robert .................................74

Smith, Will .....................................73

Speron, Roman ..............................83

Tellem, Arn .....................................65

Terzian, John ..................................64

Toll, Brian 64

Tollett, Paul.....................................48

Tower, Jeremiah ...........................123

Townes, Jeffrey ..............................73

Trainor, Meghan.............................72

Trump, Donald ...............................67

Wallace, Christopher ....................72

Waxman, Jonathan ......................122

Wu Tang Clan .................................72

Young, Korleone. .........................127

ABC ..................................................74

Adidas .............................................25

Animal ...........................................125

Armani............................................26

Atom Factory ...................................72

Bad Boy Records .............................72

Bell & Ross ......................................38

Benetti ............................................34

Bentley............................................32

BOSS Orange ..................................26

Bragi ................................................24

Bushnell..........................................22

California Horse Racing Board ......58

Cascadia..........................................22

Cecconi’s .......................................126

Clear Channel.................................56

Craft ................................................88

Cross Culture Ventures ...................72

Drobo ..............................................24

Dropbox ...........................................72

Eataly ..............................................82

Engineered for Movement .............25

Erving Wonder ................................72

Ferrari .............................................32

FIG..................................................126

Fraser Yachts ..................................34

GoDaddy .........................................22

Goldenvoice ...................................48

Google Ventures ..............................74

GRAMMY Museum .......................118

Gucci ...............................................26

h.Wood Group ................................64

Hakkasan Group ............................65

Hammer Museum .........................118

Hinoki & the Bird ...........................82

Hublot .............................................38

J. Lindeberg ....................................25

Jaeger Le Coultre .............................37

James Beard Foundation...............124

John Elliot .......................................25

John Varvatos .................................26

Kaestle Ski ......................................22

Kit and Ace .....................................80

L.A. Live ..........................................50

LACMA...........................................119

Lamborghini ...................................32

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group ...66

Live Nation ......................................57

Los Angeles Rams ..........................50

Lucques .........................................124

lululemon .......................................25

lululemon athletica........................26

Lyft ...................................................72

Menlo Ventures ...............................74

Momofuku Nishi ............................80

Movieclips ......................................60

Mozza Restaurant Group ..............122

Netflix .............................................60

Nike ...........................................25, 48

Nikon ..............................................24

Norton Simon Museum ................119

Nuzzel .............................................24

Park Hyatt .......................................80

Parmigiani ......................................38

Parsons Xtreme Golf ......................22

Patagonia ........................................22

Plan Check ....................................126

Providence ....................................125

Puma ...............................................25

The Resort at Pelican Hill ..............84

Richard Mille ...................................37

Rustic Canyon ...............................125

Saks Fith Avenue............................25

Sanctuary Records ..........................72

Scratch Bar ....................................126

Skirball Cultural Arts Center. .......118

Smashd Labs ...................................72

Social Gaming Network..................73

SoulCycle ........................................25

Spotify .............................................72

Stronach Group ..............................58

Tagheuer ..........................................37

Ted Baker ........................................26

Ten Thirty One Productions ..........56

Theory ............................................25

Thrive Market ..................................72

Tinychat ...........................................73

To Boot New York ..........................26

Tomas Maier ...................................26

Tower Paddle Boards .....................22

Tumi ................................................24

Uber ................................................70

Vacheron Constantin ......................37

Warby Parker ..................................72

Warner Brothers.............................68

Z Zegna ...........................................25

ZEFR................................................59

Note:

Bold numbers indicate starting page of extended article.

ADVERTISERS DIRECTORY

Baltaire Restaurant 424/273.1660 baltaire.com

Boys & Girls Club of Metro Los Angeles

310/892.1037 labgc.org

Brookfield Playa Vista 310/550.0851 liveatplayavista.com/csq

Burgess 310/452.5112 burgessyachts.com

City National Bank 805/367.9020 cnb.com

Clay Lacy Aviation 818/946.3754 claylacy.com

CohnReznick LLP 818/205.2609 corpstrat.com

Corporate Strategies, Inc. 800/914.3564 corpstrat.com

Cross Campus 310/395.3500 crosscamp.us

Deloitte Fast 500 lafast500@deloitte.com fast500.com

Digital Synergy Consulting 818/647.9900 dsc.com

The District by Hannah An 310/278.2345 thedistrictbyha.com

Elite Sports Medicine 818/222.1120 elitesportsdc.com

Ernst & Young 213/240.7096 ey.com

Galerie Michael 310/273.3377 galeriemichael.com

gish SEIDEN, LLP 818/854.6100 gishseiden.com

Hughes Marino 213/689.3211 310/277.3211 hughesmarino.com

Human Touch 855/794.5660 humantouch.com/csq

JetSuite 866/779.7770 jetsuite.com

Los Angeles Dodgers 866/Dodgers dodgers.com

KOSS Resource LLC kossREsource.com/quotes

Monrose Catering 310/457.6338 monrosecateringtoo.com

Montage Beverly Hills 855/499.9902 montagebeverlyhills.com

Nolet’s Gin noletsgin.com

PowerShares QQQ Championship 805/258.1324 pgatourhq.com

Prevost Marathon Coach 800/837.0895 marathoncoach.com

Saks Fifth Avenue 310/275.4211 saks.com

Santa Anita Park 626/574.7223 santaanita.com

Socal IP Law Group LLP 805/230.1356 socalip.com

Staples Center Premium Seating 213/742.7182 staplescenter.com

Sun Air Jets 805/389.9301 sunairjets.com

Tempus Jets 844/883.6787 tempusaircraft.com Travel Store 310/752.9165 business.travelstore.com

Wells Fargo Private Bank 310/285.5929 wellsfargoprivatebank.com

Wilshire Media Systems 805/497.7536 wilshirehe.com

Woodcraft Rangers 213/249.9293 woodcraftrangers.org

Zin Bistro 818/855.095 zinwestlake.com

C-SUITE ADVISORS

Noah Bremen bDirect Companies bdirectretail.com

Ed Bagdasarian Jim Freedman Intrepid Investment Bankers 310/478.9000 jfreedman@intrepidib.com ebagdasarian@intrepidib.com

Jason Hughes Hughes Marino 213/689.3211 310/277.3211 jason@hughesmarino.com

Laurel Mintz Elevate My Brand 818/452.9880 laurel@elevatemybrand.com elevatemybrand.com

Stacy D. Phillips Phillips Lerner 310/277.2077 phillipslerner.com

Andy Popov Avasant 310/643.30303 andy.popov@avasant.com avasant.com

Scott M. Sachs, CPA CohnReznick LLP 818/205.2609 scott.sachs@cohnreznick.com cohnreznick.com

Michael Schaffer Echo Factory 626/993.3370 michael@echo-factory.com echo-factory.com

Michael Schwartz Galerie Michael 310/273.3377 art@galeriemichael.com galeriemichael.com

Closing Bell

C-Suite QUOTED

Practical advice and anecdotes from this edition’s Visionaries in Sports & Entertainment

“DARK, FLAWED, YET WELL-MEANING SUPERHEROES WHO TAKE THE LAW INTO THEIR OWN HANDS STRIKE AN EMPHATIC CHORD AMONG VIEWERS.“

BRENDAN MANLEY AND BEN SPERGEL

“REPUTATION IS SOMETHING YOU CAN’T EVER BUY BACK. PEOPLE MAY NOT LIKE ME OR BRIAN, BUT EVEN OUR OWN ENEMIES WON’T QUESTION OUR INTEGRITY.”

JOHN TERZIAN

“PEOPLE CONSUME FILM IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS. THE EYEBALLS ARE GROWING.” ROB FRIEDMAN

“THERE’S A PATIENCE WITH THE PROCESS THAT I’VE BEEN ABLE TO CARRY OVER TO STARTUPS.”TROY CARTER

“[MY KIDS ARE] PRETTY STOIC ABOUT IT. I’LL LOCK UP A SHOW FOR 80,000 PEOPLE AND THEY’RE AT THE SIDE OF THE STAGE SAYING, ‘YEAH, THAT WAS GOOD.’ PLAYING IT VERY, VERY COOL.” RYAN RADDON (KASKADE)

“YOU CAN GAUGE CONSUMERS’ FEAR LEVELS BY THE TYPES OF ATTRACTIONS THEY ARE DRAWN TO, AND THE PEOPLE WHO REALLY WANT TO BE SCARED WANT TO BE SCARED ALL YEAR LONG. THE REAL HORRORS GOING ON IN TODAY’S WORLD ADD TO THE NEED FOR THESE KINDS OF ATTRACTIONS AND HELPS MAKE THEM SUCCESSFUL.”

MELISSA CARBONE

“SOMETIMES THINGS ARE GOING WELL AND YOU BELIEVE IT’S BECAUSE OF YOUR ACTIONS. SOMETIMES IT CAN BE IN SPITE OF YOUR ACTIONS, SO TAKE A SECOND HARD LOOK.” KEITH BRACKPOOL

“I CALL IT ‘FINANCIAL PTSD.’ WHEN YOU GROW UP POOR, AND YOU COME FROM HARD CIRCUMSTANCES, IT’S A FEAR THAT LIVES IN YOU AND YOU NEVER WANT TO GO BACK.”TROY CARTER

“TECHNOLOGY IS THE ULTIMATE ENABLER FOR INNOVATION. THE SPIRIT OF INNOVATION IS EM BODIED IN YOUNG KIDS. THEY AREN’T GOING TO SETTLE FOR STATUS QUO. THEY ARE GOING TO PUSH THE LIMITS AND CHANGE THE NATURE OF THIS BUSINESS.”

RICHARD RADDON

“I FELL INTO BEING A MANAGER QUITE NATURALLY. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I REALIZED THAT I WAS REALLY GOOD AT SOMETHING.” TROY CARTER

“OUR GOAL IS TO BUILD AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION WITH OUR FAN BASE AND THE CITY BY ENRICHING THE DAILY LIVES OF ANGELENOS AND THEN DELIVERING AN OUTSTANDING GAME DAY EXPERIENCE ON SUNDAYS.”KEVIN DEMOFF

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We provide a diverse range of industries with forward thinking advice that can help turn business possibilities into business opportunities. Look ahead. Gain insight. Imagine more. Is your business ready to break through?

Find out more at cohnreznick.com/breakthrough

FORWARD THINKING CREATES RESULTS.

2016 Greater Los Angeles finalists

to the ingenious individuals who make growth happen

Every year we are honored to meet the legacy makers impacting business and the world around us. They prove time and again that great minds and great ideas, combined with vision and passion, truly make a difference in everyone’s world.

Our reater Los Angeles nalists and their inspirational stories took center stage as we celebrated their achievements at our Awards Gala on June 21 — and announced our 2016 winners.

To our winners, we wish them the best of luck at the national awards in November

To learn more about our Greater Los Angeles nalists and winners, or to nd out how to nominate someone for 2017, please visit us at www.ey.com/us/eoy/greaterla.

Founded