TO CALL JOHN BRANCA ’72 SIMPLY A LAWYER IS LIKE CALLING Carlos Santana a guitarplucker. Branca is, in fact, the dean of entertainment attorneys, a man who essentially redefined the job much in the same way that his biggest client, Michael Jackson, redrew the parameters of pop supremacy. More than 30 of his clients over the course of his 40-year career were voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a list that includes the legendary Santana himself— a self-described “Mexican dishwasher who got lucky playing the guitar.”
Photos (pages 13, 15) courtesy John Branca ’72
above: In descending order, Branca with Carlos Santana, a client since 1984; with Michael Jackson at Branca’s wedding in Beverly Hills in 1987; and with David Lee Roth in 1987. “I went to Disney World with Michael, and I went on the road with the Stones,” Branca says, “but I never really hung out with clients. It was never really my thing.”
“Integrity is really important to me, and I feel very trusting and respectful of John’s integrity above all,” says the 10-time Grammywinning musician, who was awarded an honorary doctorate of music at Occidental’s Convocation in 2005 (a citation that Branca, as a trustee of the College, was instrumental in arranging). “I’m very grateful that the Great Spirit connected me with my brother John Branca.” Whether it’s through divine intervention or the terra firma need for the best representation available in the cutthroat, ever-changing world of entertainment, Branca’s skills have connected him with the cream of the musical crop. And those skills go far beyond contractual demands for, say, brown M&Ms on the rider. “Entertainment lawyers are dealmakers, psychologists, therapists, and managers,” says Branca, partner and head of the music department at Ziffren Brittenham in Los Angeles, the world’s largest entertainment law firm. To be a successful entertainment lawyer, “you have to mainly have people skills,” he adds. “If you sit down with Kanye West or Brian Wilson and you’re super intellectual but you can’t connect with them, you’re never going to have an impact.” That impact was recognized by Jackson, who wrote in his autobiography, Moonwalk, that Branca is “the kind of person that could do just about anything.”
A native of Bronxville, N.Y., John Gregory Branca grew up in neighboring Mount Vernon, where his father—one of 17 children— ran a baseball school and served as the city’s recreation commissioner. John R. Branca, who died in 2010, served two terms in the New York State Assembly and became chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission in 1983. “My dad’s whole life was about sports,” says Branca, who encountered his father’s legacy on a recent trip to his hometown. “A man came up to me and said, ‘Are you related to John Branca? You look exactly like him. Not only did he give me my first job, but when I couldn’t afford anything he gave me a football uniform to play Pop Warner.’ It brings tears to my eyes.” Branca’s mother was Barbara Werle, a professional ballroom dancer turned actress, whose screen credits include Seconds (1966) with Rock Hudson and three movies starring “Elvis Presley: Tickle Me, Harum Scarum, and Charro! (The Branca Family Patio, dedicated in 1998 as part of the renovation and expansion of Johnson Student Center, honors his parents.) When John was 4, Barbara left her husband—and Mount Vernon—to pursue a showbiz career. “She’d come to New York to do ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ or the Harvest Moon Ball, so I’d only see her maybe once a year,” Branca says of that difficult time. WINTER 2017 OCCIDENTAL MAGAZINE
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