Brent Montgomery is an American businessman who is CEO of Wheelhouse Entertainment, a media group he launched in 2018. Under the Wheelhouse banner also is Spoke Studios, the content arm of Wheelhouse Entertainment, which creates programming across a variety of platforms and genres.
Montgomery also serves as strategic advisor to ITV America. Montgomery was named CEO of ITV America in 2015 following the 2014 acquisition of his company, Leftfield Entertainment, for $360 million by UK-based, multi-national media company ITV. Under Montgomery's leadership, in 2017 ITV America's revenue increased by 33%.
Career
Montgomery began his television career working for Texas
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
affiliate
KBTX
KBTX-TV (channel 3) is a television station licensed in Bryan, Texas, United States, serving the Brazos Valley as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on East 29th Street in Bryan, and its transmitter is ...
, which subsequently paid for the majority of his tuition at
Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
. He later moved to New York and worked on ''
The Bachelor'', ''
Wife Swap'' and ''
Blind Date
A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance.
Structure
A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...
''.
[
Montgomery started his first production company, Leftfield Pictures, in 2002 with $10,000.][ Montgomery developed the concept for Leftfield Pictures’ flagship series '']Pawn Stars
''Pawn Stars'' is an American reality television series shown on History and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24 ...
'' while in Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
for a bachelor party. Struck by the number of pawn shops in the city, Montgomery set out to locate a shop with the right setting and staff around which to build a television series.History Channel
History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
. In 2009, ''Pawn Stars'' premiered on History as a top rated series for the network, highlighting the “hidden treasures” genre of programming.
Montgomery grew Leftfield Pictures rapidly with other series soon added to Leftfield's roster.American Restoration
''American Restoration'' is an American reality television series airing on the History channel. Produced by Leftfield Pictures, the first six seasons were recorded in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicled the daily activities at ''Rick's Res ...
'' and ''Counting Cars
''Counting Cars'' is an American reality television series shown on History and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series, which is the third spinoff of ''Pawn Stars'', is filmed in Las Vegas, where it chronicles the daily activities at Count's ...
'' for History;Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
; ''Bethenny & Fredrik'' for Bravo, and National Geographic Channel
National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...
’s specials ''Billy the Kid: The New Evidence'' (executive produced by Kevin Costner) and ''Brain Surgery Live''.
In 2013, Montgomery established parent company Leftfield Entertainment (LFE), and assumed the role of CEO, in conjunction with acquiring production company Sirens Media. He then launched additional production companies under the LFE umbrella – Loud TV and Outpost Entertainment – before selling 80% of the company for $360 million to ITV in 2014. At the end of 2015, Montgomery completed a deal through which ITV acquired all of the Leftfield Entertainment group. As part of that process, he became CEO of newly formed production group ITV America,[ Collectively, they produce series including FOX's '' The Four: Battle for Stardom'' and '']Hell’s Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the e ...
''; HGTV's '' Fixer Upper'', Netflix's ''Queer Eye'' and ''Girls Incarcerated'', A&E's ''Duck Dynasty
''Duck Dynasty'' is an American reality television series that aired on A&E from 2012 to 2017. The series portrays the lives of the Robertson family, who became successful from their family-operated business, Duck Commander. The West Monroe, ...
'' and ''The First 48'', History's ''Pawn Stars'', ''Alone'' and ''Forged in Fire''. Bravo's ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'',
During Montgomery's tenure as CEO of ITV America, the company made production and talent deals with TV personalities and celebrities Michael Strahan
Michael T. Strahan ( ; born November 21, 1971) is an American television personality, journalist, and former professional football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Giants of the Nation ...
, WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
star John Cena, Bethenny Frankel
Bethenny Frankel (born November 4, 1970) is an American businesswoman, television personality, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and author. She starred in the Bravo television series ''The Real Housewives of New York City'', having appeared in eigh ...
, Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
co-host Lara Spencer
Lara Christine Von Seelen (known professionally as Lara Spencer; born June 19, 1969) is an American television presenter. She is best known for being the co-anchor for ABC's ''Good Morning America''. She is also a correspondent for '' Nightline ...
, Grammy award-winner Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...
and author/actress La La Anthony
Alani Nicole "La La" Anthony (née Vázquez; born June 25, 1979 ) is an American television personality and actress. In the early 2000s, she worked as an MTV VJ on ''Total Request Live''. She was the host of the VH1 reality television reunion ...
.
In January 2018, Montgomery founded Wheelhouse Entertainment and its production company Spoke Studios. He currently serves as CEO of Wheelhouse Entertainment.
Personal life
Brent married Courtney Napurano in September 2008.
Honors and affiliations
Montgomery was featured on the cover of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' on January 30, 2019, focusing on his new business, the Wheelhouse Group, and highlighting his contributions to reality TV.
In June 2016, Montgomery was inducted into the Realscreen Hall of Fame as Producer Extraordinaire.
In 2014 Montgomery became a founding member of the Non-Fiction Producers Association (NPA), the first professional body created to service the non-fiction TV business in the United States, and serves on its executive committee. In 2017 the NPA merged with PactUS to create NPACT, on whose board and executive committee Montgomery also sits. In 2018, he received NPACT's “Inspiration Award for Outstanding Achievement In Nonfiction” as part of the organization's inaugural NPACT Impact Awards.
Montgomery is a member of Lincoln Center Corporate Fund's newly launched Media and Entertainment Council, and a member of the Paley Media Council.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Brett
American chief executives in the media industry
Texas A&M University alumni
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)