The Firm was a film and television production and talent management company based in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

, California. Established in 1997, it ceased operations in November 2008 and was relaunched by its founder,

Jeff Kwatinetz Jeff Kwatinetz (born April 6, 1965) is an American entertainment industry executive. He is the former CEO of the Firm, Inc., a media production and talent management company in Santa Monica, California, and current COO of Cube Vision, the film ...

, in August 2015. The Firm's divisions also include a record label and a marketing group.

History

The Firm was founded by managers

and Michael Green in 1997. Operating originally out of Kwatinetz' Malibu apartment, the company was described by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' as "racing through the music industry with the velocity of a bullet train" and by 2000, represented a stable of actors and musicians that had generated more than $1.5 billion in gross revenue. Kwatinetz partnered with David Baram and Rick Yorn to help run the operation later bringing on new talent including

Criss Angel Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos ( el, Χριστόφορος Νικόλαος Σαραντάκος; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in New ...

and

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

. In 2002, The Firm purchased

Michael Ovitz Michael Steven Ovitz (born December 14, 1946) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was a talent agent who co-founded Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in 1975 and served as its chairman until 1995. Ovitz later served as preside ...

's Artist Management Group (AMG) and in 2004, it merged with entertainment consulting company Integrated Entertainment Partners (IEP), led by Rich Frank, a former president of

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

studios. During its first incarnation, the company represented Leonardo DiCaprio,

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. With a variety of works in film, she is widely recognised for her work in romantic comedies and animation. Diaz has received various accolades, including nominations for ...

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The gr ...

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...

, and

DC Pierson DC Pierson is an American comedian, author, and actor. He is best known for his involvement in the sketch and improvisational comedy group Derrick Comedy. Early life and education Pierson was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He attended New York Uni ...

, among others. In addition to the individual successes of their clients, the company was noted for its prescience in melding celebrities with consumer brands and for its role as an architect of the $2.6 billion acquisition of Warner Music by a private equity consortium. While in 2003, the subsidiary Firm Films had reached a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox. The Firm ceased operations in 2008.

Prospect Park

Several months after the Firm was closed, Kwatinetz and Frank founded Prospect Park, an entertainment company which replicated the scope of The Firm. Financed through Kwatinetz' personal assets, Prospect Park focused on TV and film development and production, and included an artist management division and a record company. In 2013, it launched the short-lived Online Network with the soap operas ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

'' and ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

''. The company shut down both shows in 2013 as it filed a lawsuit against

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, from whom they had licensed the rights to both series. Prospect Park declared bankruptcy in 2014, pending an outcome on the lawsuit.

Reactivation

In August 2015, it was announced that the Firm had been reactivated, a decision which Kwatinetz said was based on feedback from the creative community. Prospect Park senior executives Jeremy Summers, Angelica Cob-Baehler and Josh Barry transitioned to The Firm, and

Robbie Brenner Robbie Brenner is an American producer and film executive with over 20 years of industry experience. In 2013 she produced ''Dallas Buyers Club'', which starred Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Garner and earned Brenner a nomination f ...

, formerly the president of production at

Relativity Media Relativity Media is an American media company founded in 2004 by Lynwood Spinks and Ryan Kavanaugh. The company brokered film finance deals and later branched into film production and other entertainment ventures. The company was commercially s ...

, was named president of The Firm's film division shortly after the company relaunched. Under the banner of Prospect Park Productions, the Firm produces the television series '' Salem'' for

WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ran ...

and

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

's ''

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''; as of 2015, ''Salem'' was in its third season and ''Royal Pains'' in its eighth. As of 2015, the company had projects in development for broadcast, cable and digital platforms which included ''Black Heart'' for

, ''Talent'' for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, ''Tough Love'' for

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

, ''Hard Foul'' for

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

, '' A Midsummer’s Nightmare'' ( Lifetime), ''Relics'' ( Sony International Networks), and a

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

co-produced

ABC Family The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...

program tentatively titled ''Hearts and Clubs''. Prospect Park produced FX's '' Wilfred'', which ran from 2011 through 2014. The Firm manages

's production company, Cube Vision. Cube Vision produced ''

Straight Outta Compton ''Straight Outta Compton'' is the debut studio album by rap group N.W.A, which, led by Eazy-E, formed in Los Angeles County's City of Compton in early 1987. Released by his label, Ruthless Records, on August 8, 1988, the album was produced b ...

'', as well as the ''

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth day ...

'', '' Barbershop'' and the ''

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'' film franchises. It has two films in development: ''Humbug'' and ''Rocky Mountain High''. Kwatinetz has managed Ice Cube since 1996. In addition to Ice Cube, the Firm manages

P.O.D. P.O.D., an initialism for Payable on Death, is an American Christian metal band formed in 1992 and based in San Diego, California. The band's line-up consists of drummer and rhythm guitarist Wuv Bernardo, vocalist Sonny Sandoval, bassist Traa ...

, and

Dead Sara Dead Sara is an American hard rock band from Seattle, consisting of Emily Armstrong ( lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Siouxsie Medley (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Sean Friday ( drums, backing vocals), best known for their single "Weatherman ...

, among others. It operates Prospect Park Records, which has released records by artists including

Azealia Banks Azealia Amanda Banks ( ; born May 31, 1991) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, she began releasing music through Myspace in 2008 before being signed to XL Recordings at age 18. In 2 ...

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, and

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, who hit No. 1 on the album sales charts sales with their 2015 release ''

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.'' The company is also developing non-basketball-related revenue and marketing opportunities for the

National Basketball Players Association The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) is a labor union that represents National Basketball Association (NBA) players. It was founded in 1954, making it the oldest trade union of the four major professional sports leagues in the Uni ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firm, The Mass media companies established in 1997 Talent and literary agencies Companies based in Los Angeles County, California 1997 establishments in California

History

Prospect Park

Reactivation

See also

References