Isaac "Zack" Werner is a Canadian

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

entertainment law Entertainment law, also referred to as media law, is legal services provided to the entertainment industry. These services in entertainment law overlap with intellectual property law. Intellectual property has many moving parts that include tradema ...

yer and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Early life and education

Born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

in 1960, Werner attended the

St. John's-Ravenscourt School St. John's-Ravenscourt School (commonly referred to as SJR) is an independent, co-educational, university-preparatory school founded in 1820. Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the school delivers an enriched curriculum from Kindergarten through Grade ...

. He received a B.A. from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and a law degree from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

Musical career

Werner moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and joined local

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

''The Ringing''. The band, managed by Gary Pring ( Glass Tiger), secured a development deal with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. Werner formed the group Thick As Thieves (not to be confused with the Australian band of the same name) and relocated to Los Angeles. The group opened for Alice In Chains and

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

and negotiated a distribution deal through BMG. When the band broke up, Werner returned to Toronto and signed a development deal with MCA as a solo-artist and worked with producer John Punter (

Spoons Spoons may refer to: * Spoon, a utensil commonly used with soup * Spoons (card game), the card game of Donkey, but using spoons Film and TV * ''Spoons'' (TV series), a 2005 UK comedy sketch show *Spoons, a minor character from ''The Sopranos'' ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

). Werner is a founding member of Canadian country rock band Haymaker, founded in 2007.Leperre, Bruce (August 2, 2008). "New Music: Haymaker: Wrong Place, Right Time", ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

'', p. C4.

Management career

Werner practiced

Entertainment law Entertainment law, also referred to as media law, is legal services provided to the entertainment industry. These services in entertainment law overlap with intellectual property law. Intellectual property has many moving parts that include tradema ...

with the firm Sanderson, Taylor (now Sanderson Entertainment Law), where his clients were

The Philosopher Kings The Philosopher Kings are a Canadian band. The band was most commercially successful in the late 1990s and have been nominated for five Juno Awards, winning one in 1996 for "Best New Group". Most of the band members, current and former, have also ...

, Chris Smith Management,

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

, Ron Sexsmith and

Sass Jordan Sass Jordan (c. 1962) is a British-born Canadian rock singer from Montreal, Quebec. Her first single, "Tell Somebody," from her debut album of the same name won the Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1989. Since then, she has been ...

. During his legal career Zack presented showcases for record companies that were among the first exposure for

k-os Kevin Brereton (born February 20, 1972), better known by his stage name k-os (; "chaos"), is a Canadian alternative rapper, singer, songwriter and producer. His given name may also be cited as Kheaven, a spelling he later adopted. The alias "k ...

, Rascalz,

Sarah Harmer Sarah Harmer (born November 12, 1970) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and environmental activist. Early life Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Harmer gained her first exposure to the musician's lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sist ...

and

Finger Eleven Finger Eleven is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1990. They have released seven studio albums (six as Finger Eleven and one as Rainbow Butt Monkeys), with their album '' The Greyest of Blue Skies'' bringing them into th ...

(then known as Rainbow Butt Monkeys). In 1997, Werner founded Venus Corporation with Beau Randall. The company offered artist and producer management and a record label, Venus Records, in partnership with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Canada. Werner managed the artists

Esthero Esthero ( ; born Jenny-Bea Englishman on December 23, 1978 in Stratford, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who lives in Los Angeles, California. The name ''Esthero'' refers both to the singer and formerly to the two-person team of herself ...

Down With Webster Down With Webster is a Canadian rap rock band from The Beaches area of Toronto who signed with Universal Motown in April 2009. Down with Webster was originally formed for a middle school talent show. The band released their first official EP, '' ...

Skye Sweetnam Skye Alexandra Sweetnam (born May 5, 1988) is a Canadian singer, actress, and music video director. She first entered the music industry in 2003 with the release of her debut single " Billy S." More than a year later, her debut studio album, ''N ...

Tara Slone Tara Kamala Slone (born September 7, 1973) is a Canadians, Canadian rock music, rock vocalist, actress and television personality. Early life and education Slone was born in Montreal, Quebec, and raised in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Wolfville and H ...

, Patricia O'Callaghan,

Simon Wilcox Simon Wilcox is a Canadian songwriter based in Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the ...

Robin Black Robin Black is a Canadians, Canadian mixed martial arts commentator, former mixed martial artist, and Glam rock, glam rock musician. History Originally a member of the Pinawa, Manitoba band Ballroom Zombies, Robin Black moved to Toronto in 1998 ...

Lindi Ortega Lindi Ortega (born May 28, 1980) is a Canadian country singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario, who had lived in Nashville, Tennessee then moved to Western Canada in 2017. She spent nearly a decade as an independent artist in the Toronto music ...

, Joel Parisien (

Newworldson Newworldson is a Canadian Christian pop/soul band based in St. Catharines, Ontario. Their musical style is very eclectic, but is principally soul music. The band is signed to Inpop Records and has toured extensively with the Newsboys. The band h ...

), Doc McKinney and James Robertson. The firm also managed both winners of the TV series Rock Star,

Lukas Rossi Lukas Rossi (born December 21, 1976) is a Canadian rock singer and musician. He was the winner of the CBS Television reality series '' Rock Star: Supernova'' – a televised audition contest to become lead singer of the hard rock supergroup ''Ro ...

and J.D. Fortune.

''Canadian Idol''-present

From 2003-2008, Werner was one of the judges on ''

Canadian Idol ''Canadian Idol'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show ''Pop Idol''. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore ...

'' (in which capacity he appeared on a 2004 episode of Corner Gas). He was also a judge on the 2003 one-off performance show, World Idol. In 2011, Werner formed Zack Werner Idol School providing vocal performance training and mentoring across Greater Toronto and producing live concerts. The students included

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

recording artist Ren,

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

semi-finalist Peter Serrado and up-and-coming singer/songwriter Mikalyn Hay. In 2013, he played a small role in the film ''Catch a Christmas Star''. In 2016, Werner moved his Idol School to

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

. In partnership with

The Telegram ''The Telegram'' is a daily newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays (as ''The Weekend Telegram'') in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. History ''The Evening Telegram'' was first published on April 3, 1879 by William James Herde ...

and NTV ( CJON-DT), he produced a province-wide singing contest for three years, ''Sing NL''. He also created a pop youth performance group KidZrock NL and produced and managed records by artists Madeline Salter and Abigale. Werner also returned to playing live with a long-term residency at Erin's Pub, and as a member of retro jam bands Groovy and, with Wade Pinhorn, Brad Jefford and Boomer Stamp, The Atomic Dogs. In 2021, Werner returned to Toronto to work in business development/affairs in the digital rights and music publishing industry.

Early life and education

Musical career

Management career

''Canadian Idol''-present

References

Further reading