Isaac "Zack" Werner is a Canadian artist, producer,

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 trade ...

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 ...

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, ...

in 1960, Werner attended the St. John's-Ravenscourt School. He received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

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 land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

and a law degree from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a 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 among the top thre ...

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 anch ...

and joined local rock band ''The Ringing''. The band, managed by Gary Pring (

Glass Tiger Glass Tiger is a Grammy Award-nominated Canadian rock band from Newmarket, Ontario that formed in 1983. The band has released five studio albums. Its 1986 debut album, '' The Thin Red Line'', went quadruple platinum in Canada and gold in the U ...

), secured a development deal with Capitol Records. 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 Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

and Pearl Jam 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). 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 trade ...

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 Ronald Eldon Sexsmith (born January 8, 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. He was the songwriter of the year at the 2005 Juno Awards. He began releasing recordings of his own material in 1985 at age 21, and has s ...

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,

Rascalz Rascalz are a Canadian hip-hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia. The group played a crucial role in the artistic and commercial development of Canadian hip hop as well as specifically for the Westcoast scene in Vancouver popularizing the ...

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 sis ...

and

Finger Eleven Finger Eleven is a Canadian Rock music, 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 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 corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

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 hersel ...

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,

Patricia O'Callaghan Patricia Mary O'Callaghan (born October 2, 1970) is a classically trained Canadian singer. She is a soprano who has built an international reputation as a performer of contemporary opera, early 20th-century cabaret music and the songs of Leonard Co ...

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 List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of Cal ...

, Robin Black,

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 ha ...

Doc McKinney Martin "Doc" McKinney (born August 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American record producer and songwriter. McKinney is a Grammy-award-winning producer. He was formerly one half of the duo (now solo act) Esthero. His work with fellow Toronto artist The ...

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 '' ...

and

J.D. Fortune Jason Dean Bennison (born September 1, 1973), better known by his stage name J.D. Fortune, is a Canadian singer and songwriter best known for his six-year tenure as the frontman of the Australian rock band INXS. He received worldwide recognition ...

''Canadian Idol''-present

From 2003-2008, Werner was one of the judges on '' Canadian Idol'' (in which capacity he appeared on a 2004 episode of

Corner Gas ''Corner Gas'' is a Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. Re-runs still air on CTV, CTV2, CTV Comedy Channel, Much, MTV, E! and are streaming on Crave and Amazon Prime. The seri ...

). He was also a judge on the 2003 one-off performance show,

World Idol ''World Idol'' (Germany: ''SuperStar Weltweit'', Arab World: ''SuperStar El Alaam'') is a one-off international version of the singing competition television show ''Pop Idol'', featuring winners of the various national ''Idol'' shows around t ...

. 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 recording artist Ren, Eurovision Song Contest 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. 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 Herd ...

and NTV (

CJON-DT CJON-DT (channel 21), branded on-air as NTV (short for Newfoundland Television), is an English-language independent television station in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, owned by Newfoundland Broadcasting Company Ltd. The statio ...

), 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