Blake Lively and Kevin Allyn

Actors aside, Hollywood is full of people who are not what they seem to be. For that reason it’s a standard habit to search someone immediately after the introduction – sometimes the fact-check will take place via mobile device under the table while the person is still talking.  Within seconds skeptics can learn if the person’s claims can be validated on IMDB, in discography lists, in Hollywood Reporter or somewhere in Google-Bing-Land.

But occasionally there are rainmakers so deeply networked and connected, so “real,” they don’t care about press or fame or whether their SEO results satisfy their curious cyber-checkers. They just do what they do.  Like Kevin Allyn, for example.

Kevin started as a child recording artist signed to a major label, then right after high school joined legendary talent manager Sandy Gallin while he just had one client. Gallin mentored him in how to succeed as a celebrity manager. At age 23, Kevin bought the company of “the godfather of fitness,” Jack LaLanne. Kevin also became Jack’s personal manager and began executive producing the historic Jack LaLanne show.   He strategically decided to fill the commercial slots with fitness and nutritional products that he created. Kevin also spotted Denise Austin and gave Denise her first television appearance. Since the fitness products industry was minimal back then, Kevin had to create the Jack Lalanne fitness product line himself. When it became wildly successful, it spurred a host of copycats and gave birth to the multi-billion dollar fitness products industry.  Still in his early 20′s, Kevin went on to nationally syndicate the Jack LaLanne show, thereby making Jack a household name – around the globe.

Kevin Allyn and Paris Hilton

With worldwide syndication, merchandising, branding and licensing success under his belt, Kevin Allyn was just getting started. He went on to direct the careers of various entertainers such as Brooke Burke, Victoria Silvstedt, Darva Conger, Trista Rehn, Morgan Brittany, Cheryl Ladd, Micky Dolenz , Catherine Oxenberg, Bo Derek, THE MONKEES, Jane Seymour and many others. For Jane Seymour he created and launched the multimillion dollar business of the Jane Seymour brand at SAKS, Inc. including Jane Seymour home furnishings, gifts, accessories, infant and toddler apparel.

When it came to building revenue for his music clients, Kevin was unstoppable. He promoted, produced, managed, or staged over 1,200 live concert shows from Las Vegas Showrooms to 100,000 seat stadiums. His clients included VAN HALEN, THE BEACH BOYS, MAC DAVIS, SHIRLEY MAC LAINE, THE MONKEES, THE MOODY BLUES, JOAN BAEZ, THREE DOG NIGHT, RAY CHARLES, EDDIE RABBIT and many more. He gained vast experience managing, negotiating, buying talent, assembling back up bands, securing sponsorships, coordinating tours, handling advertising and promotion, buying radio, print, television time and more. If there was a deal to be made in music, movies, television or licensing, the visionary in Kevin saw it first, jumped on it and made it happen.

Kevin’s deal-making success caught the attention of  legendary television guru, Michael King, CEO of King World. King World is a television syndication company, and as such it was the leading worldwide distributor of first-run programming, including the two highest-rated, first-run strips in syndication – Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, and The Oprah Winfrey Show, Inside Edition, Dr. Phil, Everybody Loves Raymond, Hollywood Squares, The Little Rascals and others. Michael King actively recruited Kevin and immediately named him one of the presidents of King World.  Kevin set up and oversaw the entire merchandising and licensing division of all King World Productions worldwide, reporting directly to the CEO. In traditional ways, he built the King World brands by expanding licensing opportunities, but he also created new opportunities in licensing such as Internet, gaming, and lotteries. In less than two years, Kevin Allyn facilitated the growth of King World’s licensing division to make it one of the world leaders in the licensing industry.

The most influential people in the entertainment business marvel at what they call Kevin’s  “multibillion dollar rolodex.”

Kevin is no stranger to film or financing strategies either. He executive produced the movie AU PAIR, the highest rated movie in the history of The Family Channel.  In 2005, Kevin helped co-found A2P, a boxing enterprise which launched with a day one valuation of $120 million. In that deal, he helped broker the rights package with the United States Olympic Committee and the national governing body of amateur boxing in the United States, USA Boxing (USAB) and AIBA. In that position he negotiated strategic partnerships with NIKE, AEG, and countless other companies.

Jeff Benz, former general counsel and managing director of legal and government affairs for the United States Olympic Committee, has been involved with Kevin on several enormous deals over the years. “There is hardly anyone he does not know or cannot get access to in Los Angeles.  He just knows everyone!” he said.  His connections run deep, from the CEO’s of television networks to legendary film and television directors to A-list celebrities. That’s just in LA. In San Francisco he’s close friends with Mayor Gavin Newsome and considers the founders of facebook among his friends. In Las Vegas, he can call his long-time friend, billionaire hotel mogul Steve Wynn on his cell phone, and get invited over to catch up. These people not only know Kevin, but they consider him a trusted friend. When he has a solid, lucrative deal on the table, if the deal seems strategic for one of his connections, he may present it to them. “I have seen Kevin come into a situation with raging good technology and desperate financials, and with just a few phone calls or meetings deliver money and resources that put that business on the right track,” said Jeff Benz.  This is child’s play for Kevin Allyn.

“I learned as a 12 year old boy that if you love what you do you will never work a day in your life. I am living that dream with every deal I make,” said Kevin Allyn.

Kevin Allyn and Kristin Chenoweth after Emmy win

Kevin has been a strategic advisor to countless companies and has been instrumental in helping a major movie studio create a Chinese enterprise.  He helped a San Francisco-based mobile tech company spread it’s roots through Asia. Kevin Allyn’s deal-making never ends.

Neither does his creativity. In 2009, Kevin founded a game show company called Back Lot Productions with legendary game creator and inventor Joe Kaminkow. Together they sold 8 games shows within the first year to partners Mark Burnett, Merv Griffin, Vin Di Bona and others. He also recently helped co-found Spooky Cool Labs, a cutting-edge social gaming company that develops social and mobile experiences to help brands connect with their audiences in an entertaining way.  “He is a consummate dealmaker, putting together people who otherwise would not find each other if he had not connected the dots,” said Benz.

Kevin explained, “Even my closest friends have asked me, ‘Kevin, what do you do anyway?’ It looks like I’m having so much fun. I’m a deal-maker, that’s all I can say.”

Kevin Allyn and Bill Clinton

But no matter what deals he facilitates, he has stayed true to his roots and continued his endeavors in celebrity and brand management; i.e. he recently signed Chynna Phillips of Wilson Phillips fame, and Chynna will be starring in a major TV series this fall.

Life is not all about deal-making for Kevin. He resides in Los Angeles with his beautiful wife Robyn and their two children, Mckenzie, a dancer extraordinaire, and Spencer, a young musical prodigy and SAG actor, among other things. Kevin also found time to enjoy sports, competing on snow skis in the world free style circuit, was LA County’s Table Tennis Champion, and excelled as a competitive tournament scratch golfer.

If you pop in to see Kevin unexpectedly, you might find him doing homework with his children, woodworking in his organized workshop full of powertools, repairing his son’s bike or fixing something around the house for Robyn. If he’s not home, and he’s not out doing business, he may be at one of his children’s school functions or volunteering for a cause. After all, making a difference in the community is important to Kevin too. Along with Pete Carroll, Kevin is the founding board member of “A Better LA,” a non-profit aimed at reducing gang violence, taking the kids off the streets and helping them learn to live productive lives. Kevin beams when talking about the significant positive results this foundation has achieved.

“I love helping people, both individually and as a company, bringing added value.  I have loved my life,” said Kevin.

With a lifetime of successful deal-making and helping others, it’s no wonder that when VIP’s need a rainmaker in Hollywood, they don’t need validation from Google results. Kevin Allyn is the first person they call. 

To see the world of Kevin Allyn, CLICK THE PHOTO of Kevin Allyn and Bill Gates

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Lola Blanc dropped a buzz track for her fans, and she reaches some pretty high notes. The raven-haired singer and songwriter continued to craft mischievous, unapologetic pop while in Hollywood, infusing her music with a bold, playful edge that defines Lola as an artist.

Eventually, Lola’s fierce artistic vision and colorful songwriting caught the attention of the leading hit-makers of the music industry, setting her firmly on the path to becoming the next big female breakout artist. She recently premiered her debut music video “Bad Tattoo” via Ryan Seacrest and co-wrote “Ooh La La” off the Smurfs 2 soundtrack for Britney Spears.

Born in Germany to a mother who was a creative whirlwind and father who was in the CIA, Lola’s life has been unconventional since the beginning. After leaving Europe, she moved to a farm in Michigan with her family, performing as a ventriloquist (true story!) and auctioneer as she pursued her passion for music by writing songs. After overcoming a whirlwind of obstacles including poverty, Lola moved to LA where she worked her way up, writing with other musicians, modeling, and landing roles in music videos for high profile artists like Interpol and LMFAO.

Meet Matt Woosley, Kandice’s new roommate. To his right is Gus, Rambo’s new roommate. (Rambo can be seen blending in with the bottom of the photo.) Notice the chartreuse color of the walls in their not-so-new but ever-so-artsy Hollywood apartment. Matt and Kandice decided to fix the place up.

Here’s Kandice using powertools like a pro. Amazing!

(I used the “artbrush” Photoshop effect on most of the images.)

Yep. Matt trained her well. She was so determined to get the doors off those brown cupboards to paint them white, it unlocked a whole new DIY Kandice.  Somehow Matt inspired Kandice to release her inner powertools. No one else has had this effect on her.

Here’s Kandice looking on as Matt tries to help her figure out why the drawer is stuck. Professional clowns used to live in this apartment before them. No joke. Matt is searching for evidence of cotton candy, caramel apples, sticky stuff left back there from their last circus or something.

They got the drawer out finally. Rambo is hoping there were treats in that drawer, but no such luck. By the way, home improvements always get done with more creativity when you have dogs as inspectors.

No treats for Rambo were in the front left corner of the drawer either. Dang. Why did they put the drawer down by his water bowl then if there was nothing to eat in it? Rambo was confused and despondent.

Team meeting. The cupboard doors off and ready to paint. Matt & Kandice strategize their next move.

Primer time for Kandice.

Kandice then took charge and put Matt (aka Dr. Matt Woosley) to good use as a shelf stand while she painted the edges. When Dr. W decided to leave his prestigious career as a successful physician behind to embark on a creative dream life in Hollywood, California, he imagined he would engage in activities that revolved around his goal to become a filmmaker. Shelf-holding wasn’t one of the things he envisioned himself doing. However…

…he rather liked it. In fact, he liked it so much that he stayed in shelf-holding position long after Kandice’s prerequisites were met. (Or maybe he was too afraid to move until she approved it.) He settled in comfortably under the shelf.

It was hard for Matt to put the shelf down. He grew fond of that shelf. He didn’t want Kandice throwing it around like it was just another piece of wood. Other than his toy Fox Terrier named Gus, this shelf was the closest thing to having children that Matt has ever experienced. It was like a loveshelf now.

Notice how he beams with pride in his fatherly gaze.

After Kandice promised to treat his loveshelf gently, Matt went into his room and painted it brown. I mean chocolate. Chocolate is the word he used to describe “the look he was going for” in his tiny little cubby of a bedroom. Poor Matt. He got stuck with the miniroom, but he seemed positively content with it.

Kandice got the bigger room, and made it peaches and cream sort of. She taped and painted the entire room herself. She finished long before Matt.

Matt scrambled to catch up with the mad painter. He figured she was cheating to beat him, but he couldn’t paint fast. He’s also an artist, as in oil painting. Yup. Fine artists can’t just slop paint on the walls like singing songwriting actresses can. Excuses, excuses.

The formerly clownishly decorated room that was chartreuse has now been transformed by the mad Greek paintress with a few buckets of aqua. Kandice and Matt mutually decided on the color rationalizing how healthy it would be for their psyche’s if they immersed themselves in the color of a Beverly Hills swimming pool. Peace, tranquility, success.

De-taping a room while using a black trash bag for an apron has never looked more svelte.

Jubilee! The painting and de-taping got finished!!

The kitchen cupboards have been whitewashed too! ( Ignore the chartreuse sink and the fact that Matt reattached the bottom cupboards upside down.)  Matt pointed out the many advantages of have cupboard doors on upside down. Kandice was sold. Upside down they should stay! For now, for the endearing memories.

This is the glorious new life of Matt Woosley. I wonder what his friends from the pediatric hospital would think?

Here’s the place after the clean up, with some furniture. It’s not decorated yet, there are no curtains. No doubt it will be improved before they have their housewarming party next Friday.

So that’s your first sneak peek into the lives of two uniquely-talented individuals whose lives crossed paths on Craigslist a couple weeks ago.  The dogs are already becoming friends, their masters are building a creative living space, Matt’s networking with filmmakers and learning Hollywood lingo, Kandice is making music, auditioning and landing roles…

and Rambo and Gus have stopped rough-housing long enough to share Kandice’s pillow while it’s being warmed by a sunbeam. This is a first.

The four of them seem to be enjoying what it feels like when the stars start to align.

Stay tuned.

Tawnya Bhattacharya and Ali Laventhol, who we have written about before in the “Smart Women” column, have another achievement to add to their screenwriting resumes. These women have currently secured the coveted position as staff writers for the USA TV series Fairly Legal. The show has been renewed for a second season of 13 episodes, which will go into production later this year and begin airing in 2012.

Is this a big deal? Yes. According to a study done by the Center for the Study of Women in Television at San Diego State University,  the odds are against women succeeding at their craft in Hollywood. Their study examined 1,941 individuals working behind the scenes on one randomly selected episode of every prime-time drama, situation comedy, and reality program airing on ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, and NBC in 2009 – 2010.

Results showed that 71% of all writers of television episodes were men. Regardless of the program genre, the representation of behind-the- scenes women is similar. Dramas and situation comedies employed 27% women and 73% men. Reality programs employed 28% women and 72% men. Unfortunately, the odds for women to be employed behind-the-scenes in film are even less. A study that analyzed behind-the-scenes employment of 2,649 individuals working on the top 250 domestic grossing films found that only 7% of directors in 2010 were women, and the amalgamation of directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors amounted to only 16%, even when combined.

It gets even worse. A whopping 97% of films had no female sound designers, 96% had no female supervising sound editors, and women comprised only 1% of key grips or gaffers. From The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women in the Top 250 Films of 2010*

Tawnya Bhattacharya and Ali Laventhol had to exhibit expert screenwriting skills as well as unyielding determination in order to overcome the odds against them as females in Hollywood. Congratulations to Tawnya and Ali, once again.

*Report compiled by Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, Executive Director, Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, School of Theatre, Television and Film, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182, 619.594.6301

Music managers (and long-time friends) Paul Fishkin and Scott Ross came to Las Vegas because their artist, Laura Warshauer, and her band were invited to perform at the Palms in Las Vegas. Tolga and I met them after the soundcheck, then had dinner together where we discussed strategies to use new technology to promote and monetize emerging new artists in innovative ways.

On the left is music executive and manager Scott Ross with lovely Laura W.

(I snapped these with my cell phone, sorry about the quality. )

This is Paul Fishkin next to me. He co-manages Laura.  It may look as if Paul and I are arm wrestling

and he’s beating me, but if  you notice my positioning, I could easily pull a half-Nelson

and take Paul down if I wanted.  But since Paul is a music legend with the midas touch and

since Laura and Scott intervene and beg me to spare Paul, I let him go for the sake of the project.

Laura thanked me right after soundcheck.

Here I am hugging (not restraining) Tolga Katas. But I am holding him down gently so he can’t

escape to get his camera.  He’s always behind the camera. For once, Tolga and I are in the same picture.

Seriously though, here’s Paul using his Blackberry to show Tolga the AAA radio stations that have added Laura’s new single, “Wishing Well.”

It turns out that “Wishing Well” was one of the most added songs on AAA radio this week.

The show was called the Gibson Acoustic Asylum and it was packed. Laura performed passionately and fascinated

the audience with her unique voice, her varied melodies, her intelligent lyrics and her beautiful range.

Laura’s sound is laced with familiar and powerful vocal flavors ranging from Stevie Nicks and Kate Bush

to Imogen Heap, but it is her distinctive sound and style that sets her apart.

On her upcoming album, four of Laura’s newest tracks were produced by the legendary Thom Panunzio

who has worked with major names such as Bruce Springsteen, Nelly Furtado and U2.

Laura and her band received a highly prestigious Gibson and Epiphone Guitar endorsement deal,

and an endorsement deal from Blue Microphone. They used Gibson guitars at the show, of course.

As further acknowledgement of her talent and creativity, Laura was chosen by BMI, Songmasters

and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame as the 2010 recipient for the first ever Buddy Holly Award.

The audience response to Laura and the band was fantastic. To learn more about Laura, go to  http://laurawmusic.com/

After Laura’s performance, we all stayed and watched others perform.

One of them was Frankie Moreno who is now making his debut as America’s next modern-day crooner.

He’s crazy, this guy. Frankie Moreno oozes charisma, has the sex appeal of Harry Connick Jr. meets bad boy Robert Downey Jr.

When you combine his contagious music with his playful stage antics, you get an audience full of smitten fans.

Frankie Moreno, of course, is supported by his band…

which includes his brother Tony. Tony is a friend of pop artist Kandice Melonakos from years ago.

Frankie’s band included some guys from Air Supply, Lizzie the cellist, a vicious guitarist that looks like Bruce Willis,

and a saxophone player to die for. For more about Frankie Moreno who is now signed to a major label

check out his web site HERE.

Afterward the performance, Paul made sure Laura got on the radio show that followed.

Famed Vegas comedian Gordie Brown was in the audience cheering on the artists.

From the Defcon Hacking Conference Facebook Page:

“DJ and electronic music (for lack better terms) are staples for many in the hacker community, and for those who like it but don’t know why, this video breaks it down for ya… it’s about dubstep, but explains other genres as well.”

Youtuber KDynamic, who uploaded this video in December 2011, described it as, “Bassnectar laying out the dubstep musical family tree in an interview with MoBoogie.”

Hope this helps.

The Defcon Hacker Conference Page of facebook is HERE. Give it a like if you like.

I had heard about him ever since the breaking out of Avril Lavigne. He was part of “The Matrix” music production team that gave Avril and other pop stars their hits, their sound, their direction, and in some cases, their stardom. And he’s still hot. For example, the music video to Rihanna’s song “Cheers” (that he co-wrote) already has over 61 million views. See for yourself.

Scott was introduced to Tolga and I by the never-ending Nicholas O’Toole, from Open Labs fame, who continues to amaze us with his world-class strategies.

Anyway, here’s part of Scott’s bio.

Scott Spock, from St. Louis, MO began his career as a jazz trumpet player, later becoming a skilled songwriter and programmer. Spock is a member of The Matrix, a music production team including Lauren Christy and Graham Edwards. They gained fame in the early 2000s after producing a series of hits for Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, OffByOne, Busted, Son of Dork and Hilary Duff.

“It was hard to constantly describe the three of us,” Matrix member Lauren Christy told one interviewer about the outfit’s early days. “So we came up with the name ‘The Matrix.’ The matrix is a name for the womb, or the rock, which everything comes from.” –From Open Labs Web Site

Scott Spock used to look like this

“We all do everything: creating melodies, lyrics, and tracks. We have three, different ProTools rigs. When we write, we like to sit down with a guitar and piano, rather than starting with a track. Graham plays guitar and bass, Lauren plays piano, and I play piano and trumpet. Also we all sing, often on both our demos and the masters,” Scott said.

The Matrix say that while they have only written or only produced for artists, they prefer to be more of a one-stop shop.  Here’s a shortlist of their discography. Keep in mind they’ve written/produced over 1,200 songs, so it’s literally only the highlights. View The Matrix Discography here.

So what’s he like?

“He’s got crazy mad juice!” as Tolga would say in Tolga Language. (Translation: “He’s a world legend and I’m ecstatic that I met him!”) After spending a little time with Scott, Tolga and I learned that he’s forward-thinking, tech-savvy and driven. He has a fascinating private life outside of The Matrix.

Now he looks like this

When we talked he was thoughtful and well-mannered, and boy was he on top of his game.

He’s the opposite of an attention-seeker. He would stay quiet, listening intently, never anxious to butt in and stop someone else’s idea roll.  But when he spoke, we listened. And what he said was important. He had something intelligent and insightful to add to every concept or conversation. It was like he had this deep well of wisdom – almost Yoda levels – that gave him a perspective on things no one else had.

Life hasn’t been a bed of roses for Scott Spock.  Even so, his success with The Matrix has made history. He’s learned a lot.

Therefore, he has a lot to contribute  and his explosively creative energy is both infectious and exciting. To listen to Scott Spock and Tolga Katas brainstorming in the same room was like, well, looking through the Hub telescope and witnessing the birth of Polaris.

And just to be clear, Scott Spock is a Yoda Master at much more than making hit records and pop stars.  He’s known for being cutting-edge, breaking new ground, not just in sounds, but in other ways too.  It should be no surprise that he’s expanding his universe to embark on an adventurous new trek.

Regarding his next big move, he’s in ‘mysterious mode’ at the moment, sort of like dark matter.  Here’s a clue though: He’s hanging out with Tolga Katas for a reason.

But it’s stealth.

And it’s stellar.

 Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Marina and the Diamonds is gracing fans once again with a visual from her album ‘Electra Heart,’ this time with the lavish video for her operatic, dreamy track “The State Of Dreaming.” In the ravishing Old Hollywood glamorous clip, Marina poses pretty in a crimson Hasan Hejazi as she waxes on about the dramatization of her stage-worthy life. Take a look:

Check out Marina and the Diamonds here on Facebook.

In an emergency appeal, the cable network blasts a judge for an “unprecedented” injunction that it says will cost millions of dollars, harm its brand and represent a disaster to free speech.

Christine Marie and en2go staff at Cannes

Tobias, our amazing director of photography

Simon, CEO of Emap, and the wonderful beloved Nigel.

Mike Goodrich, the editor of Screen Daily, U.S., also one of the brightest men on the planet.

Nick Risher, hacking his first time…caught on camera!

Kathleen McGuinnis (middle obviously) is THE reason we had such success at Cannes!  She is a film festival strategist and an extraordinary PR/marketing person.

The legendary Martin Marquet from the UK Film Council.  BTW,  his eyes are a mesmerizing baby blue.

This is Andrew, the photographer of Screen International. I had so much fun photographing the photographer. He taught me how to blur the background better, so I am proud of this pic below.  I now think I could enjoy moonlighting as a paparazzi whose target is to photograph the paparazzi.

The view from the window where we were exhibiting.  I wonder how much money it takes to dock at Cannes.  More than I will ever have, no doubt.

This lovely beauty below is a famous, award-winning actress in India. I forgot her name but she was so sweet. Also Tanuj from Viacom 18 is on her right.  I’m not sure who the guy on the left is but he was very genteel, refined, protective of her.

A beautiful carousel not far from the Palais. For some reason, I would love to ride this for hours with John Draper.

Christine Marie and Ted Cohen in the booth at Cannes.  Note the model in the action poster: Kandice Melonakos, the face of en2go.

Laurent, sitting under a pirate ship Flyxo HD poster below, was extraordinary. He was professional, kind, patient, motivated, helpful, and soooo smart. All posters created by Darren Ewing!!!

This is me, Christine Marie, wearing silly multicolored glasses, working on my Mac in the en2go booth at the Cannes Film Festival. Wow.  I have a Mac.  I can’t take this for granted.

What an incredible experience it was to meet these people at the VIP Roundtable discussion on the Future of Movie Distribution .  I felt like SO out of my league.

I am the brunette on the right – at the Roundtable where experts were discussing the future of movie distribution.

Nick Risher and Christine Marie

Can you find Nick Risher, Sara Risher, Christine Marie

Tolga Katas and Paul Fishkin look like they could use a rest.  They’re either overworked or uncomfortable. Wait. Why does Paul seem like a Fishkin out of water in this photo? Gasp! Is he wearing a suit and tie? That never happens! No wonder he looks tired and out of sync – that’s hard work for someone not used to it. Paul is well-known, not just for launching legendary rock stars, but for having a deep aversion to wearing standard corporate attire.  Business suits have never been his thing. Always the rebel, that Paul.

Formerly known as the showcase artist for en2go, Kandice Melonakos takes her career into her own hands.

Her blog: http://www.kandice.tumblr.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kandicemusic

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/kandicemusic

Tolga Katas, Ted Cohen, Steve Wozniak, Paul Fishkin

The platinum record on the wall behind them is for the Stevie Nicks album Bella Donna which sold 7+ million copies.  She customized this herself.  On it she put the words:

To Paul Fishkin

“Who dreamed with me from the beginning.”  And then in her handwriting it says “With love Stevie Nicks.”  Wow, that’s mind-blowing. Ten minutes ago I saw Paul using a broom and a dustpan to sweep the floors of en2go.  Paul, in case you didn’t know, co-founded and ran Modern Records with Danny Goldberg. Modern was the label for Stevie’s solo career.  Now Paul is married to Janis Fishkin – a brilliant and beautiful painter, collage-ist and creative thinker.

Interestingly, all four men in the picture have music in their past in a historic way.  Ted Cohen was a record executive with Warner Brothers and EMI, and from there morphed into a world authority on new media and digital entertainment. Tolga, of course, was a pioneer in digital music and you can read more about him on the link above. Steve Wozniak put on the legendary US Festival, starred in “Dancing With the Stars,” and rumor has that recently his wife bought him a guitar.  I wonder how his chops are?  Just thinking – wouldn’t these guys make a great band?  I wonder if Stevie would front it?

On the left is the legendary film producer and founder of Chickflicks, Sara Risher – sporting a yellow bag full of literature/film trailers/DVD’s  ??  at Cannes Film Festival last spring. (A free Starbucks to anyone who can tell me what was actually in that bag!)  In the middle of Sara’s deal-making days on the French Riviera, she was photographed talking to a colleague. Having been lucky enough to hang out with Sara a couple of times, I’m a bit fascinated by her unique style of being smart, strong, entrepreneurial and feminine.  Sara is warm, kind and caring, and boy does she know her industry.  I can’t picture her needing to “man out” by raising her voice or pounding the table in a business meeting, and I also can’t picture anyone in the industry not listening when Sara Risher speaks.

I found this online from the Time Warner Newsroom in 1999 and thought it deserved a fresh repost:

Celebrating her 25th anniversary at New Line Cinema, Sara Risher has christened a new in-house production company called ChickFlicks, it was announced today by Michael De Luca, President and Chief Operating Officer of New Line Productions.

The company will “concentrate on stories that are close to my heart — character-driven pieces that often appeal to the female market, which continues to prove itself large and lucrative,” Risher said. “Being part of New Line practically from its inception and watching it grow into such a major force in the industry has been an exhilarating ride.”

For the past five years, Risher has served as Chairman of New Line Productions. She was an integral part of building New Line with films such as the Nightmare on Elm Street series and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

“Sara continues to be an inspiration to all of us at the company and I’m delighted to support her new endeavor,” De Luca said. “Besides, if she didn’t hire me 13 years ago, I’d probably be delivering pizza somewhere.” SOURCE

Can you find anyone you know? Hint: I did the brunette thing for a while.