Two years after top dealers made the leap, Range Media Partners evaluates progress: expiration breaks

It’s been nearly two years since a group of the best and brightest young agents and partners told their superiors that they would invest a million dollars to follow in the footsteps of former CAA TV chief strategy officer and veteran Peter Mitchell, and become founding members. New management company Range Media Partners.

They played their dramatic pivot at the height of industry instability; The theaters remained closed due to Covid, production was slowly restored as no one wrote the Covid policies and this meant no resolution constraints; And the studio tent poles were loaded into the streamers. The business of representation was also in constant flux, and the WGA had a propensity to cut packages and affiliates that increasingly strengthened the agency’s coffers.

So a consortium of agents from CAA, UTA, WME and other companies that were replicating A-listers like Bradley Cooper, Tom Hardy, Keira Knightley, Emilia Clarke, and Remy Yousef decided to embrace change and not be afraid.

His clients have realized from the sale of their reps that this could be a new era in an ever-changing Hollywood, with an emphasis on practical representation and reliance on branding opportunities beyond screen work. In fact, CEO Luca Guadanino, who followed in the footsteps of founding partner and former WME partner Rich Cook, was so out of his mind that he designed the company’s new headquarters at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica.

“My professional relationship with Ritchie is profound. I see it as a stepping stone and with it I build a strong partner on our path, ”said Guadanino. “So I’d follow him somewhere. The good news is that after Rich told me about Range, I realized how powerful they were and eager to take such a devastating step, so now there are two reasons. As I said about the power to break this idea, I love it when there is a very healthy “homemade smoothie”. In this case, the energy of several people transformed into this company, the thinking “without” thinking, intertwined with the sheer “insider” nature of everyone involved, was so exciting. “

Forming Range two years ago is the dictionary definition of a pioneer, and it was filled with painful goodbyes for mostly sensitive former colleagues.

“Yes, we remember that week well,” said Jack Wigham, who left AAC for a new opportunity.

After Mitchell and Wigham on the day of departure in late summer there were also CAA Mick Sullivan, Dave Bougliari, Michael Cooper, CAA Global Brand Group Sandra Kang, CAA Foundation Rachel Cropa, WME Lighting Agent Cook; UTA TV agents Mackenzie Rousseau, Susie Foxx and Chelsea McKinsey; New York manager Byron Wetzel; Matt Graham, founder and president of the music management company BRND MGMT based in LA Grace; And veteran of the brand and digital strategy Natalie Bruce.

Range Media Partners will go beyond the ranges of film and television representation and will move client brands into areas such as Web3, gaming, NFT, social media and venture capital.

“We got to the point where we were thinking about what was needed and not just creating a competitor for the sake of the competitors,” said Michelle. “Dynamic change was coming and the company is reflecting it.”

“This was really motivating for us, because when you looked around you said, ‘Okay, you see big changes in terms of what Web3 and the Writers’ Guild are going to do and the problems each rep has.’ The flow of backends and purchases, “she adds.” We just thought about what was needed. “

Unlike other management firms that, like agencies, managed a large client list, Range prioritized the best and most exclusive talent.

“We were all pretty skinny in our previous lives,” Wigham said of going from agent to manager. “By doing something more intimate and boutique with fewer customers, we will spend more time on items that aren’t on the menu or are hard to find because they take so long. We need a strategy “.

There is a big difference between agencies with the millions of dollars earned by executives running companies and crack agents taking commissions and relying on superiors to enforce bonuses that rise and fall with the health of the agency. However, Gamma members have a stake in the shares and the often controversial discretionary bonuses are eliminated. Instead, a manager’s success resonates with the client through a commission pool at another company.

In addition to top resellers and strong customers, Range has built solid financial foundations. The new venture was funded by Hedge Fund billionaire and future New York Mets owner Steve Cohen through his first venture, Point72. He remains a minority investor, with additional funding from New York Knicks coach David Fisdale, Microsoft CMO Mich Mathews-Spradlin, and Grubhub co-founder and CEO Matt Malonia.

Less than two years after its launch, Range Media Partners is now worth approximately $ 300 million. It’s close to what 3 Arts, one of Hollywood’s largest and most established production and management companies, sold in 2018 after 27 years in business. Range Media has also seen positive cash flow over the past five months.

In the age of streaming, quarterly subscriber growth and unexplained viewership data are difficult criteria for a talented rep to build any client’s career, at the box office or in front of the television, which are obvious barometers of artist value.

However, rather than fighting the new norm, Range Media’s philosophy is to embrace it.

“One of the things we’ve seen is that you have a lot more opportunities with your customers digitally and online. It has had challenges in the traditional film market, so artists speak more directly to their fans and will have to be more aggressive with revenue streams because there is a downside to a traditional film. So they will be more aggressive on average, more ambitious in many different areas of their life, “explains Wigham.

This prompted Range Media Partners to ask what they could use.

“One is good capitalization, so if you were really putting money on the table and certain opportunities, you might be taking big opportunities or you might be getting things,” Wigham said.

Part of Range’s authority in driving client projects comes from a model built to create multiple joint ventures with different studios and platforms for different projects.

One such investment is in A + E Networks, which recently acquired a $ 50 million stake in the company’s older teens. The deal sees A + E Studios partner in co-producing television projects with a Range-based script. Range had previously formed a joint venture with A + E Studios to create the series. white house doctor In development at Fox with producer Alice Milano.

Additionally, Range has partnered with FilmNation to produce and co-sponsor four to six films across a variety of genres and budgets each year, giving the latter access to the company’s high-quality material and talent.

In addition to film and television, Range also guides customers in a variety of areas, including but not limited to brand incubation and corporate investment.

“Artists have spent their careers building other people’s possessions instead of their own possessions,” said Bruce, a managing partner who has worked extensively with Gabrielle Union. He advised Bruce The best of Los Angeles The actress is investing in Angel City FC squad for the National Women’s Soccer League squad, as well as investing in baby food brand Yumi. Range has also collaborated on digital marketing strategies for its flawless hair care line.

Another distinctive area of ​​the range is the use of its data analytics to negotiate with clients and inform them of their decisions.

“We think bringing truly sophisticated perspectives and capabilities to data analytics enables highly capable skills and strategies, because Hollywood has traditionally been a bit of a mental instinct,” said Wigham.

So Range has developed a more comprehensive understanding of their fan-customer base, starting with what they’re proposing before buying a credit card.

“Not only can we use it in a B2B sense to help our customers get the roles they want or identify customers who might be best associated with IP, but also help them understand their supporters so that frankly, they only refer to companies. and fund coverage. “They did it because our customers are brands too,” said Bruce.

Range’s dataset played an important role in negotiating with clients to prove its financial worth in the media conglomerate’s library. Kai Gaioso of Range Digital Management, a former Facebook vet who oversees the company’s influence department, worked directly with M. Night Shyamalan on a marketing reorganization. Employee And last summer’s universal thriller Ancient.

Another a la carte question for Range is in the field of music. Shyamalan’s projects are supported by music and soundtrack needs through Range’s in-house label.

Other examples of how Range is expanding its clients beyond the standard film and television lines include the deal with Vince Vaughn at Caesars; Essentially a joint venture between Range and GPN, Game Play Network; yellow stone The career of actor Luke Grimes’s new country singer; And Atlantic Records rapper Jack Harlow makes his 20th Century Studios debut Whites can’t jump. degree also signed table guide Executive producers Meredith Lavender and Marcie Ulin and work on a visual branding that fits their stories.

“We want Range to be a place where partners, artists and clients can come and say, ‘You know what?’ I’ve always wanted to do that. ‘ We have a background in venture capital, we have a background in business development, we have data analytics, we spend a lot of time on Web3 and we understand what its potential is and how it affects artists who share their stories with the world. “Michele says.” The more we can sit down with customers and make other dreams come true, the more our company’s promises will be kept.