LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Wasserman, a global leader in sports, music and culture, has finalized a transaction to acquire legendary entertainment management and production company Brillstein Entertainment Partners (Brillstein). The announcement was made by Wasserman Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Casey Wasserman and Brillstein Co-CEOs Cynthia Pett and Jon Liebman.
Brillstein adds strong entertainment management and content verticals to Wasserman’s businesses, which market and serve the world’s most notable sports and entertainment figures, music artists, brands and properties. This collection of assets allows for an innovative exchange of services and ideas across its marketing, representation, and now, with Brillstein, content creation and talent management arms.
Brillstein’s leadership, including Pett, Liebman, Marc Gurvitz, Sandy Wernick, and all the Brillstein partners (George Freeman, Missy Malkin, David McIlvain, Alex Murray, Andrea Pett and Tim Sarkes) will continue to lead Brillstein as well as join Wasserman’s executive leadership team. Brillstein’s 30+ managers across all departments in its Los Angeles and New York offices will continue with Brillstein as the company joins Wasserman.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Cynthia, Jon, Sandy, Marc and the entire Brillstein family and roster to our fold. They join our company as we continue to expand the breadth and depth of our capabilities to serve clients globally in unique and innovative ways,” said C. Wasserman. “While we welcome this storied management and production company to Wasserman, I am also appreciative of our heritage and shared values. Personally, I hope this would make Bernie proud.”
“All of us at Brillstein are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with Wasserman and to tap into their extensive resources on behalf of our management clients. We share the same vision, which is to serve all of our clients—in talent, lit, comedy, digital and gaming— in an increasingly complex ecosystem. We can’t wait to get started,” said Liebman and Pett.
Brillstein is one of the original management-production companies, an industry pioneer that for over 45 years has represented some of the industry’s most successful actors, writers, directors, comedians, authors and producers, and has produced various television shows, movies, documentaries and podcasts. In recent years, Brillstein has emerged as a leader in representing digital creators, podcasters, gamers and personalities.
Brillstein’s unmatched client roster includes Courteney Cox, Russell Crowe, Kaley Cuoco, Scott Derrickson, Harris Dickinson, Jim Gaffigan, Zach Galifianakis, Tiffany Haddish, Eve Hewson, Charlie Hunnam, Nick Lachey, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Bill Maher, Rami Malek, Seth Meyers, Morbid, Catherine O’Hara, Jamie Lee, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Pelphrey, Dan Perrault, Brad Pitt, James Ponsoldt, Florence Pugh, John Ridley, Joachim Rønning, Amber Ruffin, Adam Sandler, Martin Short, AustinShow, Radio Silence, David Spade, Cecily Strong, Jason Sudeikis and many more.
Brillstein’s roster is managed by a world-class team including Pett, Liebman, Wernick, Gurvitz, Geoff Cheddy, Daniel Cohan, Natalie Covault, Eliza DeVone, Andy Farag, George Freeman, Jackie Gardner, Colton Gramm, George Heller, Seth Jacobs, Billy Jones, Ken Lee, Missy Malkin, Kailey Marsh, David Mcllvain, Alex Murray, Brad Petrigala, Andrea Pett, Tim Sarkes, Matt Sadeghian, Todd Sellers, Brandon Stein, Danny Sussman, Julien Tacchini, Cait Taylor, Brittny Turner and Amy Weiss.
Brillstein has a decades-long track record of successfully packaging and producing series and films for major networks and streamers, including hits like The Sopranos and Real Time with Bill Maher.
Brillstein also recently launched Brillstein Creative Partners (BCP), led by Allie Goss, as a standalone TV development and production subsidiary, enhancing its scripted television business, including titles set up at Netflix, Disney, and Amazon. BCP recently entered into a First Look deal with Paramount Television Studios and is developing shows for distribution across all entertainment platforms.
In a marketplace where the opportunities for clients are more diverse than ever, Wasserman continues to evolve and grow with leadership, talent and capabilities that are second to none. In addition to significant organic growth, Wasserman has strategically expanded its worldwide presence through targeted acquisitions that span the entirety of the business, with Brillstein marking the tenth in the past two years alone.