John Juliano Forms Mellowship Entertainment; Talent Buying For Fairs, Casinos, Festivals

– Mellowship
John Juliano and Anne-Alise Pietruska with Casting Crowns in September

After more than 30 years buying talent at the “Big E” Eastern States Exposition fair in West Springfield, Mass., John Juliano has opened Mellowship Entertainment consulting and buying for fairs, casinos and festivals with partner Anne-Alise Pietruska.

Mellowship is now working in various capacities with the Erie County Fair, Maryland State Fair and Virginia State Fair among other events and properties, with a focus on entertainment consulting, program management and talent buying for fairs.

– John Juliano
Mellowship Entertainment

“A lot of fairs had reached out to both of us, I guess because of our success with entertainment at the Big E, wanting to know the recipe for booking talent and if we could we help them their fairs,” Juliano, who left the Big E after 33 years in August of 2017, told Pollstar. “We went and visited Virginia, Erie and Maryland and met with their staffs and did a thorough review of the fair, demographics, time that they play during the year and how we can help increase their attendance through entertainment.” 

Mellowship continues to work with the Big E in conjunction with Capitol International Productions, which was awarded the contract to buy talent for the event.  

“JJ and I are partners and I also come from the Big E,” Pietruska, a current member of IEBA and IAFE, told Pollstar. “I worked under him there and started in the marketing department and managed all of their digital media and my final position before I left was brand content and entertainment coordinator.  

“I started to buy the talent for the fair and learn the production and things through him, to now together in this position we’re pretty much carrying on the same role where we split everything up and I handle more of the details and projects where he’s more on the big picture and relationship-developing.” 

– Anne-Alise Pietruska
Mellowship Entertainment

Other Mellowship projects include working with the new MGM Grand Springfield, which Juliano says is a priority.

“We’re definitely looking to branch out to other markets,” he said. “We’re getting into the circus business right now which I’ve been closely related to for 25 years, and we actually booked our first big tent circus at the South Carolina State Fair, so that’s a big part of the business that I know but really never did anything with.”

Juliano has booked everyone from Cheap Trick to Little Big Town as talent buyer and producer at the Big E, and was given a glowing tribute in the local The Republican newspaper as having big shoes to fill for the event. He is a former president of  International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA), and served on the Board of Directors of the Country Music Association (CMA) and Academy of Country Music (ACM). 

“As far as events, we’re stretched pretty thin now from the end of July through the beginning of November,” Pietruska said, “so right now we’re seeing how we can spread that out and add business on the other half of the year.”