Features
Berkeley Reinhold, President, Business and Law Office of Berkeley Reinhold
– Berkeley Reinhold
– Berkeley Reinhold
The Negotiators
Executives whose expertise, influence, track record and success command respect and make things happen.
Berkeley Reinhold
President, Business and Law Office of Berkeley Reinhold
“Better not look down / If you want to keep on flying / Put the hammer down / Keep it full speed ahead / Better not look back / Or you might just wind up crying / You can keep it moving / If you don’t look down.”
The lyrics of B.B. King capture Berkeley Reinhold’s biggest lesson of 2020: that literally anything can happen.
Reinhold’s work this year has helped her client Global Citizen to truly shine with “One World: Together At Home,” for which she negotiated 72 artist deals in one week. The event drew 21 million viewers and raised $127 million for those on the frontlines fighting the coronavirus, and the follow-up, “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future,” included a virtual summit with world leaders and a concert special featuring Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Other clients, like Lollapalooza, have had to shift their focus to 2021 as events were postponed and eventually canceled. Reinhold said her mission has always been to create and identify new opportunities and she measures her success not by the financial results of deals, but happiness of her clients.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a free performance for a charity show, a large asset purchase deal, or a $160 million tour deal,” Reinhold tells Pollstar. “It’s the ‘thank you’ call I get from the client when the deal closes, with that elated tone in their voice, which is the most satisfying part and keeps me motivated.”
Diversity and inclusion are a part of her work as the “One Goal” campaign focused on the disproportionate impact of COVID on marginalized communities and the procurement of tests, treatments and, ultimately, a vaccine. She is hoping the entertainment industry will offer more internships and opportunities to young people from different locations and demographics.
She names Peter Grosslight, who ran the music department at William Morris Agency during her early years in the industry, as a major influence, as he taught her how to structure deals with determination and grace, but also how to “select the best putter.”
“Working with Peter, and then Marc Geiger, Charles Attal, Charlie Walker and Charlie Jones is like getting a graduate degree from Harvard, you can’t do much better,” she says.