2025 Impact NextGen Honoree: Brandon Kaplan

BRANDON KAPLAN
Senior Talent Buyer
C3 Presents

PUT IT ON THE RESUME
First gig was DJing weddings and bar mitzvahs at the age of 15.

There’s a perception that there’s constant friction between agents — who want their clients to get paid more — and promoters — who want to pay less and minimize the risk/reward ratio. But C3 Presents senior talent buyer Brandon Kaplan has been on both sides and has a different take, borne from his first job, as an assistant to WME agent Gayle Holcomb.

“What really shifted my perspective was seeing the relationships Gayle had built with promoters. In my young naivety, I had pictured agents and promoters on opposite sides of the booking equation, adversaries in an everyday battle. I was quickly dissuaded of that notion when I saw that Gayle’s relationships were created and strengthened from a place of mutual respect,” he says. “The approach with these talent buyers was usually ‘how can I help you?’ and that same question was often reciprocated. It taught me that there is a healthy collaborative approach to this job.”

During his time at WME, he had a chance to shadow the C3 team during Lollapalooza.

“It was there that I got to experience the immense scale and impact that a promoter can have, far beyond what I could possibly experience as a fan,” he says.

Working at C3 gives Kaplan the chance to take a swing on an artist ready to step up.

“As a booker, it’s so rewarding when you book a show just as an artist is exploding to the next level of their career,” he says. “The show can become a special underplay and a uniquely intimate experience for the fans and the artist. I’ve landed shows like this by working with trusted agents and forward-thinking venues, and by taking risks on the acts I believe in. To name just a few shows that fit the bill this year: Morgan Jay, Jeff Arcuri, Jake Shane and Ty Myers.”

In addition to Holcomb, Kaplan points to C3 Presents casinos chief Andrew Blank as a mentor, who taught him “not to lose sight of the big picture even when bogged down in the day-to-day of the job.”

Though Kaplan falls in the cohort who saw their professional ascents interrupted by COVID, he sees it as a potential advantage.

“Many of us were hitting our stride both personally and professionally when the pandemic happened. As terrible as it all was, I found that a lot of my generation came out of it with a renewed look on life,” he says. “I saw a different mindset around work-life balance, a stronger willingness to help others, and a greater appreciation of what we accomplished before and after the pandemic.”