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TAG, Gersh Strike Alliance
While TAG has traditionally focused on personal appearances and live music, Gersh has an extensive roster of comedy and literary clients and capabilities. It’s expected that the alliance will open doors for many of TAG’s clients to branch out into theatrical, television, film and literary endeavors on a selective basis, according to CEO Neil Warnock and Gersh senior partner Rick Greenstein.
“The most important aspect of the collaboration, as far as The Agency Group is concerned, is what we want to do here is not have a blanket, as it were, saying we can now offer film, television and theatrical opportunities to all of our clients,” Warnock told Pollstar. “We may now do so in a selective way that is right for our clients to consider the rest of their entrepreneurial careers.
“I think that different artists have got different aspirations, whereas an artist that can be in a young pop band can feel that they have aspirations to write or be the host of a TV show, to expand their own artistic areas,” Warnock continued. “What we want to be able to do is encourage that and bring them to experts who can make that happen. That’s the reason we’ve come to this agreement with Gersh.”
To that end, an example is Gersh’s recent signing of TAG client Ray Davies to collaborate on developing a Broadway show based on the legendary Kinks frontman’s extensive catalog. Another collaboration in the works is an adaptation of The Kinks’ classic Schoolboys in Disgrace for film, directed by Gersh client Bobcat Goldthwait.
In addition, TAG will secure additional international tour bookings for Gersh’s comedy clients given the company’s vast reach including the U.K. and in Canada.
“The Agency Group is similar to Gersh in that we’re both independently owned, at about the same position in the marketplace in terms of size, and we’ve been around for a long time doing what we do,” Greenstein told Pollstar. “Neil Warnock’s philosophy of how he runs his company and how he approaches his work with this talent is very parallel with what we do at Gersh. The real beauty is there’s not any real overlap.
“The real thrust of the arrangement is us trying to work in tandem with them to either sign new talent that can be serviced across the board theatrically and in live appearances and/or with their current list of clients which is a huge list,” Greenstein said. “With certain select artists, we can work to try to create theatrical opportunities for them.”