John Fogelman

John Fogelman
Born 1965
Los Angeles, CA
Residence Los Angeles, CA
Nationality American
Alma mater University of Southern California, University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation Entrepreneur
Employer CEO, FactoryMade Ventures
Website factorymade.com

John Michael Fogelman (born c. 1965) is an American entrepreneur. He is the CEO of FactoryMade Ventures, an entertainment and media incubator. Formerly Executive Vice President and Head of the Motion Picture Department and the Intellectual Property Group at the William Morris Agency (WMA), Fogelman was a principal architect of the merger between William Morris and Endeavor Talent Agency, and served as a founding board member and an agent after the companies merged in 2009. He left William Morris Endeavor in 2011 to found FactoryMade.[1][2][3][4]

Early life and education

Fogelman was born and grew up in Los Angeles. In high school, he worked for his uncle, Louis Fogelman, a co-founder of the retail music chain Wherehouse Entertainment and the founder of Music Plus.[5] Fogelman attended Tulane University and the University of Southern California and graduated with a BS in Accounting. He subsequently earned a CPA in California.[6] He graduated from the UCLA Anderson School of Management with an MBA in 1992.[7] While at UCLA, he and his colleagues created the Disc Lift, a CD-ROM device. After the patent was awarded, Fogelman built IAF Enterprises, a company which provided the infrastructure to market and support the device.[8]

Career

William Morris Endeavor

Fogelman—who also worked as an auditor at KPMG Peat Marwick—began his agency career at Triad Artists Agency shortly before the company was bought by William Morris. In 1994, after training in WMA's storied mailroom program,[9] he was promoted to a position as a talent agent. Fogelman was named Head of the Motion Picture Talent Department in 2000,[10] and in 2003 was appointed to the WMA Board of Directors. In 2004 he became the Executive Vice President and Head of the Motion Picture Department.[11] Fogelman played a significant role in the 2009 merger of WMA and Endeavor, and was a founding board member for the newly-formed company, William Morris Endeavor, where he continued to oversee the Strategic Planning and Development Group.[1][2]

As an agent, Fogelman represented J.J. Abrams, Michael Bay, Courteney Cox Arquette, Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Spacey, Salma Hayek and Eric Bana as well as corporate clients including Hasbro and HSN.[12][13] As one of the first film executives to capitalize on the market for toy-driven feature films, Fogelman helped establish the concept of "toyetic" in movie making. Described as a film which can lend itself to a toy and sell tickets and merchandise, Fogelman was noted for his toyetic work with Hasbro by the Wall Street Journal, who referred to him as “Mr. Potato Head’s agent.” Fogelman’s projects for Hasbro included the packaging and development of the GI Joe and Battleship movies, as well as the Transformers films, which generated more than $380 million in revenue for Hasbro's Transformer products in the year following its release. Fogelman's group also created and brokered several Hasbro films for Universal Pictures.[14] Additionally, with Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner, he advised and negotiated the formation of a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery Communications, and engineered the rebranding of Discovery Kids as The Hub as well as the launch of its website, which featured content built around some of Hasbro's brands.[15] He also helped to build the framework for J.J. Adams' Bad Robot Productions, Michael Bay's Bay Films and Platinum Dunes.[11]

FactoryMade Ventures

In March 2011 Fogelman resigned from WME and launched FactoryMade Ventures, a development and consulting firm and incubator. Focusing on entertainment and media for digital and mobile platforms and cable and network television in the US and emerging markets, the company included the former Strategic Planning & Business Development unit at WME, known as the “skunkworks” unit, which continued to be led by Cristina Patwa, who was named co-CEO at FactoryMade. At launch, FactoryMade announced initial alliances with Telefonica, Hasbro, RTL Group, Michael Bay, Robert Rodriguez, Thom Beers and Whoopi Goldberg, in addition to J.J. Abrams, who was then a principal investor.[3] Abrams withdrew from the company in January 2012, reportedly due to his schedule, which did not allow for the extensive involvement in FactoryMade that had been planned.[16] In November 2014, Mitsui & Co., Japan’s second-largest general trading company, purchased a minority stake in FactoryMade.[17]

El Rey Network

In December 2013, FactoryMade partnered with Robert Rodriguez to create the El Rey network, an English language American television channel targeting Latino audiences. Backed by Univision Communications, El Rey is available on Comcast, DirecTV, Charter Communications, Cox Cable and Time Warner Cable.[1] In addition to distributing reality, scripted, and animated series, movies, documentaries, news, music, comedy and sports content, El Rey produced Rodriguez' original series From Dusk Til Dawn, 10 episodes of which premiered in 2013.[18] The series was picked up for an additional 13 episodes in March, 2014.[19] El Rey’s second original scripted series, Matador, premiered on the network in July 2104. The first episode was directed by Rodriguez.[20]

In early 2014, El Rey announced that the company would team with Mark Burnett to launch Lucha Underground, an hour-long weekly professional wrestling series featuring wrestlers from the American independent circuit and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). Lucha Underground, described by the Los Angeles Times as "combining a gritty cinematic crime film setting with the traditional superhero feel of lucha libre," premiered in October 2014. Fogelman serves as an executive producer.[21][22]

Personal life

Fogelman and his wife, Sherri, have three children. From 2004 to 2012, he served on the board of directors for Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA. With Sherri, Fogelman established the Elsie and Isaac Fogelman Chair in the Division of Pediatric Neurology in the Department of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.[23] He is an active member of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple.[24]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Miller, Daniel (September 10, 2013). "FactoryMade builds up cast of Hollywood players for El Rey Network". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 Finke, Nikki (April 29, 2009). "They Urged, They Merged: William Morris and Endeavor Agree to Become One". LA Weekly. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  3. 1 2 Kilday, Gregg (September 6, 2011). "Former WME Agent John Fogelman Launches Development and Consulting Firm". hollywoodreporter.com. Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  4. ↑ Nordyke, Kimberly (April 17, 2008). "WMA taps Gersh to lead IP". hollywoodreporter.com. Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  5. ↑ Adelson, Andrea (April 12, 1988). "COMPANY NEWS; From Rock to Riches For Music Plus Founder". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "California Board of Accountancy". 2.dca.ca.gov. Department of Consumer Affairs. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Tang, Justin. "John Fogelman ('92) Sees Opportunities in Entertainment & New Media Willim Morris executive cites the variety of venues available". anderson.ucla.edu. UCLA Anderson School of Management. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  8. ↑ "I.A.F. ENTERPRISES, INC.". bizapedia.com. Bizapedia. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  9. ↑ Hochman, David (October 25, 2000). "Going Postal in Hollywood At William Morris, a lucky few get the chance to stand and deliver". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  10. ↑ Brodresser, Claude (April 28, 2000). "WMA ups vets in revamp". Variety. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  11. 1 2 McNary, Dave (September 6, 2011). "John Fogelman launches FactoryMade Ventures". variety.com. Variety.
  12. ↑ "INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL 2011". paleycenter.org. Paley Center for Media. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  13. ↑ http://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/hayek-to-play-frida-for-trimark-1117342260/
  14. ↑ Schuker, Lauren A.E. (November 6, 2009). "The Cry Goes Out in Hollywood: 'Get Me Mr. Potato Head's Agent!'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 June 2014. The craze for toy-driven feature films has given rise to a new term in the Hollywood lexicon. In production meetings, studio executives have begun asking if a particular project is "toyetic" -- meaning whether its concept can lend itself to a toy, and whether the project will be able to sell tickets and merchandise.
  15. ↑ "Hasbro and Discovery Communications Announce Joint Venture to Create Television Network Dedicated to High-Quality Children's and Family Entertainment and Educational Content". http://corporate.discovery.com/. Discovery (Press Release). April 30, 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  16. ↑ Finke, Nikki (January 21, 2012). "J.J. Abrams No Longer Investor In John Fogelman’s Factorymade Ventures: "Not A Good Fit"". Deadline. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  17. ↑ Shaw, Lucas (November 18, 2014). "Japanese Conglomerate Mitsui Invests in Hollywood". Bloomberg. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  18. ↑ "Univision Communications and El Rey Network Announce Strategic Partnership, Unveil Upcoming Scripted Series". http://corporate.univision.com/. Univision (Press Release). May 14, 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  19. ↑ Ng, Philiana (March 26, 2013). "El Rey Renews 'From Dusk Till Dawn' for Second Season". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  20. ↑ Castellanos, Melissa (June 17, 2014). "Robert Rodriguez and El Rey Network Score Big With 'Matador' TV Series Featuring Soccer Player Turned CIA Agent". Latin Post. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  21. ↑ Queally, James (April 22, 2015). "LEARNING TO LOVE 'LUCHA' IN AN L.A. 'AZTEC TEMPLE'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  22. ↑ Weinstein, Shelli (August 27, 2014). "El Rey Network, Mark Burnett Announce Production of ‘Lucha Underground’". Variety. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  23. ↑ "Chairs of Distinction". http://magazine.uclahealth.org/. U Magazine. Retrieved 30 June 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  24. ↑ Baum, Gary (May 30, 2012). "Hollywood's Hottest $150 Million Project Is an 83-Year-Old Synagogue". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 June 2014.

External links


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