Variety’s latest New Leaders feature profiles two Armenian-Americans among the most prominent up-and-comers in the entertainment business.
Appearing on "Hollywood New Leaders: Agents and Managers", 37-year-old co-founder/partner of Mortar Media Antranig Balian is one of them whose path to showbiz was not a straight one.
He started out as a deputy district attorney, then got his MBA from USC, concentrating on entertainment, eventually moving into management posts. Balian has helped his deep roster of unscripted series stars and digital talents grow their brands, as he did with “Jersey Shore” star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, who’s got a house-flipping show on FYI Network, which he executive produced, and Richard Rawlings, star of Discovery Channel’s “Fast N’ Loud,” who has a fourth series set to debut, “Garage Rehab,” and has several national brand endorsements. As for signing clients, “My mom is my focus group — if she hasn’t heard of you then you aren’t as famous as you think you are.”
Another of Variety's profiles in "Hollywood’s New Leaders in Film" focuses on co-founders of XYZ Films Nate Bolotin, Aram Tertzakian and Nick Spicer.
"XYZ specializes in creative financing structures, utilizing international co-productions to maximize soft money, North American backstop deals, SVOD pre-sales, crowd-funding and combinations of traditional debt and equity. The result? Fifty films produced and executive produced since 2008 and more than 200 feature films licensed since 2009. The trio have produced seven Netflix Originals in the past two years, licensed 21 films to major studios for production and distribution; they also launched “The Raid” franchise, Variety says.
"In 2016, XYZ moved into distribution, branding the global release of “Under the Shadow” and horror anthology “Holidays,” and partnered with Vertical Entertainment to utilize its global digital platform deals. This year, their pic “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore” won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. They had six films accepted at Toronto, including Zoe Saldana starrer “I Kill Giants” and “Brawl in Cell Block 99,” starring Vince Vaughn. “We’ve always had full control over the company and our own careers. When people say passion makes movies happen, they really mean commitment. Passion ebbs and flows. Making movies is arduous and you need commitment to go the distance,” they say."