Robert A. Flutie

Ah, the strike. People know if it, hear of it, talk of it. How many are living it? In the close knit entertainment community the effects of the WGA strike are being felt on many levels. Sure, there is the obvious “actors are out of work” aspects, but what people across the great plains of America don’t know or realize is the deeper impact that this is having on local communities and families.

The economy surrounding the LA landscape is supported by the entertainment community. It’s hard to fathom, but expert estimate’s peg the daily loss of revenue to between $20,000,000 and $25,000,000 A DAY. Some reports claim that the losses are aggregate - meaning that as each day passes the daily number rises with along with it. So on day 5 of the WGA strike, the loss may be $20,000,000, but by day 229 (which we are in now), the impact could be as high as $40,000,000 A DAY. Although the complexity of this claim is rather daunting, suffice it to say that as each day passes with revenue declining at the local coffee shop, the ability that your favorite espresso or cappuccino guy or gal has to do things like buy gas, get a new pair of sneakers, or splurge on an ice cream cone for their kids also diminishes. So whose hurt? Yes, coffee shop’s are hurt, as are managers, agents, lawyers, accountants. But so are tailors, mechanics, housekeepers, nanny’s, teachers, church’s, temple’s and yes, ice cream shops.

A bit dramatic? Some would argue yes, but that’s not my view. I see and hear, first hand, of the sacrifices that people are making now. At the start of the WGA strike many of us went into “conserve” mode. Let’s trim back, take it easy and wait to “see how it plays out.” Breakfasts with studio honcho’s turned into mid-day M & M chomping chat sessions, lunches became tea & coffee and Dinner has become replaced by drinks. However, that is the tip of the iceberg. Should I dry clean that suit? Probably not, it’s not been worn with the same degree of use. Come to think of it, I really don’t need to fill my car up as much because I’m not going to the valley to meet with NBC, CBS, ABC, CW execs.

Sure, it’s important and vital for Writers to get what they deserve. They work hard and without them, we really wouldn’t have much to talk about, let alone entertain with. When I first got in the entertainment business a very prominent agent said to me “it starts on the page.” He was right. We need the craftsmanship and brilliance of a wordsmith to give life to the virgin canvas of a script. TV, Featutre FILM or otherwise. But we also need the willingness, desire and motivation to acknowledge the worth that a writer brings to the party. Conversely, we also have to understand and respect the economics of free enterprise and the requirement  (desire / need) to be profitable. That is, after all, what this fine country of ours is about. Capitalism.

But at what cost? I won’t profess to know the answer to this, but I can say that I don’t think it’s worth not being able to have a scoop of ice cream. It seems Un-American to me.

* FLUTIE *

I am the President of Flutie Entertainment, a Talent Brand Management Company. Flutie Enertainment was founded in 1996 in New York City, New York and our offices in Los Angeles opened in 2001. Over the course of the decade plus years that we have been in business, we have established and been involved in the production of feature movies (The Event, Directed by Thom Fitzgerald), and TV programs (Hollywood Hold ‘Em, for E! Television, America’s Most Smartest Model for Vh1).

My background in business began in 1986 after I graduated Mercer University. I was living in New York and became employed as an analyst for the Dime Savings Bank of New York. It was an exciting and rewarding time for me as I learned the inner workings of the banking and business community. I was recruited by Citicorp in the early 90’s and began the core part of my banking career in the asset backed division of Citicorp. One of the turning points of my professional career began in 1990 when my brother Michael and my mother Victoria began a high end, high fashion women’s modeling agency - COMPANY MANAGEMENT.   I had developed a desire to pursue a more creative path and made the decision to enter into NYU’s Film School. I also began to contribute my time and energy into helping at the agency. At first I thought that I would manage and split my time between helping out the business and administrative side of the agency while pursuing my degree at  NYU.

In a short period of time I became involved in many aspects of the agency, including advertising and marketing. I found this work to be highly rewarding and satisfying. In a short period of time, I began to pursue the artistic, yet creative, side of the agency.  Over the next several years we began to expand and grow the agency. The business was healthy and we began to forge relationships and partnerships across the globe.   Strength in the foreign markets lead us to a strong network of professional affiliations in Paris, Milan, London, Sydney, and Tokyo that presented new opportunities. The natural and most logical steps of progress was to create a presence in these new territories. Over a period of four years, we had offices in NYC, Paris and Los Angeles.  The Los Angeles office gave way to a new era as Hollywood and Madison Avenue began to merge interests.  Supermodels where being replaced by celebrities on the covers of major fashion magazines like VOGUE, BAZAAR, ELLE, and ALLURE and the Hollywood elite producers and studio’s used that exposure to promote their TV and Feature Film projects. By that point, however, fashion models and their tremendous recognition and popularity (Cindy Crawford, Naomi Cambell, Jaime King, Linda Evangelista, Rachel Stewart, etc), began to draw the interest of Hollywood and therein became the definitive crystallization of models crossing over to the small and big screen. It was also the birth of what is now FLUTIE ENTERTAINMENT.

Most notable among our fashion clients is Jaime King.   Jaime was discovered in Omaha Nebraska by Michael Flutie who was invited to be a participant on a review board for The Nancy Bounds School (http://www.thecityofomaha.com/nancy-bounds-studios/index.html). Her work in a short film called ” Four Faces of God, ” produced by then Los Angeles Laker Rick Fox, created instant recognition to the hip, cool and edgy vibe that Jaime possessed. Add to this mix the front page New York Times Magazine portrayal, entitled ” JAMES IS A GIRL ” of Jaime’s personality and the life that she left in Omaha Nebraska at the age of 13 and you had instant success. In a very short time, Jaime was cast in the world blockbuster hit “Pearl Harbor” (produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Michael Bay), “Happy Campers” (produced by Denise Denovi and directed by Daniel Waters), “Bullet Proof Monk” (produced by Chuck Roven and directed by Paul Hunter) “Sin City” (produced by Bob and Harvey Weinstein and directed by Robert Rodriquez), and many more.

Jaime’s greatest”Talent Branding” success was through a Revlon Cosmetics campaign ( http://www.revlon.com/ ). By being a key part of the Revlon campaign, Jaime’s brand awareness skyrocketed.  Although our introduction and foray into TV and FILM came by way of an introduction through the modeling world, the overwhelming support and positive response from the Hollywood community quickly gave way to FLUTIE ENTERTAINMENT becoming a premier first class management firm. Our  Management Team (Amy Slomovits, Brady McKay, Hilary Polk Williams  and Sharon King in Los Angeles) work hand in hand with our clients, which include the highly talented and gifted Laura Prepon (That 70’s Show and October Road), Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Sin City, I’m Reed Fish), Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Curb Your Enthusiasm), Sunny Mabrey (Snakes on a Plane, xXx: State of the Union), Jose Pablo Cantillo (Standoff, Crank, ER, Law & Order SVU, Disturbia), Aaron Himelstein ( The Informers, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, Fast Food Nation, Joan of Arcadia, House M.D., Austin Powers: Goldmember), Tommy Dewey (The Mountain, Grey’s Anatomy, I’m Reed Fish), Noel Fisher (The Riches, After Sex, Standoff, Huff, Two and Half Men), Greg Pitts (Office Space, Sons & Daughters, Bickford Shmecler’s Cool Ideas, Grey’s Anatomy), Ray Wise (Reaper, Good Night Good Luck, “24″ ), Hayes MacArther ( Lower Learning, How I Met Your Mother, The Game Plan, Home Erectus) and many other highly respected and gifted clients.

As our business headed towards new and fun directions, there began to occur a shift in the media and advertising space. It has become increasingly challenging for advertisers to create and capture an effective ad campaign. Viewers speed through their recorded programs skipping the commercials. Now we watch “short form” content on the internet (YouTube, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, MySpace), or catch up on their favorite NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, or CW programs by turning on their laptop or desktop. I’ve enjoyed my favorite comedy (30 Rock with Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin), while sitting in my bed with my Bose Noise canceling headphones!

This has led to the growing and exciting stage of FLUTIE ENTERTAINMENT in the “Talent Brand Management” business. We now manage the professional careers of Ellie Krieger (Food Network), Carter Oosterhouse (Carter Can! and Red Hot and Green, HGTV), Mary Alice Stephenson (Vh1), John Gidding (Designed To Sell, HGTV), Sabrina Soto (Top Dollar), Taniya Nayak (Designed to Sell), Brandie Malay (House Hunters), Tracy Gallagher (Travel Daily for Travel Channel) and others.

Our firm creates a media strategy to identify and launch our clients so that they can develop into a consumer brand. This strategy includes Broadcast, Broadband and Print platforms. As we continue to forge into the new frontier of this convergence of media, we have set a goal to bring all of the resources that we’ve established in the 12 plus years of FLUTIE ENTERTAINMENT’S history to redefine the advertising, marketing and consumer landscape.

* FLUTIE *

Five years ago the words “Talent” “Brand” and “Management” were not widely circulated in the entertainment community, let alone used in conjunction with, or as a string together. The change that was beginning to take place in broadcast media advertising began to take place thanks, in large part, to advances in technology and the increasing popularity of TIVO like devices.

The turning point in how advertisers began to approach media opportunities really began to proliferate when a little show called “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” http://www.bravotv.com/Queer_Eye/ aired on BRAVO http://www.bravotv.com/. When America met the “Fab Five” there began a love that began to introduce and shape new ideas on how to marry commercial opportunities with corporate partners in a manner that crystalized the defining moment of what is now known as “Talent Brand Management.”

When our firm introduced Thom Filicia www.thomfilicia.com and Pier 1 http://www.pier1.com/ through the ad agency Cambell-Ewald http://www.campbell-ewald.com/ the intention and purpose of bringing the Thom Filicia brand to Pier 1 was to create and elevate Filicia’s Brand Exposure and to define his Brand Identity. It was a monumental moment in the ” Lifestyle / Expert ” branding space because it took the marketing, advertising and public relations machine that Pier 1 had in place and extended it to the Filicia Brand.

Although many might dispute the time and date of the birthing of “Talent Brand Management ,” one does not have to look far to see that this process and concept had been marinating for many years as the brainchild of Michael Flutie www.michaelflutie.com. Michael had spent the better part of the past decade working with major consumer brands in fashion, beauty and fragrances and had forged the creative essence of turning celebrities and high profile individuals into identifiable Brands. And so the work began…

As time began to progress we began to see a very distinct and progressive mind set from the likes of advertisers and marketers. Conventional TV ads were not proving to be cost effective, relative to the cost required to generate new business, and a new breed of Chief Marketing Officers were beginning to emerge at companies like Designer Shoe Warehouse https://www.dswshoes.com/home.jsp , L’Oreal; http://www.loreal.com/dispatch.aspx, American Eagle www.ae.com, and Kraft www.kraft.com. The new thinking by these CMO’s was to connect with the pulse of the consumer by creating organic advertisements that were an extension of an expert that spoke to their brands key demographic.

At Flutie Entertainment ( www.flutieent.com ) our philosophy and approach began to become fine tuned. Building on ten plus years of experience, relationships and a vast network in the advertising, marketing and public relations community Flutie Entertainment took an industry lead as the Talent Brand Management firm in the entertainment industry. The most recent progression in this space is the merging of commercial mainstream partnerships into the Broadcast, Print and Broadband Media. This allows for a platform to be built for the Lifestyle and Expert persona to launch the identity and message of the brand. Currently our firm works with many high profile Lifestyle / Expert Brands.

The following is an example of the how Flutie aggregated various opportunities to support the growth of the brand and to lead the brand into consumer product opportunities.

Carter Oosterhouse  (www.carteroosterhouse.com)  host of Carter Can ( http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hccan)  is the spokespersonand face of Nautica’s top selling mens fragrence, VOYAGE ( http://www.nauticafragrance.com/products/voyage.aspx ).

Ellie Krieger www.elliekrieger.com host of Food Network’s “Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ek/text/0,2763,FOOD_25716_44765,00.html, author of Taunton Press’s new publication “Foods You Crave” www.amazon.com/Food-You-Crave-Luscious-Recipes/dp/1600850219  consultant and expert advisor to Nutritioniste http://www.garniernutritioniste.com/en/ and online content provider to Waterfront Media’s http://www.waterfrontmedia.com/index.aspx new interactive healthy living site, www.healthylivingwithellie.com.

Rainbeau Mars www.rainbeaumars.com Global Ambassador to Adidas www.adidas.com and Yoga Expert.

Sabrina Soto www.sabrinasoto.com host of HGTV’s “Get It Sold” http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hsold/

Mary Alice Stephenson host of Vh1’s www.vh1.com hit show “America’s Most Smartest Model http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/americas_most_smartest_model/series.jhtml  and spokesperson for both Intel  http://www.intel.com/  and The Make a Wish Foundation http://www.wish.org/ 

Kyan Douglas, personal grooming expert - http://www.bravotv.com/Queer_Eye/bios

The common ground on all of the above named experts is, as I stated at the start of my blog, the Expert’s ability to increase their value in the market place through strategic and complimentary relationships with major consumer brands. A process that is an innovation of the the Flutie organization one one that we have has  accomplished through the marriage of Madison Avenue to Hollywood!

* FLUTIE *

Welcome to the Robert A. Flutie Blog! I am happy that you have taken a moment to come to be a part of an exchange of ideas. I’ll be sharing a little about me and what I do in this blog, so look for the “About Me” title! I look forward to hearing from you.