Jeff Kwatinetz was the CEO of a talent management company called The Firm

The Firm, Inc.

The Firm is an artist and talent management company in Beverly Hills, California in the United States.Founded in 1997 by Jeff Kwatinetz and partner Michael Green , The Firm had, at times, divisions devoted to TV and film production, brand management, apparel licensing, beverages, video games and...

, and is the co-founder and co-partner, along with Richard H. Frank

Richard H. Frank

Richard H. Frank is a veteran American entertainment executive possibly best known for serving as President of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, chairman of Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications and as president of The Walt Disney Studios . From 1981 to 1985, he served as...

, of the entertainment production company Prospect Park

Prospect Park (production company)

Prospect Park is a Los Angeles entertainment production company, founded in 2008 by Richard H. Frank, a former Disney Studios executive, and Jeff Kwatinetz, former CEO of the talent agency The Firm, Inc...

.

Career

He has worked with many celebrities, including music acts Backstreet Boys

Backstreet Boys

The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...

, Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...

 and Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...

 and actors Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...

 and Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...

.

Jeff Kwatinetz founded the company in 1997 to quickly become one of the top management and production companies in the industry representing talent in all facets of entertainment. He has been successful in breaking, developing and managing the careers of artists such as KoRn

Korn

Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...

, Limp Bizkit

Limp Bizkit

Limp Bizkit is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1995, the group's lineup consists of Fred Durst , Wes Borland , Sam Rivers , John Otto and DJ Lethal . The band achieved mainstream success with their second studio album Significant Other, released in 1999...

, Backstreet Boys

Backstreet Boys

The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...

, Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg

Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...

, Enrique Iglesias

Enrique Iglesias

Enrique Iglesias is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias.Enrique started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa...

, Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...

, Ice Cube

Ice Cube

O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...

, Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...

, Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...

, OneRepublic

OneRepublic

OneRepublic is an American pop rock band from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Formed in 2002 by Ryan Tedder and Zach Filkins, the band achieved massive success on MySpace, becoming the most prominent unsigned act on the website then...

, Rachel Weisz

Rachel Weisz

Rachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...

, michael jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

, Audioslave

Audioslave

Audioslave was an American rock supergroup that formed in Los Angeles, California in 2001. It consisted of former Soundgarden lead singer/rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell and the former instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine: Tom Morello , Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk...

, Pete Yorn

Pete Yorn

Peter Joseph Yorn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who first gained international recognition after his debut record, Musicforthemorningafter, was released to critical acclaim in 2001.-Early history:Yorn's father is a dentist and his mother is a former concert pianist who worked as a...

, Puddle of Mudd

Puddle of Mudd

Puddle Of Mudd is an American rock band from Kansas City, Missouri, USA. To date the band has sold over 7 million albums, and have had a string of #1 mainstream rock singles in the United States. Their major-label debut Come Clean has sold over 5 million copies...

, and many more. The Firm acquired Artist Management Group

Artist Management Group

Artist Management Group was a pioneering artist's representation company founded by former CAA head Michael Ovitz, Rick Yorn, and Julie Yorn. Jeff Kwatinetz of The Firm acquired Ovitz' share and merged the two firms in 2002....

 in 2002 to add high-profile television and film industry managers and clients such as Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...

, Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz

Cameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...

, Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson

Kate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Almost Famous. She then starred in the hit film How to Lose a Guy in 10...

, Benicio del Toro

Benicio del Toro

Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...

, Bill Condon

Bill Condon

William "Bill" Condon is an American screenwriter and director. Condon is best known for directing and writing the critically acclaimed films Gods and Monsters, Chicago, Kinsey, and Dreamgirls. In 1998, Condon debuted as a screenwriter in Gods and Monsters, which won him his first Academy Award....

 and Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese

Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...

 and expand into an all-encompassing entertainment management and production company.

Throughout Jeff’s 20 year career, Kwatinetz has anticipated and tapped into market trends to propel talent and entertainment content to success. Across the music industry Kwatinetz has cultivated over 35+ music acts to stardom and steered the careers of some of world’s most prominent actors and directors. Today Kwatinetz serves as CEO of Prospect Park, a media and production company with a portfolio of high-profile entertainment clients and film and television production under its banner

Jeff founded Prospect Park in 2009 after several successful years operating as the CEO of The Firm (one of the industry’s most powerful entertainment management and production companies).

With Prospect Park, Jeff serves as executive producer of the recently debuted hit F/X comedy Wilfred, and USA Network’s high rated medical comedy, Royal Pains. The company additionally has several films and television programs in development and manages the careers of artists and talent across film, music and television

2005 Mass Exodus

The Firm survived a massive exodus of execs and clients back in 2005 when, JoAnne Colonna, a manager of the company's film talent department, left with her clients that includes Anna Paquin

Anna Paquin

Anna Helene Paquin is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Paquin's first critically successful film was The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second youngest winner in history...

, Sarah Michelle Gellar

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Sarah Michelle Prinze , known professionally by her birth name of Sarah Michelle Gellar , is an American actress, singer and executive producer...

, Brittany Murphy

Brittany Murphy

Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack , known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress and singer. She starred in films such as Clueless, Just Married, Girl Interrupted, Spun, 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and Riding in Cars with Boys...

 (Kwatinetz's one-time fiance), and Brendan Fraser

Brendan Fraser

Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...

. Only weeks before, her co-manager, Aleen Keshishian, had also left with clients Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman

Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...

, Orlando Bloom

Orlando Bloom

Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom is an English actor. He had his break-through roles in 2001 as the elf-prince Legolas in The Lord of the Rings and starring in 2003 as blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, and subsequently established himself as a lead in Hollywood...

, Laura Linney

Laura Linney

Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...

 and Freddie Prinze Jr. And those moves followed the departures of the co-managers of the music department when Simon Renshaw

Simon Renshaw

Simon John Renshaw is a former English cricketer. Renshaw was a right-handed batsman who was a right-arm medium-fast bowler....

 took with him the Dixie Chicks

Dixie Chicks

The Dixie Chicks are an American country band which has also successfully crossed over into other genres. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines...

, Clay Aiken

Clay Aiken

Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and author who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released...

 and Anastacia

Anastacia

Anastacia is an American singer-songwriter. Anastacia has been highly successful in Europe, Asia, South Africa and South America, but has had only minor success in her native United States...

, and Andy Gould left with Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...

.

Controversy

Kwatinetz has been a controversial figure in the industry especially in connection with such clients as Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

. On September 17, 2007 he released the following statement: "It saddens us to confirm media reports that we have terminated our professional relationship with Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

. We have represented Britney for the past month. We believe Britney is enormously talented, and has made a terrific record. But current circumstances have prevented us from properly doing our job. We wish Britney the best."

Departure From The Firm/Creation of Prospect Park

Kwatinetz left The Firm in late 2008. He's expected to start his own music, film and television management firm and film and TV production company. http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/jeff-kwatinetz-left-the-firm-tonight/ Jeff has now started his new Management/Record company Prospect Park, and recently signed a deal with Vancouver/LA based band, Like a Storm. Other clients include the Backstreet Boys and Korn.

Personal

Born in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, Kwatinetz grew up in Marlboro Township, New Jersey

Marlboro Township, New Jersey

-Weather:Marlboro is located close to the Atlantic Ocean. Due to the location Marlboro Township has on the Eastern Seaboard, the following weather features are noted:*On average, the warmest month is July where the average high is and the average low is ....

 from the time he was in third grade and graduated from Marlboro High School

Marlboro High School

Marlboro High School, home of the Mustangs, is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Marlboro Township, New Jersey, operating as part of the Freehold Regional High School District . The school serves students from portions of Marlboro Township...

. He attended Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 and is a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity

Delta Upsilon

Delta Upsilon is the sixth oldest international, all-male, college Greek-letter organization, and is the oldest non-secret fraternity in North America...

. He holds a Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

 degree, Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

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External links