Music producer and songwriter Benny Blanco never invested money before meeting Phil Sarna, the senior managing director and founder of PS Business Management. “When I first met Phil, I had $26,000 in my bank account. I remember I went in there and I said, ‘Do I have enough to invest?’ And he kind of laughed at me, but for some reason, saw something in me and worked as my business manager,” Blanco reflected when introducing Sarna at the Variety Business Managers Breakfast, presented by City National Bank on Nov. 13 in West Hollywood.
Sarna was being honored with the Business Manager of the Year award at the event, which saw dozens of the entertainment industry’s top execs gather to celebrate Sarna and learn from additional conversations and speakers about their value to creatives.
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In Sarna’s case, he launched PS Business Management as his own firm in 2002. Today, the firm’s clientele not only includes Blanco, but also Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Chappell Roan, Benson Boone, Duran Duran and other leading names in music, film, television, sports and fashion.
Accepting the award and addressing the room full of managers, Sarna thanked his family, clients and partners for their support. “We spend a good chunk of our adult life together in service to great artists. It’s been challenging, but fun. It’s unbelievable that this is our jobs,” he said.
He shared some of the various tasks that he’s taken on as a manager, from helping creatives start businesses, to getting his clients in and out of rehab. “Going to business school and working in accounting and finance never really prepared me for this unique experience,” he explained with gratitude.
The event also included remarks from featured speaker Courtney B. Vance, the actor serving as president and chairman of the board at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. He reflected on the importance of the organization, which provides actors with resources to strengthen their crafts and support themselves. “We believe that it is a duty and an obligation to help those in need within our own entertainment industry community,” said Vance before acknowledging the vital role that business managers play in helping actors and other creators thrive.
Vance then presented a new SAG-AFTRA Foundation PSA video, featuring the cast of Apple TV’s “The Studio.” Filmed in the theater at the Foundation’s Meryl Streep Center for Performing Artists in Los Angeles, it features Kathryn Hahn, Chase Sui Wonders and Ike Barinholtz wittily teaching Seth Rogen about the services the Foundation provides, with a special cameo from Bryan Cranston at the end. “They knocked out this video about 10 minutes,” said Vance. “It’s amazing, what you can do when you know what you do.”
Variety‘s co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton also hosted a keynote conversation with Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski at the top of the event. They discussed the distributor’s current and upcoming releases, including “Bugonia,” “Hamnet” and “Song Sung Blue” from business as well as creative perspectives. While acknowledging that some films can exist to make money, Kujawaski said, “There are some stories that just have to be told. And even if it is like a completely unsustainable business model, sometimes you have to figure out a way to tell those stories. And I think everyone exists on that spectrum in some place. Every film exists somewhere on that spectrum.”
Whether they’re serving creative visions or fiscal security, the business managers help artists navigate the tricky world of finances. Blanco put have put it best to the managers: “On behalf of every artist who asked all you guys the stupidest questions in the world, thank you for making us not lose all of our money.”
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