L.A.-based architecture and planning firm RTKL Associates Inc., along with consulting firm Blackman Cunningham and G2 Strategic, has formed a design and development consultancy targeting sports and entertainment districts worldwide.
The three-party alliance will leverage its collective entertainment and sports experience to assist governments, club owners, leagues and private developers considering urban developments anchored or sparked by sport and entertainment venues.
RTKL Vice President Ron Turner is well known for designing dozens of iconic sports venues, including L.A.’s Staples Center, Atlanta’s Olympic Stadium (now Turner Field), the Saitama Super Arena in Japan and Baltimore’s Camden Yards baseball field.
The alliance’s focus on sports/entertainment developments show how critical the massive complexes have become to cities and municipalities across the globe including Los Angeles, which will soon see the long-awaited $2.5 billion L.A. Live complex open downtown near the Staples Center.
The partnership combines the individual firms’ specialties in urban planning and architecture, marketing and sports business skills and will target stadium and arena projects in the United States, Europe, South America and Asia that are part of larger mixed-use urban districts.
Blackman Cunningham, a partnership of former NBA star Rolando Blackman and sports and entertainment executive Louis Cunningham, is based in Dallas and G2 Strategic, led by CEO Marshall Glickman, is based in Boston.
BWN Goes Hollywood
Music and sound design firm Brahmstedt White Noise has moved from Santa Monica to a new loft space in the heart of Hollywood.
The company has worked on music and sound design for commercial campaigns for Best Buy, baseball’s Minnesota Twins and Target Corp. as well as Breyers and H & R; Block.
The company was formed in 2002 by Carl White and Ken Brahmstedt and provides music and sound design services for advertisers and broadcasters, filmmakers and corporate clients.
BWN’s move is another example of Hollywood’s re-emergence as a center for sound, post-production and other entertainment industry firms. Many have come back to Hollywood after departing for the Westside in the late 1990s. Over the past three years, many of the firms have returned, drawn by the proximity to the studios and production companies. In addition, Hollywood has spruced up and become home to some of the area’s most popular nightclubs and restaurants in town.
Last year, the Hollywood office market experienced gains across the board and vacancy rates fell, winding up at 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter, less than half of the market’s vacancy rate during the same period in 2005, according to Grubb & Ellis Co.
“While we may work long hours, we don’t actually live there,” said BWN co-founder and sound designer Carl White. “But by establishing a presence in the lofts, as opposed to a strict business location, we feel very much part of the neighborhood.”
Burn Free
BurnLounge Inc., the digital download service that operated as a multilevel marketing outfit, is now offering access to its content without subscription fees.
It has also posted its catalog of independent music titles in MP3 format, including music from leading independent digital distributors Orchard, Ioda, Iris and Big Fish.
The Los Angeles company, which combines iTunes-type music downloads and eBay-style retailing with traditional multi-level marketing, has more than 60,000 users who sell music for download, and the retailers share commissions with those who enlisted them.
Until now, subscription fees ranged from $30 to about $500, based upon how elaborate the customer or merchant chose to go. With the new setup, consumers can open up their own personalized digital download store at no cost. Premium sales packages still carry a price tag of more than $400, however.
BurnLounge still makes money, of course, through the paid content downloads from other labels, as well as through the sales of higher-level premium packages and content upgrades for the individual user/retailers that operate the online stores.
Participating artists receive between 50 percent and 70 percent of the revenue generated by sales of their songs. Of the remainder, BurnLounge corporate takes 40 percent while the retailer who sold the song gets 60 percent. Retailers must give 20 percent of their take to their recruiter. The recruiter must pay a percentage of his take to the one who recruited him.
BurnLounge has also launched Burn Pages a free social networking component for users to interact with one another. Future content will be ad-supported, though details are still in the works. Current members include the likes of NBA stars Shaquille O’Neal and Steve Nash, as well as NASCAR driver Danica Patrick.
E! Eh?
E! Networks and CanWest MediaWorks have announced an agreement to license and manage the E! brand and content in Canada. Starting Sept. 1, 2007, CanWest will bring one of the world’s definitive entertainment brands to Canadians across multiple platforms, including broadcast, online, mobile, video-on-demand and satellite radio.
Under the deal, CanWest’s CH Network will be rebranded as E!, marking the first time that the channel will be delivered as an over-the-air network anywhere in the world. The network’s Canadian schedule will contain a mix of primetime network programming, and will add the extensive library of E! content during daytime, late primetime and weekends. The complete programming schedule will be released in June.
In addition to the E! broadcast network, Canadian entertainment fans will also be able to stay connected to the world of entertainment through a variety of E!-branded access points including E! online, mobile, video-on-demand and satellite radio. E! Online will be customized for Canadian audiences and CanWest is looking for providers for the distribution and delivery of the Canadian content for multi-platform offerings.
Staff reporter Anne Riley-Katz can be reached at
[email protected]
or at (323) 549-5225.
