After three decades atop his entertainment public relations firm, inveterate publicist Michael Levine is spinning the next chapter of his tale by selling his Beverly Hills shop, Levine Communications Office.
Levine has struck a deal with David Fagan, chief executive of marketing firm Icon Builder Media, for what he said was in excess of $1 million. Levine will continue as a consultant to the firm.
The deal caps a yearlong search by Levine, 58, to find a successor to guide the firm into the digital age. He said he has faith that Fagan, a 36-year-old entrepreneur based in Ojai and Beverly Hills, will do just that, adding that Fagan has a similar energy to his own when starting the firm with just a couple of clients in tow 30 years ago.
“I thought it might well be time to find a person with the youth and burning maniacal rage I possessed in my 30s,” said Levine, who’s among L.A.’s most visible publicists thanks to fairly frequent appearances on television news shows.
Icon’s primary clientele are professionals such as doctors, lawyers and authors seeking to build a larger online presence. Fagan said he aims to make clients into “icons,” or authorities in their fields, to aid in their careers. The firm often takes an upfront fee for services as well as a share of other revenues related to the businesses it helps create, such as a digital magazine. The company has 12 full-time employees, many of whom work remotely.
In buying LCO, Fagan is adding a service line, and he plans to use his experience in the digital publishing world to secure more online exposure for LCO’s current roster of about 40 to 50 clients, as well as his own clients.
LCO, which will keep its name, has 11 employees and from 10 to 20 interns at any given time. The firm generates about $1.2 million in revenue annually, Levine said, which comes from monthly retainer fees.
Fagan said he has a new vision for the firm, however, he will be cautious to change as little as possible in the first three to six months to keep clients and employees at ease.
“I want people to know that there’s nothing wrong with LCO,” Fagan said. “Down the road I can see some things changing.”
Levine said he got his start in the promotions business in New York when, at 18, he began renting movie theaters to screen midnight movies. The outspoken and enterprising Levine came to Los Angeles in 1977. He remembers hustling and offering low-ball prices to sign his first major clients, Joan Rivers and David Brenner, who were on a stand-up comedy tour together. Such signings would pave the way to later big-name clients including Charlton Heston and Barbra Streisand, and Levine’s firm became a known entity in the entertainment world.
Low maintenance
The firm at one time represented Michael Jackson during some of his early legal battles, but Levine said catering to high-profile clients became overly burdensome on the firm’s staff relative to the fees coming in the door. Lower-profile, lower-maintenance clients tend to be more profitable.
Though he would not name any current clients, LCO’s website features, among others, the actor who plays the strongman in “Oz the Great and Powerful,” author Chad Kultgen and stuntwoman Gaelle Cohen.
Known for his active socializing and networking, Levine began contemplating a sale early last year and met Fagan when he was asked to speak about “super success” at one of Icon’s events in Las Vegas in June.
Levine said the $1 million-plus payout will be distributed over the course of his lifetime, with a combination of cash payouts and a share of future revenues as well as profits.
He expects to use some of his new-found free time to become more involved in public speaking, he said.
Still, his role in LCO will remain valuable. Having a wide set of contacts and a well-known name attached to the firm are often the most valuable parts of a PR firm, said Carl Terzian, founder and chairman of L.A. PR firm Carl Terzian Associates.
“There are PR firms on every other street corner,” Terzian said. “You’re acquiring the reputation and capabilities of the people.”
To that end, Fagan said he plans to keep the entire staff of the firm, and eventually expand to more than two dozen employees.
He sees an opportunity to expand, for example, by hosting more networking events to sign clients and increase opportunities for existing ones. As for signing new clients, Fagan said he has already targeted some public figures whose profiles had faded and were looking to recapture some of the public eye.
He’s hoping to maintain the culture of Levine’s shop, he said, while ushering in a more technologically savvy work environment.
“It’s two different worlds,” he said. “I’m looking at Michael and saying, ‘What did you do that I need to learn from? And what are we doing that you guys need to change?’”
