Greg Suess

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Born|

Gregory Suess

September 13, 1972
Nationality| American
Occupation|

* Talent Manager
* Brand manager
* Tv/film producer
* Entertainment lawyer

Employer| Activist Artists Management
Spouse(s)| Michelle Suess
Website| http://activist.co/

Gregory Suess (pronounced "cease")[1] is an American talent manager, brand manager, and entertainment lawyer. Previously co-founder of the talent and brand-management company ROAR, in 2018 he was a founding partner of Activist Artists Management, a full-service talent management, integrated media and advisory firm based in West Hollywood, California.[2][3]

## Contents

* 1 Education
* 2 Law Career
* 3 Entertainment Career
* 4 Board Member and Advisor
* 5 Personal Life
* 6 References
* 7 External links

## Education[edit]

Suess graduated from the University of Southern California's entrepreneur program in 1994. In 1997 he earned a JD/MBA from Pepperdine University, graduating with honors in three years while working for Michael Milken[4] and becoming the youngest graduate up to that point in Pepperdine's law and MBA degree program. Years later he established a scholarship fund for students in the program.[5]

## Law Career[edit]

He proceeded to work as a corporate attorney for Los Angeles law firm Glaser Weil, focusing on securities and entertainment and working on large business deals for entertainment companies[1] such as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., MGM Grand[6] and PolyGram.[1] He became a partner and remained with the firm until 2022 when he joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, serving as a senior advisor in the Media & Entertainment and Corporate & Securities practice groups.[4]

## Entertainment Career[edit]

In 2004, Suess and partners Bernie Cahill, Jay Froberg, and Will Ward founded the integrated management company ROAR, LLC. ROAR is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California with offices in New York, Atlanta, and Nashville.[7]

As a founding partner of the company he oversaw a talent roster that included Chris Hemsworth,[8] Liam Hemsworth,[9] David Alan Grier,[10] Aisha Tyler,[11] Cobie Smulders,[12] and Ken Watanabe.[13] He has produced and executive produced more than 10 film and television productions.[14][15][16][17] ROAR's music division managed artists including Zac Brown Band,[7] musician and actor Dwight Yoakam,[18] the Grateful Dead, Ben Rector,[19] and Gaelic Storm. In 2010 he negotiated the book deal with HarperCollins for Tim Tebow's bestselling memoir Through My Eyes,[20] the best-selling sports book of 2011.[21]

ROAR acquired Jennie Smythe's Nashville-based digital marketing firm Girlilla Marketing[22] in 2009.

In April 2018, Suess and Cahill left ROAR, along with the head of the company's Nashville Office, Matt Maher, and head of media & brand strategy Liz Norris, to launch Activist Artists Management,[23] a full-service talent management, integrated media and advisory firm with 23 associates and offices in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville and Atlanta.[3]

Activist's clients include the Grateful Dead, Dead & Company, The Lumineers, Dwight Yoakam, Michael Franti, and Alec Benjamin,[24] as well as David Alan Grier, Terry Rossio, Appetize, Steady, Influential, Acorn International, All Elite Wrestling, Inc., Z. Alexander Brown Winery, Zedge, Virgin Hotels,[25] David Steward II’s companies Polarity and Lion Forge Animation,[26] and the Southern Poverty Law Center.[27] The firm has also recently expanded into Asia.[28]

Suess established and leads Activist's Family Office & Corporate Division, which advises families and emerging businesses in media, entertainment, and technology.[29] He is co-chair of the Activist Foundation and the Activist Artists Fellowship, which provides pro-bono management and grants to support social and environmental missions. He oversees the Activist Green Fund, a growth-oriented opportunity fund focused on brands and intellectual property in the cannabis and CBD industry.

## Board Member and Advisor[edit]

In 2010 he joined the board of directors of Derycz Scientific[30] and in 2011 that of Wizard World (now Creek Road Miners),[31] where he remained for a decade.[32] Both were controlled by Paul Kessler’s Bristol Capital.

He was an early investor in and strategic advisor to Appetize, an enterprise cloud POS and digital ordering platform for the music and entertainment industries backed by the Anderson family (Kevin Anderson).[33] He advised and helped architect the firm's strategic partnerships with Live Nation and Shamrock Capital Advisors.

He is a strategic advisor to Lyte, a technology platform for the secondary ticketing market; was Secretary, Treasurer and Director of Zac Brown’s Camp Southern Ground where he presently serves on the Advisory Board;[3] and advised Tony Khan on the launch of All Elite Wrestling and Khan's investment into Epic Games. He serves as a strategic advisor to Michael Loeb's Steady,[34] a platform focused on improving incomes and providing cash grants to workers who have experienced traumatic income loss. He is an advisor to and an investor in MyWorld, a technology platform that gamifies philanthropy to address climate change.

In 2020 he joined the board of directors of mobile personalization app company Zedge,[25] which is controlled by the Jonas family.[35]

## Personal Life[edit]

Suess is married to Michelle Suess, formerly an executive at ICM Partners.[36] In 2022 they moved from Bel Air, Los Angeles[37] to Birmingham, Alabama.[38]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Smith, Scott (February 28, 1999). "Suess". labusinessjournal.com. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
2. ↑ Newman, Melinda (April 3, 2018). "Roar Co-Founders Bernie Cahill And Greg Suess Exit to Form Activist Artists Management: Exclusive". Billboard.com. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Siegel, Tatiana (April 3, 2018). "Management Shake-Up: Two ROAR Founders Exit to Form New Company". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Gregory H. Suess Joins Bradley's Media & Entertainment and Corporate & Securities Practice Groups in Birmingham as Senior Advisor". bradley.com. February 16, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
5. ↑ "Restricted and Endowed Scholarships". law.pepperdine.edu. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
6. ↑ ""FORM S-8: REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933". sec.gov. May 13, 2002. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ray Waddell (September 14, 2010). "The Keys To Successful Branding Partnerships". billboard.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
8. ↑ Justin Kroll (June 10, 2015). "Chris Hemsworth Joins the Cast of Female-Led 'Ghostbusters'". variety.com. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
9. ↑ Mike Fleming Jr. (April 3, 2013). "Liam Hemsworth Is So 'The Raven'". deadline.com. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
10. ↑ Nellie Andreeva (January 5, 2015). "David Alan Grier To Co-Star In NBC Jerrod Carmichael Comedy Pilot". deadline.com. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
11. ↑ Nellie Andreeva (October 23, 2011). "Aisha Tyler Joins 'The Talk' As Co-Host". deadline.com. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
12. ↑ Denise Petski (June 5, 2015). "Cobie Smulders & Paul Campbell Canadian Comedy Series In Works, Eyes US Nets". deadline.com. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
13. ↑ Jen Yamato (March 18, 2013). "'Godzilla' Adds Ken Watanabe, But What About Those Producers?". deadline.com. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
14. ↑ "Spike TV Adapting Stephen Frey's THE CHAIRMAN". broadwayworld.com. June 10, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
15. ↑ "Walt Becker to Wage Little Big War". comingsoon.net. May 7, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
16. ↑ Hazelton, John (May 18, 2012). "Virginia". screendaily.com. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
17. ↑ "CW giving multiple airings to new reality show". Radio+Television Business Report. December 9, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
18. ↑ Roy Trakin (July 14, 2014). "Dwight Yoakam Confirms Return To Warner, Releases New Single". billboard.com. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
19. ↑ ROAR (June 26, 2015). "Ben Rector Official Website Contact Page". ROAR. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
20. ↑ "HARPERCOLLINS TO PUBLISH OFFICIAL MEMOIR BY TIM TEBOW" (Press release). San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins. November 8, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
21. ↑ Darren Rovell (January 9, 2012). "Tim Tebow's Autobiography 'Through My Eyes': The Best Selling Sports Book Of 2011". CNBC. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
22. ↑ "GIRLILLA MARKETING STARTS 2016 BY ADDING NEW TEAM MEMBER" (Press release). Nashville, TN: EBM. January 6, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
23. ↑ Courtney, Ian (April 3, 2018). "Roar Co-Founders Exit, Launch Activist Artists Management". Celebrity Access. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
24. ↑ Cathy Applefeld Olson (September 1, 2022). "Meet The Company Amplifying The Social Impact Activism Of The Lumineers, Dead & Co., Other Clients". Forbes. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Zedge Announces Leadership Changes and Board Expansion" (Press release). New York: Accesswire. August 2, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
26. ↑ Andreas Wiseman (July 9, 2021). "David Steward II's Polarity And Lion Forge Animation Sign With Activist Artists Management". Deadline. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
27. ↑ Rebecca Sun (June 8, 2021). "UTA and Activist Artists Management Sign Southern Poverty Law Center". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
28. ↑ "ACTIVIST ARTISTS MANAGEMENT EXPANDS INTO ASIA WITH APPOINTMENT OF INDUSTRY VETERAN JONATHAN HEETER" (Press release). Music Business Worldwide. June 9, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
29. ↑ Trakin, Roy (February 17, 2022). "Gregory Suess Joins Bradley's Entertainment & Media and Corporate & Securities Practice As Senior Advisor". allaccess.com. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
30. ↑ "Derycz Scientific Appoints Independent Members to Its Board of Directors" (Press release). Santa Monica, CA: PR Newswire. November 15, 2010. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
31. ↑ "Wizard World, Inc. (WIZD) Appoints Greg Suess to Its Board of Directors" (Press release). New York & Los Angeles: Businesswire. May 9, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
32. ↑ "Creek Road Miners, Inc. Announces Board Changes" (Press release). marketscreener.com. December 23, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
33. ↑ Zoltak, James (September 16, 2021). "APPETIZE CO-FOUNDER SEES UPSIDE FOR VENUES AFTER SALE". venuesnow.com. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
34. ↑ "Shaquille O'Neal Joins Steady; Company Raises $9 Million in Series A Round of Funding from Leading Fintech Investors" (Press release). BusinessWire. August 5, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
35. ↑ Blake, Sam (August 6, 2020). "Billionaire Business Empire Brings on LA Board Member, Ready to Make Deals". dot.LA. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
36. ↑ Elizabeth Wagmeister (July 14, 2017). "ICM's Longtime Head of Corporate Communications Michelle Suess Departing Agency". Variety. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
37. ↑ Anthony Marcelo (March 31, 2021). "A Traditional Family Home in Bel-Air". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
38. ↑ A.J. O'Leary (April 7, 2022). "Birmingham stands to gain in wake of exodus from big cities". Birmingham Business Journal. Retrieved September 10, 2022.

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