Wayne Forte & Entourage Talent Associates

Wayne Forte, President
Entourage Talent Associates, Ltd. is a talent agency and consulting firm, representing more than thirty-five clients exclusively and servicing a host of promoters and concert venues throughout the world. Owner, principal, and entrepreneur Wayne Forte is a seasoned veteran of the music industry.

Since 1993, Entourage Talent Associates has helped to initiate, develop and maintain careers for clients (past and present) such as David Bowie, The Cure, Joe Satriani, Jesus and Mary Chain, Al Di Meola, Rockapella, Joan Armatrading, Howard Jones, The Tragically Hip and The Derek Trucks Band, (among others), as well as helping to create, develop and brand touring projects such as G3 and Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi's "Soul Stew Revival" and the upcoming new band project, "The Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band".

Beginning his career in the 70's at one of the first full-service powerhouse agencies, Creative Management Associates, Forte quickly took on the representation of young musicians and bands, creating longstanding relationships with artists, managers and promoters. From this foundation and following the company's merger with another large music, television and theatrical agency, International Famous Agency, Forte was able to further develop his knowledge, skills, and relationships at the new company, International Creative Management. During this period he represented performers such as then-fledgling artists Hall and Oates, Chick Corea and Return to Forever, Weather Report, Billy Cobham and the now-legendary British rock quartet Status Quo, as well as beginning a relationship with a soon-to-be worldwide mega-star named David Bowie.

Following a move to the world-renowned William Morris Agency, Forte set his sights on signing the best of what was then termed "punk" or "new wave" music - acts like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Iggy Pop, Joe Jackson, The Cure, The Clash, the Stranglers and The Jam, to name a few - and was later tapped to be head of WMA's East Coast Music Department, until this time, perhaps, the youngest to do so.

With visions of taking a different approach to the business of booking Artists and developing careers, Forte and a fellow WMA agent took a gamble on themselves and their vision risking all to start their own agency: International Talent Group (ITG) was born, committed to breaking new artists and establishing and maintaining long-term careers. Within a year, ITG represented some of the hottest talent in the industry including: Duran Duran, The Jam, Joe Jackson, Killing Joke, The Clash, The Vapors, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Adam and the Ants, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, King Crimson, and Billy Idol (to name a few), bringing most to the U.S. shores for the first time.

Growing by leaps and bounds, in 1983 ITG not only booked, but co-produced David Bowie's Serious Moonlight Tour, many say the artist's most successful tour to date, playing arenas and stadiums throughout the world, followed by Bowie's 1985-86 worldwide Glass Spider Tour, performed predominantly in stadiums. ITG also co-produced the 1987 Duran Duran tour, which played stadiums in Europe and Japan as well as multiple arena shows in the rest of the world, including Manila, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. At the same time, Forte continued to sign clients both domestically and internationally, including Howard Jones, The Psychedelic Furs, Joe Satriani, Sade, Paul Young, Radiohead, Yazoo, Scandal, Erasure, Eric Johnson, Spandau Ballet, Midge Ure, the legendary Power Station, Sarah McLachlan, Candy Dulfer, Simply Red, among many others and most on a worldwide basis.

These successes were followed by many more ITG stadium and arena tours throughout the world over the next ten years for clients The Cure, Depeche Mode, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Phil Collins, David Bowie and Robert Plant, among others, as Forte honed his expertise in foreign negotiation, planning and booking tours outside the U.S. (as well as domestically) while at the same time establishing and overseeing multiple joint ventures for the business. One of the most successful of these was with the Labatt Entertainment Group, enabling the once original fledgling agency and partners "with an idea" to realize many of their goals as well as additional offices in both Los Angeles and London.

After twelve years as CEO and President of ITG, responsible for signing more than 50% of the agency's eighty, or more, clients, Forte resigned his position, sold his ownership and left the ITG partnership to set up a more personalized agency and consulting firm, Entourage Talent Associates, Ltd.

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Ben Shprits, Vice President
Ben graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics in January 2004. Ben's experience in the music business began while he was still in college working directly under partners Jeffrey Jacobson and Bruce Colfin at The Firm - Jacobson & Colfin, PC (the original "The Firm", a law firm). After leaving The Firm to explore other sectors of the business, Ben assisted Paula Amato at her boutique PR firm, PAI Media. Following graduation, Ben began managing two independent Artists full time, while also taking a stab at club concert promotion in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at Galapagos Art Space, under the moniker "Speakeasy Presents."

Through a mutual friend, Ben was introduced to Wayne Forte who was taken with his tenacity and natural salesmanship. Ben joined Entourage Talent as an agent in June 2004, booking the agency's developing clients. He soon developed many relationships for the agency as well as with new Artists and managers.

Through his diligence and tenacity, combined with the 'open' business atmosphere at Entourage, today Mr. Shprits is the 'go-to-guy' on most booking and new client matters.

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Jordana Freydberg, Dir. of Operations/Strategic Marketing & Partnerships
Jordana graduated from the Journalism School at University of Wisconsin Madison in 2003. While at UW, she worked in Marketing and Publicity at the Madison Civic Center (now the Overture Center for the Arts) and in Chicago for Carol Fox & Associates, where she executed marketing and PR for performing arts events. After graduation, Jordana moved to New York City and spent three years at ICM Artists, Ltd., where she assisted in the booking of classical, jazz, dance, and world music tours throughout the Midwest and West Coast. Jordana joined Entourage Talent in April 2006 as personal assistant to Wayne Forte, looking after day-to-day client matters as well as assisting with the booking, negotiating and coordinating of major client tours, marketing campaigns and all overseas business. Jordana is currently developing a new area of business and artist services for Entourage Talent while maintaining her role with clients and managers and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company.

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Parry Ernsberger, Assistant to Ben Shprits
While attending UNC-Chapel Hill, Parry got her first taste of the music industry as an intern at renowned indie label, YepRoc Records. Upon graduation in 2007, with a BA in Interpersonal Communications, she delved into the live touring/non-profit sector of the industry as an intern for "Rock the Earth" (an environmental advocacy organization that partners with musicians to spread awareness). Traveling all over the country on the Vans' Warped Tour with RtE, Parry helped to garner support from various communities, resulting in a $25,000 YouTube-sponsored donation to the organization.

Following the end of the tour, Parry moved to Denver, Colorado, where she began work as the Venue Communications Coordinator for Tsunami Publicity. She arrived in NYC in November 2008, and soon thereafter started at Entourage Talent Associates. She continues to serve as an 'Event Lead' for the the newly established New York City RtE volunteer program; and, thanks to Wayne and Jared, is learning the ways of soy milk, pistachio squares, and life without Diet Coke and smoking.

Omar Alvarado, Assistant to Wayne Forte
Omar graduated from The New School in 2006 with a dual degree in Jazz Performance (Vibraphone) and Liberal Arts (Political Science), and was awarded the 2005-2006 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s Award for his composition “Out of The Blue”. Over the next two years, he committed himself to his music, performing with jazz ensembles and his Afro-Cuban/Brazilian band “Grupo Monte NY”, as well as alt-country and hip-hop groups. For a young guy in the music industry, Omar has already experienced roles as a performing musician, composer, sound engineer, and tour manager. In 2008, Omar joined Mondo Mundo as an agent assistant, where he was lead Contracts Administrator, and served as tour manager for some of the agency’s clients. It was during this time that he led a high school trip to Cape Verde, Africa as the Music Teacher’s Assistant & Translator for the arts exchange program. Omar joined the Entourage Talent team in May 2009, aided by his music experience, world travel tendencies, and love of languages.

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