Wayne Forte & Entourage Talent Associates

Wayne Forte, President
Entourage Talent Associates, Ltd. is a talent agency and consulting firm, representing some twenty 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.

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 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 - 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 new approach to the business, Forte and a fellow WMA agent decided to start their own agency, and International Talent Group (ITG) was born, committed to breaking new artists and establishing 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 of them 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, 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 establishing and overseeing joint ventures for the business. One of the most successful of these was with the Labatt Entertainment Group, enabling the once fledgling agency and partners "with an idea" to realize many of their goals through the establishing of 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.

Since 1993, Entourage Talent Associates has helped to initiate, develop and maintain careers for clients (past and present) such as 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”.

While overseeing the agency's booking operations and providing client as well as outside consultation services to developing artists and managers, Forte has made a point of keeping operations streamlined in an effort to continue providing the agency's clients with personalized service and career guidance.

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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." Ben joined Entourage Talent as an agent in June 2004.

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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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Jared Shahid, Assistant to Wayne Forte
Jared graduated early from Hobart College in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. His entertainment career began immediately thereafter when he accepted a position at the historical Ridgefield Playhouse in Southern Connecticut, where he spent two years helping to establish The Playhouse as a frequent stop for entertainers of all genres and transforming a community P.A.C. into a landmark venue. Shortly thereafter, Jared relocated to New York City where he began managing Artists independently, while exploring other full-time employment opportunities. In May of 2008 Jared accepted a position and joined Entourage Talent full time as an assistant agent. (It should be known that Jared doesn't always speak in third person).

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Jules Astakhova, Assistant to Ben Shprits
Jules graduated from Hollins University in May of 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business and an emphasis on Communication & Technology. While working on her degree, Jules made her foray into the world of music promotion as a sophomore with an internship at Domino Records. From there she was selected to be part of the F.A.R.M. team at renowned lifestyle marketing firm, Cornerstone Promotions. By her senior year, Jules had sent out hundreds of press kits at Press Here Publicity and received her first taste of the live music industry as an assistant to a booking agent on the Lower East Side. In August of 2008, she joined Entourage Talent, where she has been engrossed in contracts and FileMaker ever since.

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