00:00I'm so happy to be here today.
00:03I met John McElwee, he's of course videoing this,
00:08at a party on a Friday,
00:11and we talked a bit about possibly working together.
00:14I let Saturday go by, but I called him first thing on Sunday morning,
00:19and he said, hey buddy, what took you so long?
00:22He's the one person I know that I can text at 6 a.m.,
00:25and I know that he will be up and at him,
00:27probably has been to the gym, probably did some things over in Europe,
00:31and I know that he will return my text immediately,
00:35sometimes even before I hit send.
00:39Now when I think about what John McElwee gets done in a day,
00:42it makes me want to take a good long nap.
00:45He's smart as hell.
00:47He is the most optimistic person I have ever met.
00:51He adores his clients.
00:53He sees everybody's TV shows, their movies, their commercials.
00:56He comes to every theater thing I do,
00:58and he's always in the audience cheering me on,
01:01and he deeply loves this business.
01:04He is a fan, and he's also the biggest name dropper I've ever met.
01:10But he goes above and beyond for his clients.
01:14He's also traveling the world with his wonderful husband, Bill,
01:17and they're restoring architectural treasures all over the country,
01:22going on adventure after adventure.
01:24And because he is of such a go-go nature,
01:27he has energy to do it all.
01:29He has the energy to fully enjoy it all.
01:31He embraces it all.
01:33He carpe diems the shit out of life.
01:35But what I love most about John is when I present him with something
01:41that truly confounds me, which is a very easy thing to do,
01:46and he says to me, easy peasy.
01:50It makes my heart melt, and I thank the good Lord for this man.
01:55Ladies and gentlemen, I give you this year's Hollywood Reporter sexiest.
01:59Did I say sexy?
02:00Business Manager Icon Award winner and all-round great guy, John McAuley.
02:27Hello, everybody.
02:28Thank you for coming.
02:31Obviously, this is a big deal for all of us.
02:36I needed something mindless to do this morning,
02:38so I want to start off by thanking City National, Agilink,
02:43and Exactuals for being able to do direct deposits on SAG residuals,
02:48and I sat down and recorded all of our SAG residuals this morning.
02:50So I felt very productive, kept my mind off my speech coming here today
02:54because I'm so excited.
02:55I have been doing this for 34 years,
02:59and I want to just say that I absolutely love my job.
03:02I get up every day about 5.30.
03:05Jan and I are texting.
03:06She's got a couple of questions, so I answer questions, whatever.
03:09I can do some things in the morning.
03:11I get to go to the gym.
03:12We have this amazing ability now with this technology
03:15to be able to work from anywhere, enjoy yourselves,
03:18but also be incredibly productive.
03:20I went out last night with a couple of friends from London,
03:25a couple of actors,
03:26and the girl that I was with,
03:29oh, John, congratulations on this.
03:31This is so exciting.
03:33And she was on the big award circuit last year.
03:36So she was going to all the award ceremonies and things.
03:39She said, oh, so what's this Hollywood Reporter icon thing?
03:41So is it a big, is it a dinner?
03:43Are you going to do a dinner tomorrow?
03:45I was like, no, no, it's not a dinner.
03:46Oh, it's a luncheon.
03:48You guys are going to do a luncheon.
03:49This is so exciting.
03:50Are you going to lunch somewhere?
03:52I said, no, actually, it's a breakfast.
03:54And she kind of looked at me,
03:55and they were kind of just dumbfounded by this breakfast.
03:57I said, listen, I said, we all take it very seriously.
04:00It's 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
04:02It's enough time that you can call City National.
04:06Their elite line is open at 6 a.m.
04:08But we can all get back and do our international wire approvals.
04:12So we really love, actually, this event
04:14because we all kind of take it seriously.
04:17I wanted to write my speech down
04:20because there's nothing that people want to see
04:24more than a rambling business manager.
04:26So thank you so much to the Hollywood Reporter
04:29for this amazing honor.
04:30I've really taken this business manager event seriously
04:32for the last 14 years.
04:35I've always got my headshots in on time.
04:37I try and come up with interesting quotes
04:39for the articles.
04:41What you don't know about me
04:43is that I love award shows.
04:45And I get to go with clients.
04:48My husband, Bill, has won a couple of Tonys.
04:49I get to go to the Tony Awards.
04:50I'm super excited about that.
04:52I'm a great plus one.
04:54I can talk to anybody.
04:55I'm having a good time.
04:56I have a good suit.
04:57I have a good time.
05:00I kind of think of this event
05:03as the Oscars of business managers
05:05because there's so many other industries
05:08that get all of these awards
05:09and kind of accolades, and we don't.
05:11So I take this very seriously.
05:13I think everybody in this room
05:14does an incredible job
05:15for all of the work that we do for our clients.
05:17And I know everybody that I've talked to,
05:20especially today,
05:22really genuinely enjoys this.
05:24So thank you so much for the Hollywood Reporter.
05:26A couple years ago,
05:27my friend Harley Newman was honored with,
05:30I think it was the first Icon Award.
05:32And it was such an inspiration to me
05:34because of his drive and his success,
05:36but also because he got a beautiful watch as a gift.
05:41So let's see where the day takes us.
05:43I want to jump right in with the thank yous.
05:47First and foremost, my mother, Ellen,
05:49who's up here from San Diego.
05:54My mom and my family gave me the opportunity
05:56to grow and flourish in San Diego.
05:58I attended public schools.
06:00I was able to develop the skills
06:01that I think carried me through my life.
06:03So I love you, Mom.
06:04Thank you for all the sacrifices you made for me.
06:06Over here is one of my longtime clients,
06:12Annabeth Gish.
06:13Annabeth and I have worked together
06:15between 25 and 30,
06:16it might be 30 years.
06:18So it was right when she started acting at seven,
06:21which was great.
06:23So we've had a good time together.
06:26The incredible Jane Lynch.
06:28We've had a good time together.
06:30And if you've watched
06:31Only Murders in the Building,
06:32then you know
06:33what good business manager
06:34doesn't need a stunt double
06:36in his back pocket.
06:40My husband, Bill Dimashki,
06:42who unfortunately couldn't be here today,
06:44he's in London,
06:45for all of the support
06:47and all of the missed holidays
06:49that we've experienced over year-end.
06:52Bill's president of Warner Brothers Animation,
06:54also producing two Broadway shows.
06:56So when he suggested
06:58he should fly home for the event,
06:59I did as any good business manager would do
07:01and say,
07:02honey, just stay there, keep working.
07:06On to my amazing team,
07:08without who I would not be standing here,
07:10we have Alex Grissom,
07:11who took a leap of faith with me
07:14back in 2019
07:15when we started our current firm.
07:18December 2019 almost killed us.
07:21We had a new city national bank platform.
07:23We converted to Agilink.
07:27It was year-end.
07:29We had all of our clients' addresses
07:30and updates to do.
07:32And we somehow managed to get through that month.
07:35And what was critical about that was
07:36by doing it in 2019,
07:38it made 2020 perfect.
07:41So it couldn't have happened
07:43in a better time
07:44in advance of the pandemic.
07:46Jason Kazan,
07:48dare I say the best tax man in Hollywood.
07:51Okay?
07:52Jason has such a dry sense of humor
07:53and is so friendly,
07:54we actually look forward to tax season.
07:59Matt Salmerin over here,
08:01who was a senior payroll specialist
08:03at Paychex.
08:04And I will tell you,
08:05having an in-house payroll whiz is gold.
08:07Kathy Demashke,
08:10who works out of Chicago,
08:11she's a paralegal.
08:12She's in charge of all of our compliance
08:14and insurance.
08:16And I can safely say
08:17that between she and myself,
08:18we know more than anybody
08:19at any of the guild's eligibility departments.
08:23I really embraced
08:25having an office atmosphere
08:26where everybody can enjoy themselves
08:27and have a fantastic work-life balance.
08:30I'll give you a perfect example.
08:31So Matt just had a baby.
08:33And I said,
08:34Matt, why don't you take
08:35a couple of months off,
08:36really be home with your family,
08:37your girlfriend,
08:39enjoy the baby.
08:40So about 10 days later,
08:41Matt shows up at the office.
08:43I said,
08:43Matt, what are you doing here?
08:44He said,
08:44I came in because I needed some rest.
08:49So we have a good time working together.
08:54One of the things
08:55I've always respected
08:56about the Hollywood Reporter
08:57is that they take this issue
08:58very seriously.
09:00I believe that they really consider
09:01what's good for our industry
09:02and carefully think through this process.
09:04I would especially like
09:05to acknowledge THR this year
09:06for recognizing someone
09:07like myself and my firm.
09:09Although we were a small boutique agency,
09:11firms like ours represent
09:13a large portion
09:14of the entertainment industry.
09:15Whether it's a large firm
09:16or a small firm,
09:17all of us come to work every day
09:18and try to make the world
09:19a better place for our clients.
09:20I believe culture starts at the top.
09:24I've always strived
09:24to treat my clients
09:25and my coworkers
09:26with the ultimate respect.
09:27I don't have any employees.
09:28I only have coworkers
09:29because I believe
09:31that we're all in this together
09:32and we all have a vested interest
09:33in being successful.
09:36The last couple of years
09:37have been a lot to process.
09:38Pandemic,
09:39the strike,
09:40the general contraction
09:41of the industry.
09:42On top of that,
09:43shrinking resources
09:44across the board.
09:45In my life,
09:46in my work,
09:47I've always strived
09:47to create win-win situations.
09:50A successful negotiation
09:51doesn't mean
09:51somebody else has to lose.
09:54All of our jobs
09:55have gotten so much harder.
09:57Compliance at the bank level,
09:58restrictive insurance markets,
10:00medical coverage qualifications.
10:02Technology is amazing
10:03when it works
10:03and catastrophic
10:04when it doesn't.
10:06We often discuss
10:07it's a blessing
10:08and a curse
10:08being good at our jobs
10:09because sometimes
10:11a client might not see
10:12that there are nine steps
10:13that we have done
10:14and dealt with
10:15some difficult situations
10:16to get it
10:17to that tenth step.
10:19So not really
10:20is all the work
10:20that was required
10:21is a little bit
10:22of our unsung hero situation
10:25because we really appreciate
10:26being able to do all this
10:27so when it gets to a client
10:28they think that
10:28it's been done correctly
10:31the whole time.
10:33In May of 2020,
10:35I read an article
10:35in the Wall Street Journal
10:36by Esther Perel
10:37that really stuck with me.
10:40She's a New York-based therapist
10:41and described
10:42the unbelievable fear
10:43and anxiety
10:43of living in lockdown,
10:45having her life
10:46and all of her future plans
10:48upended.
10:49It took some time
10:50but she was able
10:50to reframe
10:51this unknown fear
10:52into optimism.
10:54Instead of fearing the future,
10:56why not be excited
10:56about the undiscovered opportunities?
10:59What amazing things
11:00are out there
11:00that we don't know yet?
11:01Yes, there's fear
11:02and anxiety in the world
11:03and you can't ignore it
11:04but instead,
11:06I choose to acknowledge
11:06and embrace it
11:07and all the unknown discoveries
11:08that await.
11:10Be excited about
11:11what you don't know.
11:12Be excited about
11:13what could be better.
11:14We have a saying
11:15around the office
11:16which is
11:17it's been done that way
11:19because it's always
11:20been done that way.
11:21So why can't
11:21if there's a different opportunity
11:22do something
11:23that makes something better?
11:25Anyway,
11:26thank you again
11:27to everybody in this room.
11:28I think we're the unsung heroes
11:29of the entertainment industry.
11:31Keeping clients
11:32on the right path
11:33in this wild world
11:34of culture and politics
11:35as it relates
11:35to finance and freedom
11:36of expression
11:37can be a struggle
11:38but a necessary one.
11:40Also,
11:40when are we finally
11:41going to get
11:41our own IMDB category?
11:43So in closing,
11:49I would just like
11:50to thank everybody here.
11:51This means a tremendous
11:51amount to me.
11:53I take
11:54what we do
11:56so seriously
11:56and I have
11:58it's a pleasure
11:59to work with all my clients
11:59and my co-workers
12:01and congratulations
12:02to all of you.
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