May 12, 2010 Press Release: Entertainment Partners Honored for Excellence by ESOP AssociationEntertainment Partners (EP) has been selected by The ESOP Association as its 2010 Employee Ownership Month Poster Contest Winner. The winning poster design was unveiled at the Association’s 33rd Annual Conference in Washington, DC, in front of 250 guests. The ESOP Association is the national trade association for companies with employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and the leading voice in America for employee ownership.
The poster was selected because of the idea it expressed: “My Company Your Company Our Company.” It will be used by the Association to promote employee ownership month, which takes place every October and is a celebration of the incredible spirit of employee ownership.
The company's efforts were also recognized by The ESOP Association as the first prize winner of the 2010 Total Communications Excellence, 501-1000 Employees Annual Award for Communications Excellence (AACE). The AACE Awards are sponsored each year by the Association to recognize the outstanding communications and educational programs of its members.
"What exciting recognition for our company," noted Ron Cogan, VP, Marketing and Communications at EP. "The support of our Executive Management and the talents of our ESOP Communications team created a winning formula for success."
AACE Award winners are chosen by a panel of five judges made up of both management and non-management employee owners, each of whom has demonstrated active experience and interest in the field of ESOPs and employee ownership.
The core cause of The ESOP Association is the belief that employee ownership will improve American competitiveness, increase productivity through greater employee participation, and strengthen our free enterprise economy.
January 22, 2010Press Release: "Movie Magic Contest Winner Headed to Sundance"Entertainment Partners (EP), a 100% employee owned company and the leading provider of payroll and production management solutions for the entertainment industry, announced today the winner of its “Make Movie Magic” contest.
Michael D Ellenbogen was awarded a trip for two to the 2010 Sundance Film Festival as the prize for his creative, one-minute short film, “Citizen Producer.” With four or five feature projects on his development slate, Ellenbogen will return to Park City for the fourth time in his film career. Past forays were as a producer of the indie hit Margarita Happy Hour in 2001, followed by two years as a programming director for various film festivals. His interests range across filmmaking, art consulting, event productions, photography, and fine chocolate.
“This is truly a career highlight,” notes Ellenbogen. “This little project reawakened the filmmaking beast that had been dormant for a year or more. It's something I am proud of because I had an idea, I found a great team of people, starting with my co-Producer and post-production guru Elliot Long, all located in the small town of Manchester, Vermont, and we made it happen.” True to the spirit of community in which the project was made, Bennington County Vermont State Senator Bob Hartwell plays a cameo role. The winning entry, “Citizen Producer,” can be viewed on YouTube.com and will also be screened at the New York Lounge, 545 Main Street, in Park City during the Festival.
EP recently released newly upgraded versions of both Movie Magic Budgeting and Movie Magic Scheduling, the industry’s most widely used production budgeting and scheduling applications. “We are delighted with the creativity Michael and his team managed to demonstrate while conveying how critical Movie Magic Budgeting and Scheduling are to effective production planning,” explained Ron Cogan, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Entertainment Partners. “This really exemplified the range of talent and engagement we see from our user base.”
October 2, 2009Press Release: "EP Named California/Western States ESOP Company of the Year"Entertainment Partners, a 100 percent employee owned company and the leading provider of payroll and production management solutions for the entertainment industry, has been selected by the ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) Association as the "California/Western States Chapter 2010 ESOP Company of the Year."
The announcement was made last week at the ESOP Association’s California/Western States Chapter Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. With this title, Entertainment Partners will be the Chapter’s nominee for the “National ESOP Company of the Year Award” at the May 2010 national conference in Washington, D.C. In addition to the top prize, Entertainment Partners was also recognized for Communications Excellence, and its ESOP Communications Committee leader Justin Standard, a senior programmer analyst, placed as a finalist for "Employee Owner of the Year."
The Award was based on an overall assessment of how Entertainment Partners, which became 100 percent employee owned in 2004, has developed a culture of employee ownership. Such factors as the company’s overall performance, client service excellence practices, and employee-run committees (including a New Hire Buddy Team, Our Voice Suggestion Box, and Green Committee), as well as a canned food drive and a wide variety of community-based support programs, played a key role in the Award selection. "The annual conferences are a great opportunity to share best practices with other employee owned companies," cites Ron Cogan, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Entertainment Partners and chair/advisor to its ESOP Committee, who accepted the Award on the company’s behalf. "We have learned from some of the best and are happy to pass on our best ideas."
In May, Entertainment Partners was named first runner-up in the Annual Awards for Communication Excellence by The ESOP Association. The ESOP Association, founded in 1978, is a national non-profit membership organization with 18 local Chapters, serving approximately 2,500 ESOP companies, professionals with a commitment to ESOPs, and companies considering the implementation of an ESOP. The Association is the only association devoted solely to ESOPs. Its primary areas of focus are promoting and enhancing laws before Congress and regulatory agencies and providing its members with educational ESOP programming and information. Each October, the Association and the employee ownership community celebrates the spirit of employee ownership "It is a tremendous honor to receive this recognition, and it encourages our employee owners to ask how each of us can play a greater role in impacting our success and the experience our clients receive," notes Entertainment Partners Chief Executive Officer, Markham L. Goldstein. "What a great way to kick off employee ownership month."
July 27, 2009The Wall Street JournalTitle: Czech Film Industry Hits a BumpEP Consultant Barbara Rosenfeld was quoted in The Wall Street Journal in an article entitled “Czech Film Industry Hits a Bump.”
July 24, 2009WSJ.comTitle: Czech Movie Industry Loses Business to HungaryEP Consultant Barbara Rosenfeld was quoted in a WJS.com article entitled “Czech Movie Industry Loses Business to Hungary.” The article highlighted George Lucas’ new Star Wars series and his ongoing search for film locations that offer both “the best crew coupled with the most tax incentives.”
June 24, 2009411 Publishing WebinarLA411.comTitle: Incentives 101: What Every Producer Needs to Know to Maximize Production IncentivesEP’s Production Incentives Group, in conjunction with 411 Publishing and the Producers Guild of America, held its first Webinar on June 24, 2009. This first in the series of six Webinars, moderated by Joe Chianese and entitled “What Every Producer Needs to Know to Maximize Production Incentives,” was a resounding success with approximately 600 registrants.
June 18, 2009P3Update.comTitle: California Locations ReceptionAn online article on P3Update.com, entitled “California Locations Reception,” acknowledged EP as the sole sponsor of the California Film Commissions’ event. The article highlighted California’s new production tax incentives program, as well as “hot” film locations.
June 16, 2009411 Publishing Press Release"What Every Producer Needs to Know to Maximize Production Incentives" 411 Publishing and the Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced their upcoming Webinar, "What Every Producer Needs to Know to Maximize Production Incentives," moderated by Joe Chianese. The free webinar will be held on Wednesday, June 24, at 11:00am PDT, and is open to anyone who registers.
June 2, 2009Press Release - “Production Incentives Awareness Month”EP declared June to be “Production Incentives Awareness Month.” The press release announced EP’s June lineup of events “to heighten industry awareness of the complex, critical topic of Production Incentives,” including the Produced By Conference, California Locations Reception Breakfast, and the Philadelphia Film Market.
May 29, 2009VarietyTitle: Koreatown looks to lure lensing, Recent renaissance could boost productionAs part of the article covering a location tour of Koreatown sponsored by LA’s Community Redevelopment Agency, Joe Chianese’s early May seminar “How Incentives Determine Locations,” sponsored by the Location Managers Guild of America, was spotlighted and Joe was quoted.
May 14, 2009The Hollywood ReporterTitle: Every little bit helps: Micro-incentives can put cities on the locations mapAn article entitled “Every little bit helps: Micro-incentives can put cities on the locations map,” reported on the recent boom of tax incentives, as well as California’s new tax credit program. Joe Chianese was quoted in the article on the components of different incentives.
May 6, 2009The ESOP Association Press Release"The ESOP Association Honors Members of Excellence in Employee Ownership Communications" The ESOP Association announced the 2009 winners of the Annual Awards for Communications Excellence (AACE). The annual AACE Awards recognizes the outstanding communications and educational programs of its members. In just the first year of competing, Entertainment Partners was named first runner up for the Total Communications Program Award.
March 19, 2009The Hollywood ReporterTitle: The industry fights on for USCEP was included in an article identifying high-profile companies and foundations that have donated finances, equipment, software, etc., to USC’s new state-of-the-art Cinematic Arts Complex.