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CEO
Aon
Atlanta

At the ripe young age of 40, Joe Addison last year was named CEO of Aon Entertainment Group. In his new role, Atlanta-based Addison handles all his previous responsibilities as managing director of Aon Entertainment, plus newly created oversight of the film and television unit, Aon/Albert G. Ruben.

Clients said Addison is an imposing executive, with the heft of a former football player but the patient, friendly manner of a born marketer and leader. He is known for his ability to readily understand complex issues and break them down into clearly understandable terms for his clients.

Addison is also known for the wide range of entertainment areas he covers with breadth and depth¿hospitality and leisure, media and sports/events among others. "He understands all the niches of the entertainment fields," said one large, diverse client.

As a leader, Addison is seen as being particularly adept at marshalling the worldwide resources of Aon. "He is an excellent coordinator," said one client in the media and sports marketing realm that holds events around the world.

In just the first nine months of 2007, Addison's team of more than 100 brokers and risk experts surpassed its annual goal for new business development and was on track to be more than 50 percent ahead of any previous year.

Addison and his group encountered a unique challenge in 2007, which came with a major client under new management. The company had significantly changed its business structure over the course of the year, transitioning from a traditional sports and events organization to a media and reality TV company.

Managing Director
Marsh
Los Angeles

Los Angeles-based John Hamby is an elite switch-hitter¿by turns the gifted managing director and global entertainment practice leader for Marsh USA, as well as handling his own portfolio on big-dollar accounts.

One of the top underwriters in the media and entertainment business, who has worked with a plethora of brokers, said Hamby is very high on the integrity scale. In addition, he is extremely knowledgeable on both the client side and the underwriter side and good to work with. One long-time major client described Hamby's leadership ability as "outstanding."

In the past year, Hamby and his entertainment team has successfully negotiated, among other major deals, a consolidated media liability program for one of the largest cable broadcasting companies in the world, and a multiyear casualty program for a large entertainment client.

The latter is considered groundbreaking as these multiyear programs have not generally been available for many years, and this breakthrough is seem by Hamby as paving the way for reintroducing this product offering. In the past year, Hamby and his team have also racked up big gains in the growth of the firm¿s Advertising Wrap Up division.

In addition, in the three years since Hamby joined Marsh from Aon/Albert G. Ruben, where he worked for 25 years, he has strengthened the group's colleague base around the world to include Los Angeles, New York, Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Toronto, London, Puerto Rico and Paris. Hamby¿s group has doubled in staff size and increased revenue by 50 percent.

Director of Sales
Strategic Account Management
Aon/Albert G. Ruben
Los Angeles

Ask anybody who knows Aon/Albert G. Ruben's Brian Kingman: Which end of a business table would the broker gravitate to if one end of the table was taken up with fun and frivolity and the other end was consumed by business talk?

They'll respond that it isn't even a question. "I work to put food on the table," said a high-ranking executive at a major media company. "Brian does it because he loves it."

Overriding everything for Kingman, who has been at Albert G. Ruben his entire 29-year career, is his passion for the entertainment brokerage business.

"Brian has extensive experience in all aspects of entertainment insurance, including motion picture and television insurance, and coverage for concerts and venue, music, music videos, animation and home video production," said one top industry executive. "He is a problem-solver and has the unique ability to successfully address complex situations with positive results. "Whether insuring sets for locations in Miami during the hurricane season or providing political risk coverage for foreign filming activities, Brian knows the insurance marketplace and delivers the insurance products vital to a production company," the executive said.

A key accomplishment for Kingman in 2007 was helping the company expand into the Chinese market. Under Kingman's leadership, Aon opened an office in Beijing, making it the first entertainment risk broker to do business in the region.

Senior Vice President
Media Liability National Practice Leader
Marsh
Kansas City, Mo.

When it comes to errors & omissions and intellectual-property issues, no doubt the leading innovator is Marsh's Chad Milton.

"He has a huge knowledge base," said a 15-year leader of the risk management group of a major multimedia company. But Milton's great gift is that he is a great communicator. "He takes some of the complexities out of the issues he deals with and brings them down to the level of editors, financial representatives and risk management people."

Milton is also a highly creative intellectual. "He's always coming up with new things," said a litigator at a nonfiction media company. Over the past three years, and especially the past one, Milton and colleague Marcia Rutledge have worked closely to restructure the client's E&O program, which resulted in a very large cost savings.

"He is a great teacher," said the client. "I like his low-keyness. He is warm and very thoughtful. He's always available and accessible. As a result, our E&O policy and language are in the best shape they¿ve ever been in."

In 2007, Milton and his team brought to market a new policy called Corporate Expression. Underwritten by Axis, it protects companies outside the media industry sector from media-related liabilities like copyright and trademark infringement and defamation.

The policy addresses two gaps in coverage: first, nonmedia companies taking on media-related exposures; and second, the commercial general liability advertising injury coverage for these perils, which is becoming more restrictive.

President
D.R. Reiff & Associates
New York

Dennis Reiff, president of New York-based D.R. Reiff & Associates, is a towering figure in the world of errors & omissions and other media and entertainment insurance brokerage. He has been for years. At 60-something, Reiff is not resting on his laurels.

Specializing in placing difficult E&O insurance for controversial documentaries and films including "Sicko," "Supersize Me," and "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing," his firm currently has arranged insurance for clients going to Afghanistan, Africa and South America.

Reiff & Associates currently is insuring an environmental documentary shot around the world. "There's no task that is too difficult for Dennis," said the president of a New York film company who has worked with him for 15 years. "Last fall, when we were filming ... we ran into a lot trials and tribulations. Throughout it all, Dennis made me feel very protected. He's got the calmest energy about him."

Another client, an executive at a firm that represents high-end photographers, said of Reiff: "He is absolutely available. I have his cell phone number, and I can call him at any time. He's always very personal and he can dumb it down for me." Added the client, "Everything in our industry has to get done on a two-week cycle. Dennis knows how to get things done quickly. He gives us a lot of added value."

At a nonprofit dedicated to filmmaking, which Reiff has worked with for 20 some years, the executive director said, "He is a true friend of the independent filmmaker. Hundreds of our member filmmakers have used his counsel."

CEO
Aon/Albert G. Ruben
New York

This past year was another important milestone for the career of George Walden, now CEO of Aon/Albert G. Ruben Insurance Services. In 2007, he was named to his new position, in which he leads a group of 120 people around the world.

A veteran of the brokerage business, Walden is beloved by his clients. They delight in talking about what a mensch he is and about his office in New York that is full, not of photos of presidents and generals, but of off-beat momentos and tchotchkes of a vast variety of entertainment and media-realm projects he has made happen in his illustrious career.

"He's as good as they come," said one high-ranking executive at one of the biggest and best carriers in the country.

"His basics of knowledge and expertise are second to none," said a risk management executive at a major media company. "He has dealt with all conceivable scenarios. His overall experience prequalifies him to deal with any situation that comes up."

By his own account, Walden has a "unique" management style. He likes to constantly shake things up and push the envelope. "He¿s a lot of fun. He sets a fast pace for employees and clients alike," said one admiring client.

"He's absolutely creative. He should have worked in an advertising agency. He is up-front and totally out-of-the-box."

Said another client: "George is completely frank and on target. He has an unabashed ability to tell the truth. If he says it's going to happen, it's going to happen." Added this client, "He's innovative about problem-solving. He's very personable, and he treats you fairly and honestly."