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Area Assistant Vice President
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Glendale, Calif.

Broker Displays the Common Touch

Seth Cohen, account manager with Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services Inc., in Glendale, Calif., is known for relentless client service combined with extensive knowledge of the entertainment and media fields.

"In my business, I bombard the poor guy, but he's always able to put something together to make sure we're covered 100 percent," said Amy Griggs, executive in charge of production at 495 Productions, which produces reality television shows, including the high-profile "Jersey Shore."

"Over the years, reality television has changed but, with Seth's help, we've come up with some different insurance packages that aren't of the everyday norm," Griggs said. "We have to be covered with many layers, and Seth is always willing to hear us out and then get back to us as soon as possible."

Griggs noted that Cohen is invariably one step ahead of her on insurance matters. "It's especially good that they've got our back because we're moving so fast." "Seth was instrumental in helping us put together a program to cover all of the shows that we produce for our media network channels," said the director of risk management at a large, global media company said. "To date we have hundreds of productions in this program."

A key to Cohen's success in bringing this insurance program to fruition was that he relates to all types of people, said the risk management director.

"Not only does Seth talk with the production people but he deals with the people in the networks and then with us," he said.

Assistant Vice President
Marsh, New York

A Clutch Performer

Diana Jin, assistant vice president for Marsh Inc. in New York, is a clutch performer who is an expert on an array of subjects.

"We were acquired in the middle of last summer and that required that Diana structure both a go-forward program for the new owners as well as structuring the role forward for the old owners," said Chris Papandrew, vice president and assistant treasurer at Warner Music Group.

That meant "a lot of back and forth" for Jin as she was forced to deal with multiple markets on short notice.

"Diana is always responsive," he said. "She does quality analysis and presentations, and if you have any changes her updates are immediate."

At AOL Inc., Nancy Perkins, director of insurance and risk management, said "We work with Diana a great deal on our directors' and officers' coverage, and she's involved in our crime insurance and employment practice policies as well."

"Diana is a great communicator," Perkins said. "We have a prerenewal strategy meeting in late summer in advance of our December renewal. In this prerenewal strategy meeting she lays out where the market is at and what we can expect from a pricing standpoint."

"We came up with some really good strategies for our last renewal and we actually saved 4.8 percent in a market that is definitely starting to harden," Perkins also said.

Managing Director
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Glendale, Calif.

Broker Delivers a Better Script

Last June, under the leadership of Managing Director Brian M. Kingman, Gallagher Entertainment purchased the majority of the assets of Aon/Albert G. Ruben Insurance Services in England, acquiring eight of the top entertainment and media brokers in that country.

This deal linked the European media tent pole of Gallagher Entertainment with Gallagher Los Angeles to make it the largest entertainment broker in the world by premium under management. Future plans for Gallagher Entertainment include a major team addition in New York and growing the global entertainment practice in Asia and Europe.

"He's so knowledgeable compared to the other insurance brokers I've dealt with in the past," said a vice president at a film company. "He is exceptionally thorough and goes above and beyond for us. He's not afraid, if the situation requires it, to get tough with people and he is very effective at it."

This executive cited a case in which she was having difficulty with a broker on a show which had a significant claim attached to it.

"We were using a broker we were not comfortable with, but for a while we had to use this broker because he was the broker for our partner in the production," said the executive. Kingman was eventually asked to step in, which he did. "No one was really advocating for us, but Brian took it upon himself to resolve the matter."

"Brian really understands production," added another film industry executive. "He knows the jargon. He can advise us on the specifics of any movie."

Managing Director
Momentous Insurance Brokerage, Van Nuys, Calif.

Broker Star of the Insurance Program

Christie Mattull is a skilled relationship manager who is also adept at ironing out major wrinkles in contract negotiations.

For example, Mattull had a client last year who was making a documentary on a well-known entertainment figure. Mattull and her team bound the policy at standard minimum limits of $1 million to $3 million. But when a big studio got involved and wanted to distribute it, the celebrity's estate initially tried to prevent the client from making use of the film footage.

When the estate finally agreed it then mandated a $10 million errors and omissions policy, but the insurance company refused to handle the higher limits, putting the project in jeopardy.

Mattull's solution was to get all the parties into a viewing room to watch the film. Based upon that meeting, all parties felt comfortable with the project and agreed to a primary layer with a $5 million limit. Mattull was then able to secure an excess placement of $5 million.

"Christie is very good at guiding her clients," said Matthew Leonetti Jr., executive vice president of physical production at Mandate Pictures. "She's very accessible, very knowledgeable, and her service is outstanding." Carolyn Napp, director of risk management at DreamWorks Studios, said Mattull "helped achieve excellent renewals for us, giving us enhancements at a good premium."

Napp said Mattull was "always forthcoming with information."

"She has the highest degree of honesty and integrity, and she is always thinking of the best solutions for me," Napp said. "She is always on top of things."

Client Executive & Senior Vice President
Marsh, Los Angeles

The Pain Reliever

Maureen McDonald, client executive and senior vice president for Marsh Inc. in Los Angeles, maintains a reputation of being highly knowledgeable and a hard-driving deal maker.

"Recently Maureen helped us resolve a complex claim," said the vice president of risk management at a major entertainment company. "It was a copyright infringement claim that was in litigation and Maureen helped me work with the carrier to settle it out of court, saving money, frustration and time."

"Maureen is reliable and has a great sense of urgency," this risk manager also said. "She's thorough and detail oriented, but she can see the big picture at the same time. She has a great knowledge base."

Steve Condiotti, vice president of finance and chief accounting officer at Lucasfilm Ltd., said that his company had a recent incident in which he had to reach McDonald at night and she was back to him the next day to begin working on the solution.

"When you're dealing with a crisis, you get off the phone with Maureen and you say, 'You know that's not really that bad,' " he said.

In one case, McDonald was able to bring the insurance group of a large media company together with the employee benefits division of a sister company.

"Maureen was able to make sure the benefits side got the same level of service that the media company was getting from the Marsh side," said the media company's director of risk management.

Managing Director
Aon, New York

Skinning the Cat

George Walden's extensive experience and generosity in sharing his knowledge often leads to new business for the managing director of Aon/Albert G. Ruben.

"When you have a conversation with George you know that he's not trying to sell you insurance," said Kenneth J. Karole, president of Eagle Risk Management Services Inc., a Denville, N.J.-based risk management insurance consultancy. "He's looking to share his knowledge with you without any ulterior motive."

"George would be a person I would not hesitate to go to on any level to ask advice and brainstorm as a peer rather than just a broker," said Karole. He and Walden regularly include each other in business deals that one or the other brings to the table, Karole said.

In the past year, a start-up client of Walden's needed to construct a guarantee to support a multimillion-dollar sports and entertainment financing deal. The guarantee could not be in the traditional form of a surety bond, but only as an insurance cover.

Walden's team built financial assessments underwriting guidelines and protocols, manuscripted an insurance policy, and found the supporting insurance and reinsurance to hedge against a shortfall in revenue. The solution resulted in a billion-dollar alternative financing facility for the insured.

"What I like best about George is his willingness and his ability to think outside of the box, to try to consider new and better ways to skin the cat," said Greg Goetz, director of risk management at Scripps Networks Interactive.

"In terms of knowledge of entertainment and media insurance coverage, I would say George is as good as they get."

Director, Global Entertainment Practice
Aon Risk Solutions
Charlotte, NC

Vice President
Marsh
New York, NY

Vice President
Marsh
New York, NY