Should I buy a private jet? Can I write off the white tigers? Is it time to sell my catalog, or pull money out of AI? For business managers on this year’s list, there’s no question they aren’t prepared to answer. Overseeing the fortunes of Hollywood’s top stars and industry players, they help decide whether it makes sense to sign that next contract, install a helipad at the house or move abroad. Sometimes the job means delivering unwelcome advice (like keeping six months’ expenses in reserve instead of springing for a Rolls). Other times it means racing through a storm to a client locked out of their house, getting ordained to officiate a marriage or being the first call when it falls apart. For these money managers, the work goes well beyond taxes and spreadsheets.
Robert Abramowitz, Edward Eschleman, Craig Manzino and Jason Zayon
Armanino Advisory LLC
Eschleman says rising gas prices have strained touring budgets, so the focus this year has been on revising projections on take-home. Manzino adds, “There’s so much uncertainty in the industry, including around AI, that clients are much more thoughtful and looking for real guidance, not just someone to execute what they’ve already decided.”
IMPACT OF AI Manzino: “AI is a force multiplier. The artists and creators who embrace it thoughtfully will have an enormous advantage.”
David Altman and Anthony Bonsignore
Altman, Greenfield & Selvaggi
Both partners have a heavy portfolio of A-list clients whom they assist on a daily basis. “I get to touch on so many aspects of my clients’ lives, which means no day is ever the same,” says Altman (clients: Donald Glover, David Benioff, D.B. Weiss). “Our clients really appreciate everything we do for them, and that’s the most rewarding part,” adds Bonsignore (Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Sterling K. Brown).
Howard Altman, Corey Barash, Warren Grant, Kim Ibrahim, Zoe Lawrence and Fran Wild
Grant Tani Barash & Altman
Altman has spent more than 36 years honing his craft, which is why many A-list clients turn to the firm for top-notch accounting, tax services and more. Because he and his partners work with A-listers (no naming names here), “there’s a complexity to everything on this level, with access and opportunity greater than the average client,” he says. “The scope of what you have to become an expert in tends to be bigger.”
Marie Ambrosino
Gursey | Schneider
Ambrosino says she entered the field by chance in 1984 when “people started referring clients to me for accounting and personal home management. My business grew from a position of integrity and referrals.” For clients such as Jason Bateman, Mindy Kaling and Seth MacFarlane, Ambrosino offers “a sense of caring and empathy. I treat my business and my clients like they’re my family.”
SAGEST ADVICE “Pay yourself first. Continue to invest, be wise with philanthropy and please stop loaning money to people who will never pay you back.”
Belva Anakwenze
Abacus Financial Business Management
An advocate for small firms, Anakwenze has provided personalized service to clients for more than 25 years. Forging her own path (she became a skilled accountant after graduating from UCLA), Anakwenze did a short stint at Disney and went out on her own, starting with NBA clients. “I’m proud of what I’ve been able to build, and that I’ve done it my way,” she says of helping clients like showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll and host Kevin Frazier understand contracts and the value of budgeting. “I want to make sure your kids can go to college. I want to make sure you’re able to retire.”
SAGEST ADVICE “Budget for the job you have, not the job you hope is coming. The time between projects is longer than it’s been in years. Every client should have a cash reserve.”
Brett Anderson, Jared Kroll and Rachel Martinez
Ground Control Business Management
Kroll says what sets their firm apart is its proactive, 360-degree approach, with each client getting assigned a team: “It’s all hands on deck, all the time.” Anderson says this year’s challenges included talking clients out of relying on AI tax info: “It cannot replace advice grounded in a client’s complete financial picture.” Martinez, who works with Quinta Brunson and Emma Chamberlain, says the biggest reward is “helping clients achieve financial goals they never even thought were possible.”
MOST OUTLANDISH REQUEST Anderson: “To have her ashes scattered among a wolf pack in the Pacific Northwest. When that presented legal complications, she pivoted to a specific pride of lions in South Africa.”
Alex Baharestani
Baharestani & Ritt LLP
Advising A-list actors, best-selling authors and film producers on working across multiple states and countries (from minimizing taxes to optimizing credits), Baharestani aims for longevity. “Careers evolve, markets change, and opportunities come and go,” he says. “Lasting wealth gives you the freedom to make decisions based on what you want to do, not what you need to do.”
IMPACT OF AI “AI’s greatest value lies in its ability to increase efficiency and expand creative possibilities. We encourage clients to view AI through this lens.”
Tyson Beem, Enza Cohn, Andrew Crow, Shane Glass and Melissa Morton
Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman
While based in Los Angeles, the firm has offices spanning New York, Boston, Nashville, Toronto and London, which allows the partners to be on hand at any hour. Their clients “are working everywhere, and things don’t just happen when you’re sitting at your desk in the office,” offers CEO Beem. As more stars build non-traditional ventures, the team focuses on creating cutting-edge opportunities to push financial futures forward.
Evan Bell and Liza de Leon
Bell and Company
Bell and de Leon work with a list of top directors and actors as well as a growing list of influencers. Their clients include Baz Luhrmann, Steven Soderbergh, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Robert Eggers, Hannah Bronfman, DJ Pauly D and Logan Moffitt. Despite any industry downturns, Bell says business managers are going to be the “last people on the boat”: “We handle their money and at the end of the day, that’s really the most important thing.”
Eric Binder, Mark Landesman, Scott Landesman, Jessica Mooney and Paul Zukowsky
ML Management
Scott Landesman and the ML team pride themselves on telling their clients — James Cameron, Chris Rock, Tina Fey, Ryan Reynolds — the truth about their finances, good or bad. And they believe they’re seeing the “light at the end of the tunnel” with the downturn bringing new opportunities (e.g., comedy clients pivoting to podcasting). Fun fact: Longtime client Arsenio Hall handed his first big paycheck to founder Mark L. to invest, as told in Hall’s recent memoir.
Andrew B. Blackman, Wesley Childs and Rob Grubman
Schulman Lobel Advisors
The trio build personal relationships with clients ranging from Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony winners to world-champion athletes. “You’re so deep in their finances and their everyday lives, you become a friend, a confidant, a family member,” says Childs. “We’re the first person that they call,” Grubman adds. “They tell us everything, even things we don’t want to hear.” Blackman says creative undertakings weren’t his “forte, but I realized I could help people like this, and I found that interesting and exciting.”
David Bolno, Bernie Gudvi, Michael Karlin, Thomas Kingsley, Steve Landau, Mickey Segal and Dian Vaughn
NKSFB
“It’s a great thing to land a big client, but you need to have the capacity to service them,” Karlin says about NKSFB being one of the largest firms in the sector. Beyond its “deep bench” of expertise, the firm has specific departments dedicated to royalties, tax and touring. The latter’s budgets and real-time tracking aid decision-making when weighing production costs versus profits. The firm also presents unique private equity investment opportunities, drawing on relationships built over decades.
MOST OUTLANDISH REQUEST Segal: “We had a director filming in New York that was supposed to be a one-week job. It turned out to be a three-week job and he said, ‘I cannot survive without my dog!’ We personally delivered the dog first class.”
Julie Boos and Jen Conger
FBMM
This duo handled a combined $400 million in revenue this past year on behalf of their entertainment clients. For Boos, that included global tours, eight-figure catalog sales and multiple Las Vegas residencies. For Conger, it meant supporting a diverse portfolio, from tours to private equity ventures to an apparel launch. “When I think I’m going in to the office to work on a project that day, it rarely happens,” she says, “there are problem-solving surprises. I never get bored.”
MOST FREQUENT REQUEST Boos: “To provide a ballpark valuation of their catalog or my opinion on a private equity opportunity.”
Jason Brown, Anna DerParseghian and Leo Jenkins
PTD Business Management
Brown joined in 2008, shortly after the firm’s founding. Its roster now spans actors, athletes and musicians, and last year, DerParseghian was honored as a THR Business Manager Icon. Brown says the unpredictability of the work has taught him one essential skill: Never be reactive. “I don’t want to spiral clients out in a different direction, so I listen, process my thoughts and then give something hopefully constructive,” Brown says.
Matthew Burke
Mercer Advisors
Producers, directors and executives on such hit shows such as The Pitt, Bridgerton and The Morning Show turn to Burke for clarity and confidence regarding options and what comes next. He says he encourages his creatives to “lean into your authentic presence more than ever,” and loves that his work “has provided a fulfilling life of compassionately helping others.”
MOST OUTLANDISH REQUEST “I once became an ordained online minister to marry a client in my office. An extraordinarily touching experience.”
Douglas Cammarano, Jean Lee, Matthew Segreto, Craig Tessler and Jeff Yamashita
Citrin Cooperman
This elite team with a focus on customer service prioritizes giving their A-list clients — Ana de Armas, Martin Scorsese, Tom Cruise, James Gunn, Jeremy Allen White — specialized industry expertise for making those critical decisions about finances. Partners like Yamashita, who has clocked more than 30 years in the biz, draw on deep knowledge across industries and markets to manage investments, so clients can focus on what matters most: the performance.
Steven J. Campeas
SJC Business Management
A theater major in college, Campeas was drawn to working with entertainers like John Stamos, Rebecca Romijn, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Kevin and Julie Abbott. Drama aside, this knowledgeable CPA knows how to navigate mutating tax rules and regulations. “My style is firm but always respectful,” Campeas says. “I always try to stay ahead of the client, because it’s our job to solve any problems.”
MOST OUTLANDISH REQUEST “Buying a helicopter and constructing a helipad at their house … in the Hollywood Hills!”
Carrie Casden
Summit Financial Management
“What sets our firm apart is that we take the time to understand each client’s personal money story: their patterns, habits and emotional relationship with money,” says Casden, also a certified money coach. She has clients start the year by ranking values and priorities, then reviews their spending against the list throughout the year. She says the practice helps clients stay more mindful and intentional: “With influencers in particular, I emphasize that building real wealth takes consistency and patience, even when income arrives quickly.”
MOST FREQUENT REQUEST “Since COVID, private aviation. Clients who were once perfectly happy flying first class now want added privacy and convenience.”
Mark Cattalini, Charles Clancy, Mark Friedman, Matt Lichtenberg, John Rigney and Paul Ta
Level Four Business Management
The guiding principle at Level Four has always been to do “what is in the client’s best interest,” Cattalini says. “If you can follow that, you’re going to do well by your clients.” For Samuel L. Jackson, Jim Carrey, Quentin Tarantino, Will Ferrell, Joe Rogan, Larry David, Chris Miller and Phil Lord, these managers are available 24/7. “You sign up for ‘I’ll be there when the phone rings,’ ” he says.
SAGEST ADVICE Ta: “Don’t make decisions based on headlines. The clients who tend to do the best stay diversified, remain flexible and focus on building long-term value rather than chasing the latest trend.”
Lea DiPerna
DiPerna Associates
Whether a famous actor needs to buy a home or get out of jail, DiPerna is their first call. Founded in 2006, her team of 21 manages the finances of Broadway and Hollywood’s brightest stars, including double EGOT winners Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Sadie Sink and Archie Comics chief creative officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Accounting wasn’t her love at first sight, but DiPerna found her calling as a manager who makes the complicated simple.
MOST OUTLANDISH REQUEST “One of my clients called me from jail. I knew he had the funds, so I offered to put up my house as a short-term guarantee. Thankfully, he was a recognizable actor, which saved me from an awkward conversation with my husband.”
Viet Do
Emergence Financial Corp.
When Connor Storrie was recommended as a client over email, Do wrote back that he thought a show about two gay hockey players made by Crave Media would only get two viewers, but he offered to represent him for free anyway. “I didn’t even see Connor was on the email. We got on the phone and he said, ‘I don’t even know what a business manager is, but I really liked your response.’ We had a four-hour conversation and he is truly one of the nicest people.” Do got his start working for internet pioneer Rick Adams, and today works with a slate of talented actors including Lola Tung, Dev Patel and Hannah Waddingham.
MOST OUTLANDISH REQUEST “Buying a generator at Lowe’s and bringing it over because the landlord accidentally shut off electric on a Friday and LADWP couldn’t get there until Monday, for Connor Storrie.”
Steve Gelon, Alex Smith and Justin Sroka
Mann Gelon Smith Sroka Lee LLP
During these unsettling times, Gelon has seen more and more clients ask how they can move out of the U.S. Sroka’s concerned clients are asking “how many months can they keep their lifestyle without touching investments if the next job doesn’t come,” he says. He’s been advising them to “plan for the slow year while you’re having a good one and don’t increase fixed expenses after a hot season.” On the flip side, for Gelon’s megawealthy clients, his advice is to “stop worrying about money and to not deny themselves anything that they really want.”
MOST FREQUENT QUESTION Smith: Asking to “get funds into their Kalshi or Polymarket accounts.”
Harvey Gettleson, Seth Gettleson and Randy O’Connor
Gettleson, Witzer & O’Connor
The boutique firm prides itself on delivering high-quality guidance to its clients, who include J.J. Abrams, Ava DuVernay, Will Packer and Sterlin Harjo. For Harvey, the job is part therapist, part client services. “If a client wants a private plane or a house, we talk through every aspect,” he says. “Only a small percentage of our work is actually accounting.”
MOST FREQUENT QUESTION Seth Gettleson: “Clients who don’t own AI investments are asking to buy in before it is too late, and clients with AI investments want to find ways to sell before the bubble bursts.”
Buwa Ijirigho and Will Price
True North Business Management
One year after launching, the co-founders already have a weighty A-list portfolio and lots of buzz. They specialize in active, day-to-day management, making sure that money is not only managed properly but also put to work rather than sitting idle in a checking account. “It’s really fun because we get to see a wide spectrum of lives, and we’re able to help our clients through transactions and encounters,” says Ijirigho. “People are trusting us, and we approach their money like it’s ours, the way we would want it and us to be treated.”
SAGEST ADVICE Ijirigho: “Know who has access to your money. When you change teams, change the passwords.”
MOST FREQUENT REQUEST Price: ” ‘Help me work anywhere.’ Our clients are working all over the world, often in several locations in the same year. Every one of those jobs brings its own withholding rules, filing requirements and exposure to double taxation, and a client who signs without planning can see a large share of their fee held back or taxed twice.”
Heather Kinder and Lou Taylor
TriStar Sports & Entertainment Group
The pair advise and support Cardi B, Charles Melton, Jodie Turner-Smith, Taraji P. Henson and Bozoma Saint John through their endeavors, from projects to partnerships. This year, Taylor oversaw the financial strategy behind Cardi B’s $70 million Little Miss Drama tour, from budgeting to multicurrency settlements.
IMPACT OF AI Taylor: “Many clients are increasingly focused on protecting their brand, image and content as AI makes it easier to replicate, distribute and commercialize digital assets without consent or approval.”
Josh Klein
TKG Business Management
What Klein truly loves about his work is getting to know what really matters to his clients and their families, from The Chainsmokers to Shaboozey, Charlie Puth to Tinashe. “Helping our clients turn years of their hard work into something lasting is so rewarding,” he says, adding that they appreciate a proactive approach, “less of ‘here’s what happened’ and more of ‘here’s what we should be thinking about next.’ “
MOST OUTLANDISH REQUEST “One client trusted me enough to help choose their wedding ring, which says a lot about the relationships we build.”
David Levin and Lewis Stark
Adeptus Advisors
For Levin, being a business manager to John Legend and Chrissy Teigen and Hailey Bieber is more than being an accountant. “We see our role as being the chief financial officer, and working with a very enjoyable clientele in an exciting industry,” he says. After 30 years, Stark continues to find the work of supporting clients with royalty administration satisfying: “It’s still exciting to find and recover money clients are owed.”
Carrie Malcolm
CRM Management, a division of NKSFB
In college, Malcolm, an English major, helped her cameraman boyfriend organize his finances and pay his bills. “I was always just a very organized person,” she says. One day he asked if she could help his brother, then a student at Yale. That brother was David Duchovny, who remains her client today. She also advises Benedict Cumberbatch, Sofia Coppola, Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst, Sebastian Stan and Maya Hawke. Malcolm, who took accounting classes and studied tax law, says, “People say, ‘I don’t know anything about money,’ and act like maybe they don’t want to. But if you explain things a certain way, or show them visually, they feel empowered. Because it is their money.”
Cat Marcasciano, Hyun-Joo Park and Patrick Templeman
PS Business Management
The team juggled the business logistics of Mary J. Blige’s sold-out Vegas residency, alongside Chappell Roan’s concert schedule, including The Super Graphic Spectacular dates supporting trans youth and LGBTQ+ communities. “It’s fulfilling to work with these artists that inspire us daily,” Templeman says. Marcasciano worked with Billie Eilish, fresh off her massive Hit Me Hard and Soft tour, and Meghan Trainor, who released her seventh album and made her acting debut in FX’s The Beauty. Park handled the financial aspects of Tate McRae’s album So Close to What, as well as Benson Boone’s world tour following his sophomore album.
Daniel Marcus and Michael Meschures
MGO
For the past 20 years, Meschures says he has focused on solving everyday problems for his clients and helping them “flourish in their creative pursuits” as they build wealth. Serving as advisers to some of the most influential entertainers, creators, athletes and rights holders, the pair’s philosophy has always been to “put clients first, act with integrity and stay curious.”
John McILwee
J. McILwee & Associates
McILwee was headed to medical school until a chemistry class changed his mind, and he switched to econ. There, he learned one of his guiding axioms: “Do the costs outweigh the benefits?” He puts it into practice daily, balancing the books of such clients as Kevin Costner, Kristen Wiig, Jane Lynch and Heated Rivalry‘s François Arnaud. After 36 years in the industry, McILwee likes to say, “We’re not the police. We’re not going to turn somebody’s credit cards off, but we’re going to help people get the information they need to make the best decisions for their lives.”
Andrew Meyer
Freemark Financial
Co-founder Meyer credits the firm’s success to “our ability to communicate and advocate in a way that makes clients feel very confident.” Jon M. Chu, Ellen Pompeo, Ramy Youssef, Jessica Chastain, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Alexander Skarsgard appreciate that he gives them answers before they even ask the questions. “Our clients want to know that that piece of their lives is being taken care of in a way that they can trust,” he says.
Jacob Moss
Moss Management Group
After working for years for other firms, Moss, whose clients include Curry Barker and Jake Shane, this year decided to go out on his own. “I tell people it’s the most interesting accounting job there is,” says Moss, who prides himself on being a resource to his clients, allowing them to focus on what matters most to them. Running a small firm allows him to be highly communicative and hands-on: “The best decision I’ve ever made.”
SAGEST ADVICE “Collaborate and develop relationships. That one call or coffee may turn into a successful project down the road.”
Harley J. Neuman and Ryan M. Conlon
Neuman + Associates
Neuman, who has been in the business for 35 years, says this boutique’s philosophy has always been to work with ambitious, talented people and grow alongside them. From the start of their careers, clients like Scarlett Johansson, Zoe Saldaña and podcaster Jay Shetty, who recently signed one of the biggest hybrid podcast deals with Spotify and Netflix, have been guided by the firm. Neuman says his approach is to sit down with every client, from Alix Earle to Ryan Murphy, and walk them through the details of their finances, from balance sheets to cash flow, so they understand how to build their net worth. “I have clients who have been with me for decades,” he says.
Mark Pariser
Dunn, Pariser & Peyrot LLP
Musicians, influencers, producers (like Family Guy‘s Danny Smith) and execs (former production head of Sony Matthew Tolmach) number among Pariser’s high-net-worth clients. “When some feel bad about not being able to understand this stuff, I say, ‘Nobody’s paying me to perform — don’t feel bad if you can’t do what I do,’ ” Pariser says.
Teresa Polyak and Jessica Carsey
Polyak Business Management
Two global tours, multiple catalog sales, multimillion-dollar real estate purchases: It’s been a year for this pair who work with Pink and Jason Mraz, among others. Striving to provide concierge service by knowing every detail of clients’ financial lives, they can anticipate challenges before they arise. “It’s really rewarding to be a part of making them have both a personal and professional life that’s not stressful and well thought out,” Carsey says.
Joseph Rust
Prager Metis
This year, Rust zeroed in on getting the most out of his clients’ IP. “Whether it’s music catalogs, television properties, royalty streams, licensing or emerging AI-related uses of content, clients want guidance on how to protect, monetize and grow long-term value of their creative assets,” he says. “As AI becomes more integrated into the entertainment ecosystem, protecting intellectual property and ensuring creators participate fairly in the value generated from their work will be critical to their long-term financial success.”
SAGEST ADVICE “Focus on ownership of valuable creative assets; it remains the foundation of lasting wealth.”
Steven Shapiro
Summit Business Management
Along the way, over 38 years, Shapiro has seen clients learn hard lessons as stardom faded. Now he passes that wisdom on to his A-list clients, including Zendaya, Tom Holland and Taylor Sheridan. “You’ve got to take advantage of the momentum,” he says. “That’s what I even told Tom very recently. Spider-Man has become the box office draw of the century, but I said, ‘Eventually there will be some other person who plays your role, so you’ve got to be prepared for it and act as if it may come tomorrow.’ With Zendaya and her Lancôme, Rolex and Louis Vuitton partnerships, he advised, ” ‘You are the face right now, but look at who the face was 10 years and 20 years ago.’ Zendaya is prepared for it.”
Rick Shephard and Mark Tinglof
Shephard, Tinglof + Associates
Shephard, who started with a degree in marine biology, now works with clients like Ben Stiller, Kurt Russell and Courteney Cox, and says that the key to the firm’s success is becoming an expert in whatever they take on. “A client comes up with a new idea, they’re going to start a new company and suddenly you’re becoming an expert in a new industry,” he says. “You grow a lot from the clients, and that’s one of the fun parts of the job.”
MOST FREQUENT REQUEST Shephard: “Find a way for me not to pay for the New York pied-a-terre.”
Michael Ullman
BUSINESS MANAGER ICON OF THE YEAR
Platinum Financial Management
CLIENTS: Jennifer Aniston, Miles Teller, Brooke Shields, Julie Bowen, Chrissy Metz, Linda Cardellini and Sugar Ray Leonard
Ullman remembers applying to his first business manager job reluctantly — mostly because it was in Encino and the Westsider didn’t think there were entertainment clients in the Valley. His first client, L.A. Lakers head choreographer Paula Abdul on the brink of her first album release, changed his mind. “I worked with her for many, many years,” Ullman says. “We became very close. That was just the kind of person she was.”
After working for Boulevard Management for 11 years, then co-founding Lexington Financial, Ullman started his own firm in 2003. Platinum Financial Management is in its 24th year. Ullman says working with artists honed his expertise, with him learning to communicate his financial acumen in their language. As the only partner, with 34 employees, for Ullman, time boundaries are not a top priority. “I think that’s what sets me apart is I really go to 200 percent and I’m available to all my clients in any time of need,” Ullman says, which has included helping them get their car fixed, finding a plumber or providing a copy of their medical card (he explains that “a lot of my clients are single and don’t know what to do when something happens”). “They’re like family to me.”
Having agency with everything in his clients’ lives beyond taxes, consulting and money management “makes it more fun,” he says. “We help them facilitate their homes, and it’s just a domino effect with everything coming together. They appreciate it, which is evident by the stability of them being with me for 20, 30 years. I’m very loyal, and I just want to be the fixer. I’m sure there are those that would say that I’m crazy and that you need boundaries, and they’re probably right.”
David Weise, Jaime Masuda and Rob Salzman
David Weise & Associates, a division of NKSFB
Weise, who heads up the full-service firm, says one of the biggest challenges today is navigating instability. “It’s about helping clients make smart decisions in an industry where revenue can shift quickly, and opportunities move fast,” Weise says of his top-tier film, TV, music and sports clients. The biggest shift? AI: Rights, approvals and protections for digital replicas, voice, likeness and content now have to be addressed up front, not as an afterthought.
This story appeared in the Oct. 21 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.