FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
New York, NY, October 28, 2019—C-Suite Quarterly (CSQ) hosted its Sports, Media & Entertainment Visionary Awards at the CORE: Club in Midtown Manhattan. Multiple honorees and attendees flew in from Los Angeles to celebrate CSQ’s prestigious class of business leaders who have shaped the face of media and cultivated lasting legacies in their fields.
The evening’s primary honoree was 2019 Visionary of the Year Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Entertainment Studios, who appeared before the Supreme Court on November 13th in a racial discrimination case. Earlier this year, Allen partnered with Sinclair Broadcast Group in a $10.6B acquisition of more than 20 local sports networks from Disney.
Real Estate Entrepreneur Don Peebles, partner in the $1.2B Angels Landing Project, introduced Allen and commended his pursuit of inclusion for minorities in the business landscape. Allen took to the stage to receive the CSQ Visionary of the Year award presented by CSQ founder David Wurth. The former comedian spoke at great length on his mother studying cinema and television at UCLA, sparking his initial interest in television. He described his journey from appearing on comedy shows such as Jimmy Carson to selling TV shows directly to TV stations. Allen remarked that he persisted in the face of rejection, racial discrimination, and financial obstacles. He credited his wife, Jennifer Lucas, for sticking with him when his vision of success was far from reality. Allen emphasized the importance of gender and racial equality in corporate America. “We are fighting for a global market position to employ Americans and to build American wealth,” remarked Allen. “You can’t win unless you engage your best intellectual capital, and that includes women and people of color.”
Also honored as Visionaries at the event were: Mitchell Modell, President and CEO, Modell’s Sporting Goods, America’s 130-year-old sporting goods store with more than 150 locations; Christina M. Francis, President, Magic Johnson Enterprises (valued at an estimated $1B); Ilya Pozin, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer, Pluto TV, which sold to Viacom for $340M.
CSQ also honored an elite selection of under-40 founders, leaders, and changemakers, including female powerhouse Michelle Edgar, Vice President of Brand Marketing at Epic Records; James Karklins, President of Observer Media; Travis Montaque, Founder and CEO of Holler; Jonathan Skogmo, Founder and CEO of Jukin Media; David Halperin; Principal of Criterion Global; Ben Hindman, CEO of Splash; and Katie Loeb, Director of Brand and Strategy, Loeb.nyc. Loeb led a thought-provoking Future of Media panel featuring Christina M. Francis, Ilya Pozin, and James Karklins.
The 2019 CSQ Visionary Awards in Sports, Media & Entertainment sponsors and partners were CORE: Club, Clay Lacy, Goldman Sachs, Loeb.NYC, Hawke Media, Revel, and IWC Schaffhausen. Gift bag partners included Art of Sport, Forelinx, Jukin Media, Hotel Chocolat, FRWD, and Baltaire.
ABOUT CSQ
Since 2008, CSQ has been the business leadership and luxury lifestyle brand, publication, and community for Los Angeles and New York billionaire changemakers, C-Suite Visionaries, NextGen entrepreneurs, executive advisors, and those aspiring to that level of success and influence. CSQ’s mission to connect, educate, and inspire the community drives its integrated platform of print publications, online content, live events, and e-commerce centered on its four quarterly pillars: Innovation & Technology; Sports, Media & Entertainment; Real Estate & Finance; Philanthropy, Art & Culture.
