TEAM
MUSIC TALENT MANAGEMENT TEAM
Steven Greener
Steven began his career overseeing Medina/Pollack Entertainment, where he worked alongside Benny Medina managing Will Smith and the production of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. While at Medina/Pollack Steven segued into production, where he produced the feature film Above the Rim for New Line Cinema.
Steven was recruited to Elephant Walk Entertainment in 1993 to collaborate with George Jackson and Doug McHenry. Elephant Walk Entertainment produced films such as New Jack City, House Party I and II, A Thin Line Between Love And Hate, and Jason’s Lyric, among others. Union Entertainment was formed in 1997, whose first major success was the development and production of The Bernie Mac Show. The critically acclaimed show produced over 100 episodes and ran for six years on the FOX Network. It won numerous awards including 1 Primetime Emmy, 3 NAACP Image Awards, and 1 Peabody Award. The Bernie Mac Show was eventually sold in syndication for $2.5 million per episode.
Union Entertainment was later sold to the management firm, 3 Arts Entertainment, where Steven continued his work as a producer. They produced the feature films MR. 3000 with Spyglass Entertainment for Disney and Guess Who starring Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher for SONY.
Steven rejoined Benny Medina and Jeff Pollack in 2006 at Handprint Entertainment. The company managed clients such as Bernie Mac, Mariah Carey, Usher, Chris Rock, and Jennifer Lopez.
The production company 5 Boroughs Entertainment was founded by Steven to produce films for the urban marketplace, which resulted in the feature film Soul Men starring Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac. 5 Boroughs Entertainment and 3 Ball Productions collaborated on producing Roseanne’s Nuts starring Roseanne Barr airing 16 episodes on Lifetime Television Network.
Steven produced the T.D Jakes film Women Thou Art Loosed: On The Seventh Day starring Blair Underwood, which was sold to BET Network Television, in 2012. Steven then joined forces with Bunim/Murray Productions, producing The Ruckers, selling 6 episodes to WE Network that aired in fall 2013. Steven also served as a consultant to Codeblack Films, a Lionsgate Company, where he oversaw acquisitions of urban films, television, and web content including Kevin Hart’s Let Me Explain and Why We Laugh 2 with Joan Rivers.
Steven Greener joined Primary Wave as a partner to oversee the music talent management that’s home to Cee Lo Green, Fantasia, Melissa Etheridge, Brandy, Cypress Hill, Eric Benét, Toots & The Maytals, and many others.
Deborah Klein
Deborah Klein, originally from Sydney, Australia brings over 30 years of experience in the music business to Primary Wave. Deborah graduated from Suffolk University Law School in Boston with a concentration in intellectual property and contracts. Prior to that, she was a disc jockey at several major market stations and the program director for influential Boston radio station WERS. Deborah started her own law practice while simultaneously running the iconic punk label TAANG! Records, releasing over sixty albums in three years, from The Lemon Heads to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Deborah started her own management company in Boston in the early nineties, finding and developing indie icons Morphine, Sebadoh, Folk Implosion, Mia Doi Todd, and others. During this time she worked with Interscope Records, Sub Pop, Matador, Domino Records, Rkyodisc, Sire Records, Sony/Legacy, and Dreamworks.
Deborah moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to work for Spivak Sobol Entertainment where she was their in-house legal counsel as well as manager for Eve Six, Vanessa Carlton, Flyleaf, Yellowcard, Alexi Murdoch, and Liam Finn. Spivak Sobol was acquired by the mega management company The Firm where Deborah worked with everyone from Smashing Pumpkins, Mandy Moore, Korn, and Five Finger Death Punch. Deborah was also the general manager for the record label that eventually became Prospect Park and was responsible for breaking Five Finger Death Punch with multiple Gold and Platinum Albums and multiple top ten singles
Seven years ago Deborah joined Primary Wave as a JV Partner and her current roster includes Cypress Hill, Melissa Etheridge, Plain White T’s, and Powerflo. Deborah’s expertise includes strategy, intellectual property, deal-making, touring, merchandise, brand management, royalty statements, new technology, online social and retail strategy, recording, marketing, and artist relations. She loves music of all kinds and when she is not working you will often find her in the kitchen or riding her bike.
Laurel Stearns
Before partnering with Primary Wave, Laurel Stearns for a year and a half built a small roster at Prospect Park(The Firm) with Red Fang, Father John Misty, White Denim and Jenny O. Laurel spent 8 years at Capitol Records, 3.5 years at Red Light Management and 6 years as an independent manager. During her tenure at Capitol Records, Laurel ushered in bands such as Interpol, The Decemberists, Shout Out Louds, Fischerspooner, Sparklehorse, and LCD Soundsystem. During her tenure at Capitol Laurel realized there were many bands that she was passionate about that belonged nowhere near a major label. With two partners, launched Cold Sweat Records/Caroline. From that label, No Age(WIVES), Battles, Health, Devendra Banhart, Yahowa 13, and many others were discovered and released. Laurel along with 3 others, opened the LA office of Redlight Mgmt, brought The Decemberists and Alberta Cross, worked on Chris Cornell’s solo effort. As an independent manager, Laurel managed: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band (Mammoth), The Descendents, ALL(Epitaph), GWAR(Metal Blade), The Paladins (4AD) Plastilina Mosh (Capitol). Laurel helped develop fan bases for these bands with branded tours & creative marketing ideas (ie: comic book in-stores for GWAR, shows on cruise ships for Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Descendent’s “Caffeine Nation Tour” – which did not allow any beer sponsors or corporate posters in the venue, etc.), An orchestra tour with The Decemberists (largest audiences the band had played to). Earlier in her career, Laurel also scouted for The Sony WORK group, where she was involved in the album set up for artists such as Fiona Apple, Jennifer Lopez, Jamiroquai & Eagle Eye Cherry. Currently managing: U.S. Girls (4AD/Beggars), Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith (Ghostly Int/Secretly Canadian), Red Fang (Relapse/Orchard), The Album Leaf(Nettwerk), Moaning (SubPop), and Johnathan Rice (Mano Walker/Orchard).
Eric Jay Baker
Eric Baker, a 32-year music industry veteran, began his career at MCA/UNI Distribution in Boston. He then moved to New York to work in sales and radio promotion for A&M Records, subsequently relocating to Seattle to take over radio promotion in that region. During his time with A&M, Eric worked closely with many artists including Sheryl Crow, Blues Traveler, and Soundgarden. He then spent 4 years in San Francisco As Regional Promotion Manager for RCA, and eventually moved to Los Angeles as RCA’s Director of Promotion – West Coast. After a successful run at RCA working with superstars like Dave Matthews and Christina Aguilera, Eric accepted a position at Roadrunner Records as Director of National Promotion of Alternative, where he spearheaded the radio success of Slipknot and Nickelback. His last record label position during that time was as VP of Promotion at Extasy Records. In 2003 Eric founded New Breed LLC, a boutique marketing and management company. He created the M3 Rock Festival , the premiere 80”s metal festival in US. Attended by over 15,000 people each year, and has become the benchmark for 80’s and 90’s metal festivals etc). Past and present New Breed clients include Oakley, AT&T, Starbucks, and Castle Light beer. Eric joined Primary Wave in 2015 and has an incredible roster of iconic artists. His music management clients include; Jefferson Starship, Bell Biv DeVoe and managed Toots and the Maytals and will continue to work with his family to manage the estate and his legacy
Robby Hoffman
Born and raised in New York, Robby Hoffman has over 30 years of experience in the music business. Robby started as a guitar player and graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston with a degree in Professional Music. 4 months after graduating, his band In The Pink signed a record contract with Epic Records. Although the deal was short-lived, Robby co-wrote their song “Under Summer Skies” which went #1 on rock radio charts in multiple markets.
After the band broke up, Robby pursued a different path and set his sights on Wall Street where he spent 7 years working for an investment bank, managing money for high net worth individuals. As his heart remained in music, in 2005 Robby left Wall Street and founded One Music Management which was the music division of One Management in NYC. As Founder and President, Robby was responsible for overseeing all artist management for the company. Current and former artists managed by Robby include Extreme, Skid Row, Courtney Love, Ratt, Nuno Bettencourt, Alexandra Savior and Spacehog/Arckid.
Jake Livingston
Sr. Director, Creative
Sabrina Coghiatti
Sabrina Coghiatti is a Talent Management & Events Executive with over 15 years of international experience planning, managing and overseeing artists, public relations and events. Sabrina’s key areas of experience include Strategy, Planning, Budget & Forecast Control, Production, Tour & Artist Management, Contracts & Relationships Negotiation, and Project Management.
Barbara Rose
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Barbara began her career working for concert promoter, Electric Factory Concerts, handling publicity and promotion for major concert tours including the Live Aid Global Relief Concert. Relocating to Los Angeles, she commenced her management with artists including Crosby, Stills and Nash, Five For Fighting, and Stabbing Westward. Rose scaled the ranks of the industry to manage the careers of iconic singers and songwriters such as James Taylor, Natalie Cole, and Kenny Loggins while serving as VP at Borman/Moir Entertainment. In 2009, Rose established her own firm, Barbara Rose Entertainment, and continues to represent Boney James and the Estate of Natalie Cole.
Barbara’s management prowess has earned her an enviable reputation for being innovative and tenacious for her clients. She has been at the forefront of negotiating and producing worldwide concert tours, recorded music, publishing, and book deals. She was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2007 as a producer on “A Tribute To James Taylor” (Great Performances) and was instrumental in finalizing a deal that brought to stage Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill – The Musical.” In 2016, Barbara joined Primary Wave as a JV Partner and soon after brought in world-renowned composer, keyboardist, music producer, YANNI overseeing the marketing of his 25th Anniversary of “Live At The Acropolis” re-release and worldwide tour. On the publishing side, Barbara was instrumental in introducing iconic songwriters Paul Anka and Kenny Loggins to Primary Wave Publishing.
Barbara serves on the Grant Review Committee for MusiCares Foundation, a charity providing a safety net of critical assistance for members of the music community in times of need.
Shannen Burton
Assistant