JB Smoove is scheduled to take part in a keynote conversation at a Los Angeles Business Managers Breakfast on Nov. 12, with the discussion centered on modern storytelling across television, film, branded entertainment and related creative work.
That topic fits the shape of Smoove’s career particularly well. He is known as an Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian, producer and writer, with Curb Your Enthusiasm and Saturday Night Live among the credits highlighted for the appearance. But the planned conversation also reaches beyond an on-screen résumé. Smoove founded Alternate Side Productions and First Darrin, a creative agency that works with brands on campaigns, short-form projects and other advertising-oriented content through a comic and creative lens.
In other words, the keynote is not framed simply as a discussion of acting or comedy. It is about the increasingly broad set of formats in which a recognizable performer, writer and producer can help shape a story—and the business structure required to support work that may move among entertainment, advertising and creator-led media.
A storytelling conversation with business consequences
“Branded entertainment” is a useful term to unpack here. It generally describes entertainment-like creative material made in collaboration with, or in service of, a brand. A campaign can therefore involve more than a conventional commercial: it may include a short, a social-media concept or another piece of creative work designed to carry a brand message while still giving audiences something engaging to watch.
That overlap makes the business-manager setting meaningful. When creative work spans traditional screen productions and brand collaborations, the professional questions are not limited to what goes into the script or performance. There can also be decisions around how a talent-led business is organized, how a creative agency fits into that business, and how long-term opportunities are evaluated. The supplied event details do not set out any particular advice Smoove will give, so it would be premature to predict the substance of his remarks. Still, the stated scope makes clear that the conversation is intended to address storytelling as both creative practice and career infrastructure.
It also lands during a period when the distinction between a performer, producer, entrepreneur and brand collaborator is often less tidy than the job titles suggest. Smoove’s involvement with a production company and a creative agency illustrates that a public-facing comedy career can be accompanied by businesses built to develop material in different forms.
The creative side of that equation remains important. In a related discussion around new technology and screen work, filmmakers have stressed that human craft remains central to how animation is made and judged. That continuing debate over authorship and creative labor provides useful context for a keynote focused on the future of storytelling, even though no artificial-intelligence topic has been announced for Smoove’s appearance.
The creator economy is also on the agenda
The breakfast will additionally feature media cartographer Evan Shapiro in a conversation about the creator economy and its effects on entertainment. Shapiro is described as a Webby Award-winning creator and an Emmy- and Peabody-winning producer.
Related coverage includes JB Smoove Set for Nov. 12 Business Managers Breakfast Keynote.
Creator economy is an umbrella phrase for the commercial ecosystem built around individual creators and their audiences. It can include audience-building, distribution, sponsorships and content production across digital spaces. In the context of this event, its importance is not that it replaces television or film outright. Rather, it is one of the forces changing how entertainment professionals think about attention, formats, partnerships and the paths a piece of content may take to reach viewers.
The conversation’s pairing with a business-management gathering is telling. The creator economy is often discussed in terms of personality and platforms, but its practical side can be equally consequential. A creator or performer with several revenue streams may need a clearer understanding of which ventures are short-term campaigns, which are durable businesses and which relationships support a larger creative strategy. Those are broad implications of the program’s subject matter, not claims about any individual attendee’s finances.
Shapiro’s discussion is set to be conducted with Cynthia Littleton. Together with Smoove’s keynote, it gives the program two connected lenses on entertainment’s changing boundaries: one focused on a comedian and producer working across screen and brand formats, and another focused on the expanding creator-led media landscape.
Arnie Herrmann will receive the event’s career honor
Arnie Herrmann will be recognized at the breakfast with the Business Managers Elite Award, described as an acknowledgment of his career and contributions to the community. The event information also characterizes the recognition as a Business Manager of the Year honor.
Candice Bergen is slated to present the award. Herrmann’s listed philanthropic involvement includes support for Jenna’s Rainbow Foundation and the Irving Penn Foundation, as well as many years of board service with MusiCares.
Honoring a business manager at an entertainment event brings attention to a role that tends to operate away from premieres, stages and camera lines. The supplied material does not offer a definition of a business manager’s responsibilities, and the specifics vary between clients and firms. At the most basic level, though, the event’s framing emphasizes these advisers as important contributors to artists’ and entertainment professionals’ long-term careers.
That emphasis is reinforced by the presenting sponsor’s view that strong advisers can make a major difference in building careers meant to last. The broader message is straightforward: creative visibility may receive the public attention, but durable careers depend on people who can help navigate the business around that creative work.
What the Nov. 12 program includes
The annual breakfast will bring together people featured in the Business Managers Elite issue and recognize leading entertainment business managers’ work over the past year. City National Bank is the presenting partner. Citrin Cooperman, Content Partners, Venable LLP and Willkie are listed as supporting partners.
For audiences interested in entertainment business, the program’s value is its combination of subjects that are often considered separately. Smoove’s keynote addresses storytelling across conventional and brand-facing media. The creator-economy discussion examines a rapidly expanding field of audience-led entertainment. And Herrmann’s honor places the advisory work behind creative careers at the center of the event.
It is a lineup that treats the entertainment business less as a single pipeline and more as a connected set of creative, commercial and advisory roles. The details announced so far establish the participants and themes, but do not promise project announcements, new releases or specific deals. What is clear is that the Nov. 12 gathering will focus on the people and structures helping entertainment careers operate across a changing mix of platforms and formats.
