Gordon Firemark has been elected to a two-year term as President of the Board of Directors of the Academy for New Musical Theatre in North Hollywood.
Firemark has been serving on the Board for the past two years, with an eye towards becoming President this year. He has been spurring the Board and the staff to create strategic plans, and revenue-generating programming, and most recently has been preparing the organization for its imminent transformation from an organization which develops musicals to one which also produces them.
“I’m very proud to step into the presidency in this time of growth,” says Firemark. “This is a non-profit organization with which I’ve been involved for a number of years I hope you’ll investigate ANMT if you’re writing, developing or producing a theatre project.”
Gordon is an entertainment attorney and a producer. He helped the Academy produce the new musical 40 is the New 15 at the Secret Rose Theatre last summer, leading the production to a 157% profit in just six weeks.
Firemark’s private law practice is devoted to the representation of artists, writers, producers and directors in the fields of theater, film, television, and music. He is also the publisher of Entertainment Law Update., a newsletter for artists and professionals in the entertainment industries. His practice also includes intellectual property, cyberspace, new media and business/corporate matters for clients in the entertainment industry.
“We’ve been talking about this moment for a couple of years,” says Scott Guy, The Academy’s Executive Director. “When Gordon and I had our first discussion back in 2005 about various business models which might be useful to our writers and producers, I thought, ‘This guy might make a good President one day!’ We’ve been steadily marching towards this moment ever since. I’m very excited about the leadership which Gordon brings to us. We’re already talking about big, big dreams and plans.”
In the past, Mr. Firemark has served on the Boards of Governors of The Los Angeles Stage Alliance , (the organization responsible for the annual Ovation Awards for excellence in Theater) and the Board of Governors of the Beverly Hills Bar Association , where he served as liaison to the Association’s Entertainment Law Section (of which he is a former chairman).
Mr. Firemark holds a B.A. in Radio, Television and Film from the University of Oregon, and earned his law degree at Southwestern University School of Law. Before opening The Law Offices of Gordon P. Firemark, Mr. Firemark was a partner with the Business Affairs Group, a boutique entertainment law firm in Los Angeles. He has also worked in the legal and business affairs departments at Hanna Barbera Productions and the MGM/UA Worldwide Television Group, and started his legal career as an associate at Neville L. Johnson & Associates, a West L.A. firm specializing in entertainment litigation.