[IMG:L]Tough-Talking Hollywood Lawyer, John Branca: Can You Handle The Truth?
When I first met John Branca, he was sitting behind his desk, hastily trying to rearrange a phone call. “What time am I supposed to be on with Van Morrison?” he yelled over my shoulder.
“Quarter past eleven,” came a voice from the hallway.
Branca is probably the most widely respected lawyer in the music industry. Over the course of his career, he has represented twenty-nine members of the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, including Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Carlos Santana, and Aerosmith–just to name a few.
He also has an impressive roster of younger clients, including Grammy powerhouses Alicia Keys and Shakira, and Nickelback–all nominees this year.
In short, if you are a legendary musician–or just a rising star who hopes to become a legend–you want John Branca as your lawyer.
[IMG:R]Perhaps it is precisely the depth of his roster that gives Branca the confidence to drop a client, occasionally, when he or she steps out of line.
“If you are caught up trying to give rational advice to an irrational person and they won’t listen. And then you have to take out the pooper-scooper and clean it all up, that is not how we want to do business,” explains Branca.
“If you can give advice to one client and they can make the millions of dollars and further their career; and give the same advice to another client, and they piss all over it, fuck themselves up, lose millions of dollars, and then ask you to clean it up–which one are you going to choose?”
“So you actually fire clients?”
“We resigned as Prince’s chief counsel,” replied Branca. “We just couldn’t take it anymore. He was totally self-destructive. We got him out of bankruptcy.
We got him the Batman project, the so-called 100 million dollar deal. Then, he called up a week later and said he was going to make a deal with Sony.
We told him, ‘You can’t do this, you just signed the deal with Warner Brothers.’
And he said, ‘No, Prince signed that deal–and I am the symbol man now. And the symbol is signing with Sony.’ That should give you some sense of the difficulty that one deals with.”
According to Branca, the key to success is how he and his clients handles the truth.
[IMG:L]”What I like to say is this,” says Branca, “The most important thing in representing an artist is telling the truth–and the last thing you want to do tell the truth.”
“What exactly does that mean?” I asked.
“It means you have to tell them the truth, but in telling the truth you risk being fired,” explained Branca.
He paused, “You see, certain artists surround themselves with sycophants–people who tell them how great they are and how everything they do is special. And sometimes there’s the need for someone like me to provide a dose of reality, but that’s not an easy thing to do.”
Branca furthered, “Some stars really want everyone to buy into their view of the world, and their role in it, so it is dangerous to give a subversive opinion. It really needs to be presented carefully or in the right way. Otherwise, there is the risk that the star will think that you don’t believe in him or her.”
One of Branca’s preferred methods of serving up reality checks is to attribute a critical or negative idea to someone else. “When I needed to tell an artist something controversial, I might say: ‘You know so-and-so at the record company thought you should do this.’ Then I would gauge their response.
[IMG:R]Sometimes the artist would say: ‘That person is an idiot and I can’t believe you would agree with him.’ Then I would know to stay away.
Other times the artist would say: ‘What do you make of that, Branca?’ And then I would give them my honest opinion.”
The problem, of course, is that if he “stays away” from the truth for too long Branca may end up with a client who loses touch with reality altogether.
Stars be warned: If and when this happens, no matter how famous you are, John Branca may give you the axe.
This was adapted from the new book, Fame Junkies. Read the hot, page-turning exposé that everyone in Hollywood is talking about! Purchase a copy of FAME JUNKIES for a discounted price on Buy.com right now. Fame Junkies is also available on paperback.
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