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noizemagazine - Index

noizemagazine - noiZe Magazine Issue 60 May 2009 - Index

DJ Phil B and Debby Holiday at Wetbar
during Atlanta Pride
Modeling Andrew Chrstian underwear at last year's
Music to Wear Tour
work on any product launch, such
as a sports-related DVD release in
sports bars. Branching out is part of
Briskin’s survival strategy—not only
with the lousy economy, but also in
the new world of gay venues.
“We had to branch out,” he
explains. “There aren’t as many
gar bars anymore.” Briskin maintains
an active database of strictly
gay clubs in North America that his
staff meticulously updates every
six months. “As of January, 40 percent
went out of business or went
straight,” he says.
That also means that club owners
and promoters can’t afford to bring
in the superstar name DJs the way
they did only a year ago. So they’re
more receptive to corporate-sponsored
tours such as the ones Tango
Blues assembles. “With the economy,
they can’t book the plane and
the hotel and the big fees,” Briskin
notes. “Local promoters can’t bring
in talent anymore. We tie in with a
sponsor to reach out to the community.
It’s a great way to brand
the product; and for the clubs, it’s
something special to promote.”
Animal Training to People Managing
Andrew Briskin came to his field of
expertise in a roundabout way. Or
maybe not. Although his family was in
“the Industry,” (that’s Left Coastese for
showbiz) he stayed in Miami after graduating
from the University of Miami and
took a job as director of exhibits at the
Miami Seaquarium. He then moved into
animal brokering for zoos. During that
time, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective came
to town to film, and he did some work
with the on-set animal trainers.
He found he had a gift for working with
four-legged talent, and started working
with animals locally. Eventually, he
hooked up with Bruce Weber, the legendary
fashion photographer and connoisseur
of male pulchritude (praise—
or blame—him for the hegemony of
the A&F boys). He worked for Weber
on very fine two-legged specimens for
nearly a half-decade as a freelance producer
until someone hired him away to
work on a Levi’s jeans commercial.
Upon moving back to his hometown
in 1998, he opened a production studio
in Hollywood and went “from there
to production to talent management.
Tigers,” he sighs, “are a lot easier and
less stressful to deal with than people.”
This is a sentiment that would be readily
49
Happy Am I! Healthy Am I! holy Am I!