Happy Walters

Happy Walters
Residence California, United States
Nationality American
Occupation Business executive, entrepreneur, sports agent, investor, record label owner, film producer, music producer
Years active 1990s-present
Organization Catalyst Sports & Media
Website Happy Walters on Twitter

Happy Walters is an American business executive, film producer, sports agent, and music producer.[1] He started his career as founder of Buzztone Music[2] Management[3] in 1990,[4] and managed and published artists such as House of Pain, Cypress Hill, and Wu Tang Clan,[1] In 1994[5] Walters founded Immortal Records,[6] helping launch the careers of music acts such as Incubus,[1][2] Thirty Seconds to Mars,[7] and Korn.[8] He also co-founded Immortal Entertainment, with subsidiaries branching into live events, management, soundtracks, and film.[9] Through these various companies Walters supervised and assembled soundtracks for films such as The Big Lebowski, There’s Something About Mary,[1] Judgment Night,[10] Blade II,[11] and Spawn: The Album,[8] the latter of which debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 in 1997,[8] with Blade II reaching No. 26.[12] Active as a film producer, he has produced television series and feature films such as We're the Millers in 2013.[13] He created, wrote, and produced the reality TV series The Player in 2004,[13] and recent film production projects include the Steve Aoki documentary I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.[14]

Walters joined Relativity Media in 2009 as president of Relativity Music,[15] and shortly afterwards founded Relativity’s sports management practice.[15][16] Appointed to co-chief operating officer (COO) for Relativity Media[2] in 2012,[6] in 2014 he became co-president,[2] overseeing the sports, music, digital and fashion divisions.[2][6] Serving as CEO of Relativity Sports,[15] he managed and negotiated client deals for Dwight Howard of the Houston Rockets,[2] Amar'e Stoudemire of the New York Knicks,[2][17] and Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls.[2] By 2015, Relativity Sports was "the third most valuable sports agency in the world with approximately $3.2 billion in active contracts."[15] Walters left Relativity in 2015,[2][17][15][18] indicating that he planned to establish a "new sports and media venture"[15] in Los Angeles.[2] In November 2016, it was announced that he and Josh Swartz were launching Catalyst Sports & Media in Santa Monica, a new venture with a focus on basketball, soccer, and esports.[19]

Career

Buzztone and Immortal (1990s-1993)

Happy Walters attended the University of Michigan.[20] Early in his career, in 1990[4] Happy Walters founded Buzztone Music[2] Management,[3] an artist management company for recording artists with Walters as CEO.[17] He also founded Immortal Entertainment Group[1] in 1992 in Santa Monica, California, taking on the roles of chairman and CEO. The company branched further into live events, management, soundtracks, film, and athlete management through subsidiaries such as Immortal Soundtracks, Immortal Films and Television, Immortal Touring and Events, Immortal Sports, and Immortal Management,[9] and Immortal Records[6] in 1994.[5] By the early 1990s Walters was managing musical groups such as Cypress Hill,[10] House of Pain,[10][1] Wu-Tang Clan,[1][2] and Thirty Seconds to Mars.[7] Others included Incubus,[1][2] Method Man,[2] and Korn.[8]

Early soundtrack albums (1993-1996)

"If any man can be seen as the Berry Gordy of the most aggro, angst-ridden music of the 1990s, it’s the ironically named Happy, who told Billboard in ’93 that his big idea for Judgment Night—and in a way, the next seven ensuing years of music—was his realization that 'a lot of alternative artists dig hip-hop and a lot of hip-hop artists like alternative. It kind of made sense to do something that brings the two together.'[3]"
— A.V. Club on August 24, 2016[7]

One of Walters' early successes as a music supervisor was the 1993 soundtrack to Judgment Night,[21] where he served as executive producer.[22] Billboard explains that the soundtrack album "paired hip-hop artists with modern rock acts,"[21] and A.V. Club wrote that its musical pairings were "designed to capitalize on the burgeoning popularity of rap-rock."[8] A.V. Club further opines that although there had been "sporadic successful mergers" between individual artists in the metal and rap genres by 1993, "no one had yet thought to do an entire album based on getting established rap and rock artists in the same studio to hash something out. That revolutionary concept in doubling your market share fell to Happy Walters."[7] According to Rolling Stone, "it is largely due to the initiative of Happy Walters... that so many leading hip-hop and alternative rock artists were assembled for the soundtrack," with Walters bringing in groups such as Pearl Jam, Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., Sonic Youth, Cypress Hill, and Faith no More as collaborators on new material.[10] The Judgement Night soundtrack album was released by Immortal Records with distribution by Epic Records.[10]

Immortal Records again signed a contract to work with Epic Records in 1994, this time for two years.[21] Also in 1994, Walters served as executive producer for the soundtrack of the feature film Blankman. The following year he worked on the soundtracks for To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything!, Pret-A-Porter (Ready to Wear), and Bad Boys.[22] In the mid-1990s, a number of major Immortal Records acts such as Korn, Incubus, and the Urge took part in a large tour of Europe in conjunction with Epic Records The Immortal Records release Life is Peachy by Korn debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1996.[21]

Collaborative soundtracks (1997-1999)

In early 1997, Immortal increased its in-house staff from 15 to 20, and that April Epic Records and Immortal Entertainment signed a new five-year deal valued at $35 million. At the time, Epic president Richard Griffiths stated that Epic's management "feel very strongly about Immortal. It is one of our prime A&R sources, particularly on the West." Through the deal, Immortal Records was given reign to sign "whatever new talent it finds," with plans to release up to six albums a year.[21] Later in 1997, Walters worked on the soundtracks of Scream 2, Rhyme & Reason, and the animated feature film Spawn.[22] As music supervisor of Spawn: The Album, he organized collaborations between metal and electronic acts such as Marilyn Manson, Korn, Slayer, Metallica, The Prodigy, The Crystal Method, Moby, and The Dust Brothers. The A.V. Club later praised the album, opining that it "wasn’t the usual random collection of tossed-off original contributions and recycled FM hits. It had a hook: Every track was a collaboration between a hard rock/metal outfit and an electronic act... With Spawn, Walters synergistically acknowledged that knobs and turntables were now vying with guitars and drums for the attention of angry young men." The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, and was soon certified gold.[8] In 1998 he worked on soundtracks for films such as Rush Hour,[13] Zero Effect, There's Something About Mary, and The Big Lebowski.[22]

Film and TV producer (2000-present)

Walters was the music supervisor for Turn It Up in 2000,[13] followed by More Music from The Fast and the Furious in 2001.[22] Active as a film producer around this time as well, in 2001 he co-produced the action films Kiss of the Dragon[23] and The One, both starring Jet Li.[13] In 2002 he served as the soundtrack producer for Blade II: The Soundtrack,[22][11] personally assembling "many of the biggest names" in hip hop and electronica to work on collaborative material, inluding Mos Def, Massive Attack, Cypress Hill, Bubba Sparxxx, and Busta Ryhmes.[11] Blade II reached No. 26 on the Billboard 200 chart.[12] He then created, wrote, and produced the CBS reality TV series The Player in 2004,[13] and the following year was the music supervisor for twelve episodes of Masters of Horror, among other projects.[13] Producing the feature film Full Clip in 2006,[13] in 2009 he served as the executive soundtrack producer for Zombieland, among other projects.[22] Other television production credits include Rock the House on VH1 in 2002,[24] while other film production credits include My Baby's Daddy and Full Clip on Miramax,[13] and Life Without Dick by Sony.[13] Walters continues to be active in film production, and as of 2016 he has supervised or created the soundtracks for around sixty films.[1] Recent film production projects include the Steve Aoki documentary I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, released on August 19, 2016.[14]

Relativity Music and Sports (2009-2013)

He joined the Beverly Hills-based Relativity Media in 2009 as president[15] of the newly formed[6] Relativity Music Group.[1] Becoming a certified agent for NBPA and NFLPA players,[1] also in 2009 he started Relativity’s sports management practice,[15] founding and becoming president of Rogue Sports. With Rogue Sports operating under the auspices of Relativity Media, LLC,[1] Walters soon signed clients such as Dwight Howard,[2] Chandler Parsons,[15] Amar’e Stoudemire[2] and Jimmy Butler.[1] Others would include John Wall,[15] Iman Shumpert, Corey Brewer, and Larry Sanders.[1] After being appointed to co-chief operating officer (COO) for Relativity Media[2] in January 2012,[6] Walters took on responsibilities[6] for sports, music, digital and fashion divisions.[2][6] In July 2012,[25][2] Relativity Media merged Walters' basketball agency Rogue Sports[16] with SFX Baseball and the football agency Maximum Sports Management. The resulting company was named Relativity Sports,[25] with Walters appointed CEO.[1] Walters stated at the time that the new division would offer career management for athletes and "opportunities in film, television, music and gaming."[16] In 2014 he became co-president,[2] and as CEO of Relativity Sports[15] he was responsible for managing and negotiating client deals for athletes such as Dwight Howard of the Houston Rockets,[2] Amar'e Stoudemire of the New York Knicks,[2][17] and Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls.[2]

Catalyst and recent developments (2015-2016)

By 2015, Walters had over 40 personal clients including John Wall and Amar'e Stoudemire, and had personally helped manage careers of NFL players such as Leonard Williams,[17] Larry Fitzgerald, Dez Bryant, and Marshawn Lynch, as well as various NBA athletes.[17][2] He had also worked with coaches and other sports managers,[17] with Relativity Sports claiming 300 MLB, NBA and NFL athlete clients by October 2015. Earlier that year, the company received media coverage when it "landed more first-round draft choices than any other agency," with six of its clients being selected in the first round of the NFL draft. According to Variety in late 2015, during his tenure Walters "worked to bring stability to the non-entertainment units of troubled Relativity Media," overseeing the company through a bankruptcy auction and layoffs in July 2015.[2] As it is only partially owned by Relativity Media,[15][2] Relativity Sports was excluded from the bankrupcy,[2] and that year Relativity Sports was ranked "the third most valuable sports agency in the world with approximately $3.2 billion in active contracts."[15]

In October 2015 he left his role as co-president of Relativity Media[2] and founding[17] CEO of Relativity Sports,[15][2] bringing many of his clients with him.[18] With no replacement immediately named, Walters indicated he planned to establish a "new sports and media venture"[15] in Los Angeles.[2] He declined to give details on the venture at the time, stating that "this is the appropriate time for me to write the next chapter of my career."[17] In November 2016, it was announced that he and Josh Swartz were launching Catalyst Sports & Media in Santa Monica, a new venture with a focus on "the business of... basketball, soccer, and esports."[19]

Personal life

Walters as of 2015 was based in Los Angeles, California.[2]

Discography

Incomplete list of music-related production credits for Happy Walters
Yr Title Format Artist or label Walters' role
1993 Judgment Night Original soundtrack Immortal Records[10] Executive producer[22]
1994 Blankman Original soundtrack Epic Records Executive producer[22]
Basketball's Best Kept Secret Compilation album Immortal Records Executive producer[22]
1995 Tonnage: A Compilation Compilation album Epic Records Executive producer[22]
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Original soundtrack MCA Executive producer[22]
Pret-A-Porter (Ready to Wear) Original soundtrack Columbia Records Music supervisor[22]
Bad Boys Original soundtrack Work Music Music supervisor[22]
1996 To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday Original soundtrack James Horner Executive producer[22]
Kingpin Original soundtrack A&M Executive producer[22]
1997 Scream 2 Original soundtrack Capitol Records Music consultant[22]
Rhyme & Reason Original soundtrack Priority Records Executive producer[22]
Spawn Original soundtrack Immortal Records Music supervisor[13]
1998 Rush Hour Original soundtrack Def Jam Music supervisor[13]
Zero Effect Original soundtrack Work Group Executive producer[22]
There's Something About Mary Original soundtrack EMI Records Music supervisor[22]
The Big Lebowski:
Original Soundtrack 		Original soundtrack Mercury Records Supervisor[22]
Slam Original soundtrack Sony Music Executive producer[22]
Sessions Album Original Love Session coordinator[22]
2000 The Next Best Thing Original soundtrack Maverick Music supervisor[22]
The Family Man Original soundtrack WEA Executive producer[22]
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps Original soundtrack Def Jam Executive producer[22]
Turn It Up Original soundtrack New Line Cinema Music supervisor[13]
2001 More Music from The Fast and the Furious Original soundtrack Def Jam Executive producer[22]
2002 Pledge of Allegiance Tour:
Live Concert Recording 		Compilation album Columbia Records Executive producer[22]
Blade II: The Soundtrack Original soundtrack Virgin Records Soundtrack producer[22][11]
2004 The Best of Del tha Funkee Homosapien:
The Elektra Years 		Album Del the Funky Homosapien Soundtrack executive producer[22]
Shamrocks and Shenanigans:
The Best of House of Pain and Everlast 		Compilation album House of Pain Executive producer[22]
2009 Zombieland Original soundtrack David Sardy Executive soundtrack producer[22]
The Fast and the Furious
(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 		Original soundtrack Def Jam Executive producer[22]
2010 Repo Men Original soundtrack Relativity Media Executive producer[22]
MacGruber Original soundtrack Relativity Media Music supervisor[22]
2011 Machine Gun Preacher Original soundtrack Relativity Media Music supervisor[22]
Immortals Original soundtrack Trevor Morris Music supervisor[22]
2012 Mirror Mirror Soundtrack Original soundtrack Alan Menken Executive soundtrack producer[22]
Act of Valor: The Album Original soundtrack Relativity Media Executive soundtrack producer[22]
2013 Safe Haven Original soundtrack Relativity Media Executive soundtrack producer[22]
2015 The 90's Studio Album Collection Compilation album The Lemonheads Producer, supervisor [22]

Filmography

Incomplete list of film production credits for Happy Walters
(excluding soundtrack album production)
Yr Release title Format Role
2000 Turn It Up Feature film Producer[13]
Chain of Fools Feature film Producer[13]
Bobby's Whore Short film Producer[13]
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps Feature film Executive producer[22]
2001 Kiss of the Dragon Feature film Producer[13]
The One Feature film Executive producer[13]
2002 Life Without Dick Feature film Producer[13]
Searching for Debra Winger Documentary Producer[13]
Rock the House TV reality series Producer[24]
2003 Sol Goode Feature film Producer[13]
2004 My Baby's Daddy Feature film Producer[13]
The Player Reality TV series Executive producer, writer, creator[13]
2005 Pretty Persuasion Feature film Executive producer[13]
The Strip Game Documentary Producer[13]
Masters of Horror TV series Music supervisor for 12 episodes[13]
2006 Full Clip Feature film Producer[13]
2010 Hesher Feature film Co-producer[13]
2013 We're the Millers Feature film Producer[13]
Being Mariano Rivera Feature film Executive producer[13]
2014 David Ortiz: In the Moment Documentary Executive producer[13]
Back of the Shop TV series Executive producer of 9 episodes[13]
2016 I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Documentary Producer[13][14]
One in a Billion Documentary Executive producer[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Happy Walters". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Rainey, James (October 7, 2015). "Relativity Co-President Happy Walters Exiting (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  3. 1 2 3 Nelson, Havelock (September 1993). "Immortal/Epic Prepare to Pass 'Judgement'". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  4. 1 2 "Amanda Demme". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  5. 1 2 Piccaollo, Gina (January 12, 2004). "In the Wink of an Eye". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kilday, Gregg (January 11, 2012). "Relativity Promotes Gregory Shamo, Happy Walters to Co-Chief Operating Officers". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  7. 1 2 3 4 O'Neal, Sean (August 24, 2016). "The Judgment Night soundtrack foretold the rap-rock apocalypse". A.V. Club. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ward, A. A. (October 26, 2016). "Like its inspiration, Spawn's soundtrack cobbled together coolness". A.V. Club. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  9. 1 2 "Immortal Entertainment Group". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ehrlich, Dimitri (August 19, 1993). "Pearl Jam, Slayer Team Up with Run D.M.C., Ice-T on 'Judgment Night'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Blade II Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  12. 1 2 Min, Lilian (August 13, 2015). "The Hits and Misses of Marvel Comics Movie Soundtracks". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 "Happy Walters". IMDB. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  14. 1 2 3 Havens, Lyndsey (August 19, 2016). "Steve Aoki Documentary 'I'll Sleep When I'm Dead' Hits Netflix". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Heitner, Darren (October 7, 2015). "Upheaval At Relativity Sports As CEO Happy Walters Exits". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  16. 1 2 3 Heitner, Darren (October 20, 2014). "Relativity Sports Signs Baseball Agent Away From Rival Octagon". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Busch, Anita (October 7, 2015). "Relativity Changes Coming Fast Today — Sports Division Head And Co-Chief Out; Ron Burkle Takes Over". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  18. 1 2 Heitner, Darren (June 20, 2016). "Relativity Sports Gets Rebranded As Independent Sports And Entertainment". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  19. 1 2 Thomas, Ian (November 7, 2016). "Walters, Swartz target esports with new agency". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
  20. ↑ "The Only Shortcut in Life is to Start Now". Front Office Sports. February 4, 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Rosen, Craig (April 19, 1997). "Ability To Sign Acts Is Part Of Immortal's New Pact With Epic" (PDF). Billboard. American Radio History. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 "Happy Walters". Allmusic. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  23. ↑ Mitchell, Elvis (July 6, 2001). "In a Tough Spot in Paris? Fight Your Way Out, Limbs Flying". New York Times. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  24. 1 2 Adalian, Josef (July 24, 2002). "VH1 rocking with revamp". Variety. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  25. 1 2 "New Sports Power: Relativity Media, Ron Burkle Form Relativity Sports". The Wrap. Retrieved 24 December 2012.

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