Biography

John Branca’s affinity for entertainers begins with his mother, Barbara Werle, a Harvest Moon Ball winner who danced on the Ed Sullivan Show. When she moved from Mount Vernon, New York to Los Angeles to pursue her career, John, four, lived with his father, also named John, who served as New York State Athletic Commissioner.

Upon turning 11, Branca re-joined his mother in LA, and two years later formed and played guitar for The Other Half. Too young to tour, he formed a new band, Pasternak Progress, which landed regular gigs at the Hullabaloo Club, and occasionally opened for The Doors. They later signed a recording contract with Original Sound Records. One of their recordings was recently featured on a new Rhino Records release.

After majoring in music at Los Angeles City College, Branca transferred to Occidental College, where he majored in political science and graduated cum laude and with honors. Branca attended UCLA School of Law, served as editor-in-chief of one of the law journals, and graduated in 1975. He was recently named UCLA Law School Alumnus of the Year for 2010.

He joined the law firm of Kindel & Anderson as an estate planner, until he read an Elton John profile in Time Magazine which turned him on to the field of entertainment law.

Joining what is now Ziffren Brittenham, Branca’s early clients included The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and Michael Jackson. When Jackson approached Branca with the idea for making the Thriller video, Branca obtained the financing by getting Showtime to sponsor a “Making of ‘Thriller‘” feature, the first “Making of…” documentary of its kind.

In subsequent years, Branca went on to represent 29 acts that were inaugurated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

His innovations during those years include putting together rock’s first “mega-deal,” a four album $50 million package for Aerosmith, and The Rolling Stones Steel Wheels tour that, for the first time, placed a single company in charge of all ticket sales, sponsorships, venues and merchandise, drastically stream-lining operations and increasing efficiency, and which soon became the template for how tours were put together.

Branca also conceived and implemented the most famous music publishing deal in history, the acquisition of the Beatles’ catalog by Michael Jackson.

In recent years, Branca has expanded his music publishing practice and has continued to find ways to help artists protect their music and get their rightful share of royalties in the digital age of music.

He lives with wife Linda, sons Connor and Dylan Gregory, and daughter Jessica from his previous marriage.

Among his many works with charities, John is particularly proud to have formed, along with Buddy Arnold, the Musicians Assistance Program, now merged into Musicares, to assist musicians with drug and alcohol addiction problems, and other medical and financial crises. He currently serves as Chairman. In 2010, Branca was also named Chairman of the MusiCares Capital Campaign to create an endowment for MusiCares.

He also serves on the Executive Committee of UCLA's Pauley Pavilion Renovation Campaign Committee, the goal of which is to renovate this world-class sports and cultural facility for the university and the community. John is an avid baseball card collector, no doubt due in part to his uncle, Ralph Branca, who, among his many storied achievements as a Brooklyn Dodger, pitched in the 1947 World Series. In addition, Branca also collects Italian antiques and has an impressive collection of prestigious watches.

Professional Activities

2010 UCLA Law School Alumnus of the Year
2010 LA City College Alumnus of the Year
2007 Occidental College Alumnus of the Year
Member of the State Bar of California, Beverly Hills (Entertainment Law Section) Bar, and American Bar (Member, Section of Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law) Associations
Editor-in-Chief, UCLA-Alaska Law Review, 1974-1975.
Recipient, Bancroft-Whitney American Jurisprudence Award, 1974-1975.
Recipient, American Lawyer Entertainment Lawyer of the Year Award
Chairman of Musicares
Chairman, Musicares Capital Compaign
Serves on the board of directors of the Grammy Museum, Occidental College, and Pauley Pavilion Renovation Campaign Committee.
John also regularly participates in numerous professional and law school panels, and recently spoke at UCLA Law School and Stanford Law School.
Author: "Attorney Fee Schedules and Legal Advertising: The Implications of Goldfarb," 24 UCLA Law Review 475-522, 1977, and numerous other articles.

Links

John Branca Wikipedia Page