15 minute read
Hollywood heights
Flying high in Hollywood
Packing up to move from Hutton Rudby to Repton Boarding School was his first big move at the age of nine. Fast forward through a law degree and a prized position in the ‘Magic Circle’ of London firms, and Simon Horsman, 53, now finds himself living it up in Los Angeles. A fellow Hutton Rudby native, Elysia Fryer checks in to follow his inspiring journey across the pond...
The last time I saw Simon Horsman was over the bar at The Bay Horse in Hutton Rudby, during what must have been a flying visit back home some years ago. When Christmas comes around, in usual circumstances, it’s a wonderful thing to catch up with familiar faces in the local pub, hearing about how families have grown and flourished, spreading their wings across the country, the continent and beyond. Things were of course a little different this time, but after a chance meeting with Mr and Mrs Horsman, a lovely couple and once ‘locals’ who still live in the village, I’m put in touch with Mr Horsman’s eldest son and we’re catching up over Zoom to talk Hollywood, high-flying businesses and home comforts. Simon’s story is something of a Hollywood blockbuster, which is very fitting given his sparkling career as a successful financier and producer over in The States. I’d heard snippets of his story from his proud parents over the years, but it was great to put a face to the name once again (albeit in a virtual way) to get the lowdown in full. So, I guess it makes sense to start from the very beginning. Simon is pleased to see me sitting comfortably with a cup of Yorkshire tea as he begins to do what he does best - tell an engaging story from start to finish. “If we’re going way back to day one, then I’ll start by saying I was born in Middlesbrough and grew up around the area,” he starts. “My family lived at Rudby Hall in Hutton Rudby but have since downsized - considerably,” he laughs. “But it’s nice to know that they are settled back in my hometown and I love to visit whenever I can. “Following my early studies at Red House School in Norton and then Repton in Derbyshire, I did my degree at Manchester University and then moved on to read law at The University of Law - Guildford. After graduation, I moved to London and qualified with Slaughter and May, which was one of the ‘Magic Circle’ firms at the time.” Studying and practicing law seemed like the natural progression for Simon. His father Malcolm Horsman was, until his retirement in 2003, the senior partner of Doberman Horsman Solicitors of Borough Road, Middlesbrough. “But it wasn’t long before I got a little disillusioned with London and decided to be a bit more adventurous, so I moved over to The States.” A pretty spontaneous leap across the pond, but one that has led to an incredibly successful career moving from law into technology and more recently into film and television production, Broadway and a sports agency. Many of us have the itch to travel, to see more of the world, to experience life on a different continent. So what exactly made Simon make the jump? “I was just in search of adventure and wanted to try something new. I always wanted to explore the entertainment industry, so I figured, what better place to do so than the US? “I thought about doing that as a lawyer initially, but when I did the California bar exam and requalified over here, I got into partnership at a law firm when the technology boom was happening, so I ended up taking that path. “The law firm I joined was doing incredibly well, so for 10 years I got sucked into that and represented some of the biggest tech-software companies including Intuit, Microsoft, Autodesk, Adobe and Symantec.
I did a lot of their international anti-piracy work, particularly in Brazil for The Business Software Alliance. “Then I went in-house as the General Counsel of an internet company called PriceGrabber, which back in the day was a leading price comparison shopping site. It sounds funny now because Amazon has monopolised the business, but at the time, if you wanted to buy a computer you’d go to a price comparison site and they’d list all of the retailers by price. That was a very successful company; with about $1.5m raised in 2000, we sold it four years later for close to $500m. It was an incredible success story and gave me a little bit of freedom to pursue my other ambitions.” His other ambitions being a route into entertainment - the industry that LA and Hollywood in particular is famed for. We all have our own perceptions of LA - ‘the city of angels’, ‘the home of the stars’, ‘la la land’ - whatever it may be. It’s a city I’ve always had a fixation with. The sheer buzz of the place. The fashion, the lifestyle, the success stories. But that being said, it is a place that leaves you to question: ‘what is Hollywood really like?’. Simon tells us... “I was attracted to LA for the same reasons a lot of people want to be here. I wanted to be in the centre of something exciting. “I became a lawyer here, so there was a lot of hard work involved to start with but after a while, it just becomes normal life. “I mean, I’m sitting here in the middle of Beverly Hills - the sun is shining in December - and professionally, I’m at the epicentre of the industry.” For Simon, it’s about enjoying what life throws at you and being open to starting new ventures with the inspiring people that surround you. “My start in the entertainment industry came when I started running a company called Future Films, which was the US arm of a UK-based film finance company. Around this time, I got involved with the UK’s biggest talent agency called Independent Talent Group. They represent the cream of British talent, everyone from Anthony Hopkins to Daniel Craig to Phoebe Waller-Bridge. I ended up finding a US investor to acquire a large stake in that company. “On the tail end of that deal closing, I met Jeffrey Soros and represented him as his lawyer in the entertainment industry. Jeffrey’s parents have an incredible story of arriving in America as immigrants from Hungary and going on to achieve truly great things in finance, engineering and philanthropy. “Jeffrey is my partner at Los Angeles Media Fund (LAMF), where our core business is financing and producing movies. We’ve produced many movies and documentaries together at this point.” LAMF took off in 2012 and is really where Hollywood comes into the Horsman name. Simon guides me through an exciting timeline of movies and feature films to hit the big screens in recent years. “We did a movie called The Space Between Us with Gary Oldman and Asa Butterfield - a young adult sci-fi adventure. We also produced a movie called Juliet, Naked - which we shot in England. It’s based on a Nick Hornby novel of the same name. “We did a horror movie called The Bye Bye Man, which did quite well at the Box Office. “We also worked on a dance comedy called Step Sisters, which was fun, as well as a crime movie starring Jim Carey called Dark Crimes. “We were at Sundance Film Festival last year with three movies. One of which has just been released in the UK called Shirley with Elisabeth Moss in the lead role. Elisabeth is on the shortlist to be nominated for an Oscar for her performance.” Other of his films that premiered at Sundance last year include, Some Kind of Heaven, which he and his partner produced with The New York Times and director Darren Aronofsky, which is an irreverent look at America’s largest retirement community in
Central Florida; and the film Summertime, which features 25 young, spoken word poets who intersect over a hot July day in LA. Both should be released in the UK later this year. “We’re just about to complete a documentary on the iconic footballer, Ronaldinho. We’ve been working on that for the last year and it’s turned out great. It covers his life from growing up in Porto Alegre, Brazil. “His older brother Roberto, who is now his manager, was a very good football player in his own right and was actually in the Brazil national team, but then suffered a career-ending injury so all hopes turned to this little kid, Ronaldinho. “It’s really a trajectory of him becoming indisputably the greatest football player on the planet for a few seasons at Barcelona from 2003 to 2006, but we also go back and forward in time to get the whole story. We released a trailer across Ronaldinho’s social media accounts in October, which garnered over eight million views, which is a testament to his continuing popularity. “The film is directed by two British brothers, Andrew and Stuart Douglas. Jake Bugg is composing the score for us.” Another big project in production at the moment is a nine-part docu-series on the Los Angeles Lakers, the reigning NBA champions. “Our partner on that is Jeanie Buss - the owner of the Lakers, and the most powerful woman in sport. “We’re telling the story of her father, Dr Jerry Buss, who bought the Lakers in the 1970s and really created this movement called the ‘Showtime Era’. “Jerry Buss was the first NBA ownder to promote women into top executive ranks. He anointed Jeanie as his successor over his two sons. We cover all of the great players from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Magic Johnson to the current era. “The Lakers just won the NBA Finals, so the series culminates with that in the NBA Bubble in Orlando.” Much of what Simon and his team at LAMF produce is current, relevant and incredibly engaging, not only to US audiences, but across the globe. Whether it’s a timely sports documentary or a show on international heroes such as Ronaldinho, there’s always a place in the industry for such inspiring work. One of the largest movements in US history - and indeed across the globe - is evident in the ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests, a dedication to fighting for freedom, liberation and justice. A number of recent LAMF productions act as a punctual reminder. “Shot in the Dark is a show LAMF produced with NBA great, Dwyane Wade and Chance the Rapper. It tells the story of two African American basketball players from the west side of Chicago. They’re at high school, they’re going down to the State Championship for the first time. It’s really about growing up in these gang-infested neighborhoods and how hard it is for these kids to stay out of trouble. “Spoiler alert, one of them ends up in jail and the other gets shot in the leg, but ultimately gets to college on a basketball scholarship. It was a tough story, but very well received and was nominated for an Emmy. “We’re also working on an important project based on The New York Times bestselling book by Jeff Hobbs, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace. The film will be directed by British director/actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor. Antoine Fuqua is producing with us - he is one of Hollywood’s biggest directors, he directed Training Day, for example. “It’s the heartbreaking real life story of Rob Peace, who was born in East Orange, New Jersey. When he was seven, his father was accused and convicted of a brutal murder. His mother works in a canteen and doesn’t have a lot of money, but somehow saves to send Rob to the local private school. “Rob was gifted academically and secured a scholarship to Yale, so it’s really a journey of this kid from a challenging neighbourhood who manages to excel even with a dad in jail and a mum who can hardly afford to keep a roof over their heads. At Yale, he becomes the biggest pot dealer on campus, this was back in the early 2000s. “He graduates with flying colours, goes back to East Orange and does one last drug deal as he’s planning where he’s going to go for post-graduate studies, but he’s murdered. It’s a very well written book, pointing a finger at American society and how the system fails some people. It’s a very important film. That’s probably the next film we’re going into production on and is likely to be released in 2022.” “On a totally separate note, we did a very fun documentary called United Skates, which looks at a sub-culture of African American roller skating rinks and how it has been a real generator of hip hop music, but now it’s kind of dying out. When I first got into this one, I didn’t think it was going to get broad attention, but it received great critical reviews and was nominated for an Emmy. “We’re also doing a TV series with two-time Oscar winner, Jodie Foster directing. It’s a story about the theft of the Mona Lisa. I didn’t even know about this event going into the project - that’s what’s so fun about my job. “In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen off the walls of the Louvre Museum in Paris. It went missing for almost two years. There was a mastermind behind the heist, but it was funny because Picasso was living in Paris at the time, and was actually one of the main suspects (in his days as an unknown artist in Paris, he allegedly handled stolen goods from The Louvre). He was dragged before a magistrate and had to plead his innocence. Ultimately, he hadn’t stolen the Mona Lisa, but it’s a very interesting side story.” “So, in a nutshell, that is what I get up to,” he laughs. A very busy agenda, and one that comes with many a story. We could go on for pages and pages, but we have more exciting Simon Horsman businesses to get on to! So, how does a sports agency fit into the mix? “I co-founded a sports agency called Beyond Athlete Management, where we represent basketball players and American footballers. We have Miles Saunders, who is the star running back for the Philadelphia Eagles and Courtland Sutton, who is a wide receiver for the Denver Broncos. “We’ve got about 25-30 basketball clients, some of them in the NBA, some of them playing in Europe. “LAMF is a controlling shareholder in that company. Our decision to grow Beyond Athlete Management was to benefit from the convergence between entertainment and sport. A lot of big basketball players want to get into the entertainment industry, if they have not done so already, so we thought one company would really feed off the other, which it does so wonderfully.” Voila! Simon Horsman takes Hollywood indeed - we agree that it should be a show in itself. Oh, and he’s not afraid to admit he’s also involved in talk shows and reality TV favourites that have included Red Table Talk and The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. All of that, plus Broadway shows including a revival of Oklahoma!, which he won a Tony Award for. An all-rounder if you ask us. Between planning, production and juggling his many successful LA-based businesses, Simon enjoys family life in The Golden State. “I’ve been here since 1996 and it is very much home now. I’m well settled with my wife Anna and son Malcolm, who is nine-years-old and a gifted football player. He plays for the Juventus Academy over here, which is headed up by Alessandro Del Piero - an Italian footballing legend. “There are a few former Premier League footballers over here that I’m quite friendly with, which is nice. “Living away from home for so long, it’s always comforting to have some friends around you that know a bit about your culture back home and know where you come from. I’m a proud northerner, so any opportunity to talk about my roots is just wonderful. “I didn’t have much of a reason to be here originally. I was a lawyer in London, I got on a plane, booked myself into the Hilton at LAX and took the California bar exam - I didn’t know anybody. “I turned my back on what might have been a big career in law in London, but I just wanted to do something more exciting. “I’m very fortunate to have a great business partner in Jeffrey Soros. That shouldn’t be overlooked, he is a wonderful human being. We have a very good friendship and work really hard to ensure we create a positive working environment.” Business aside, Simon and his family enjoy living in such an incredibly colourful city, with the beach, countryside and bright lights at their fingertips, as well as good travel links, allowing them to explore the rest of the country and beyond. “We like to travel, when we can. My wife is from a really beautiful, exotic place - Cartagena in Colombia - so we love going to visit. It’s a very vibrant, musical place. “We also love travelling back to England when we can, to see my family. “But most of the time, we just really enjoy LA. We’re very lucky to have the warm, sunny climate that we do. Being able to jump in the car and arrive at the beach within 30 minutes is just an absolute joy.” A very luxe life - but one that started with, and will always have a place for, his beloved North East. “On a final note, the most ‘luxe’ thing to me is the ability to do things that are really not work at all. Whether it’s seeing a movie with an actor you’re working with, reading a script on a subject that you’re interested in, or picking up a book and thinking, this would make a really great film, it’s all about getting involved in the centre of that creative process. It’s incredibly fun. To create is a big thing for me, something I’m sure you share in your industry too!” lamf.la | beyond.am
