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Hi, friends!
Just passing this press release on to you. As this is Amy's managementcompany, it will be interesting to see how this change will impact her work.
-Lori Mc
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NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 2, 1997--Gaylord EntertainmentCompany (NYSE:GET) has acquired Blanton/Harrell Entertainment, anentertainment management company, and has created a new division of GaylordEntertainment that will be headed by the founders of Blanton/Harrell, saidE.W. Wendell, President and Chief Executive Officer of GaylordEntertainment.
Mike Blanton and Dan Harrell, who manage such music artists as Amy Grant,Michael W. Smith and Gary Chapman, will be co-Presidents of the new FamilyValues Entertainment division of Gaylord Entertainment. Blanton and Harrellalso manage best-selling author Frank Peretti and Grammy-winning songwriterWayne Kirkpatrick. The new Gaylord Entertainment operating division willcontain Blanton/Harrell Entertainment, Word Entertainment, which will continue under the leadership of Roland Lundy, and Z Music Television, theCompany's 24-hour-per-day contemporary Christian music video network.
"Dan Harrell and Mike Blanton are two of the most innovative businessmen inthe entire entertainment industry, and we are extremely excited about themjoining Gaylord Entertainment Company," said Wendell.
"Blanton and Harrell have been in business for almost 17 years and havetaken their clients to world-wide prominence through creative thinking,meticulous planning and plain hard work. We believe they can take thecomponents of our new Family Values Entertainment division, find newventures, establish new partnerships and eventually create one of the mostvaluable assets in the entertainment business in Nashville.
"And the added benefit to having Blanton and Harrell join GaylordEntertainment is that their beliefs about the quality and values of theentertainment they provide is in tune with what this Company has been aboutfor more than 70 years."
Blanton/Harrell Entertainment was started in 1980 to manage the musicalcareer of Amy Grant, who was just starting out in the contemporary Christianmusic industry. Within the first year, Blanton/Harrell signed both MichaelW. Smith and Gary Chapman. Since that time, Blanton/Harrell helped developGrant into the top-selling contemporary Christian artist in history and oneof the top selling popular music recording artists as well.
"This new relationship with Gaylord Entertainment is extremely positive forus and the artists we represent," said Blanton. "We have joined thedominant entertainment company in Nashville, and we have been given thegreen light to create exciting new entertainment businesses that showcasevalues which encourage and enhance the quality of life for people around theworld."
"We have always been an idea factory," said Harrell. "An idea factory thattests each new potential entertainment endeavor for two critical components. One, does it have commercial viability -- can it make it in themarketplace. And two, does it reflect wholesome family values or add to thespiritual growth of people. If it meets these two criteria, then we pursueit."
"Mike Blanton and Dan Harrell have had tremendous success in cross-marketingtheir clients," said Terry London, Executive Vice President and ChiefOperating Officer of Gaylord Entertainment. "We believe this ability toreach different audiences will prove invaluable to us as we build GaylordEntertainment for the future."
Both Blanton and Harrell see the continued growth of Word Entertainment ascritical to the new division's success.
"Roland Lundy has done a skillful job of making Word successful," saidHarrell. "We see Word continuing along the path Roland has set -- that is providing an inspirational message through both music and videos. What we will try to do is expand the market for Word with other forms ofentertainment, so that more of its product reaches a wider audience."
"I'm excited about joining Mike and Dan as we step across the threshold ofthis new entertainment venture," said Lundy. "The allied vision andcreative prowess of Word and Blanton/Harrell will establish a new anddynamic approach to Christian Communications. This team will have adefinitive positive impact on our modern culture."
The format of Z Music Television will undergo changes under Blanton/Harrellas they plan to create lifestyle programming that would also be used on themusic video network.
"Using our contacts in the entertainmluding the Grand Ole Opry, OprylandHotel Convention Center, Opryland theme park and Opryland Music Group;broadcasting, including two television stations and three radio stations;and the newly-formed family values entertainment.
KEYWORD: TENNESSEE
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ENTERTAINMENT TRAVEL/AIRLINES MERGERS/ACQ
BW1290 APR 02,1997