Darin Jones is a Century City based senior business manager with Gelfand Rennert and Feldman, LLC. Jones has 17 years of experience in accounting, and he specializes in entertainment business management.
With an extensive background in city government, banking, and real estate, Jones was driven to entertainment business management out of concern for how Black entertainers incorrectly manage their wealth.
“I saw how celebrities mismanaged their funds – particularly minority entertainers,” said Jones. “I wanted get out there and help them manage their finances, their investments, managing their books – managing their lifestyles.”
Jones likened what he does to being a concierge, because he helps his entertainment clients to manage their properties, vehicles, and overall financial portfolios.
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“I really wanted to get involved in this part of accounting because I want to make sure that people not only make the money, but they’re also able to have something down the road,” said Jones.
Jones said one of the most common mismanagement mistakes made by celebrities is not paying their taxes “for some odd reason.”
“Unfortunately, they think money is going to continue coming in,” said Jones. “They think the TV show is going to keep airing, they think touring is going to keep happening, and people are going to keep loving them, but it stops, and their spending continues.”
Jones continued, “It’s hard for us [accountants] because… it’s their money. So, when we’re trying to talk to them about, ‘Hey, you need to watch your spending. If you keep spending at this rate in three to five years you’re going to be out of money.’ They really don’t want to hear that.”
Jones said advising clients about their overspending is very sensitive, and when they take on a new client many are already in a difficult tax situation. He said it may be of no liability to the former business manager, but the clients’ funds may have run dry when they were supposed to pay taxes.
Jones advises his clients to put 40% of their net profits after commissions into an investment account. He said clients know it’s there, but they are less likely to spend it if it is set aside, and then it can be used later to pay their taxes.
“That’s how we mitigate them overspending and not having tax money when it counts,” said Jones.
As an entertainment business manager, Jones said he services music industry professionals, film producers and directors, high net worth entertainment executives, and social media influencers have become big business, too. However, music industry professionals have been Gelfand Rennert and Feldman’s biggest clients.
Jones said most entertainment business managers will not usually take on a client who does not have a talent representative. “If you already have a business manager or an agent, then the business manager knows this person is serious about their career,” said Jones.
Jones also said that new clients must have a minimum of $250,000 to $500,000 range of income. However, they will take on a new client who earns less than that if they see growth potential, and they have worked with their talent representative before with another client.
Jones said when selecting an entertainment business manager take into consideration how often they will be providing you with financial reports, do they have a multitude of different types of clients, how long have they been in the business, and who are their current clients.
“We’ve had a couple of cases with minority clients that come in and say, ‘Hey, I want to know your minority roster.’ Who are some of your minority clients? A lot of times we don’t like to name drop, but sometimes we have to name drop,” said Jones. “We know the clients we can [name drop], because we’ve already cleared it with the client.”
Jones said the most important advise he can give when working with a business manager is always carefully review your finance reports, and stay aware of how your money is being spent.
