Gen Art Joins Forces With Rock Media

Gen Art—founded in New York 15 years ago to provide a launching pad for emerging talent in film, fashion, art and music—and Rock Media & Entertainment announced on Aug. 19 they will join forces. The new company will be called RMGA LLC when the merger is completed around Sept. 15.

Rock Media, a 2-year-old entertainment and media company in New York, has been eyeing Los Angeles as a profitable market for fashion shows and other events. In late October, it is holding its first Rock Fashion Week L.A. at Paramount Studios.

Gen Art is known for its Fresh Faces in Fashion shows in Los Angeles, New York and other cities around the country. With the merger, Fresh Faces will be the Oct. 29 centerpiece at Rock Fashion Week L.A., which runs Oct. 28–31.

“The companies match up very well,” said Scott Rosenblum, chief executive and co-founder of Rock Media. He became interested in partnering with Gen Art about one year ago, but the two only started talking seriously a few months ago.

“Gen Art has a fantastic stable of events and entertainment properties, and I think it is the top player in developing emerging fashion and music talent,” Rosenblum said. “Our company has a great media platform and a very good branded-entertainment platform of properties. It mixes very well, and the management teams complement each other very well.”

Ian Gerard, the chief executive and co-founder of Gen Art, said the merger comes at the right time for his organization, which has a budget that is 80 percent financed by corporate sponsorships. The group’s three largest sponsors are Citibank, American Express and Acura, companies in three industries that have been hard hit by the economy.

“We have been going through a rough patch, and this will economically stabilize our company,” Gerard said. “The two companies are synergistic, especially in the fashion area. We do big, emerging designer fashion shows that are extremely expensive to produce on their own.”

Rock Media also has a close relationship with Hachette Filipacchi Media, publishers of Elle, Met Home and Woman’s Day. “They have a tight publishing contact, something we have lacked,” Gerard said, noting that these magazines could be a good venue to promote new talent.

Gerard said Rock Media has given Gen Art $500,000 to cover its short-term liabilities and will assume all of Gen Art’s debt.

RMGA will continue to produce programming, content and events under both the Gen Art and Rock Media brands. The new company’s inaugural event will be to produce Gen Art’s 15th anniversary Fresh Faces in Fashion Show on Sept. 15 at the Style360 fashion show in New York in partnership with Hachette Filipacchi Media. They will also be producing a show for emerging designers during Rock Fashion Week Miami, scheduled for Oct. 14–18.

The new company, which is expected to have $12 million in revenues by 2010, will be run by the four principals at Gen Art and Rock Media. Rosenblum will be RMGA’s chief executive. Ian Gerard and Rock Media’s Nicole Purcell will be co-presidents, and Gen Art’s president, Stefan Gerard, will be the new chief operating officer.

Rock Media’s New York staff will move into Gen Art’s New York headquarters at 133 W. 25th St. and the Gen Art office in Los Angeles at 3700 S. Robertson Blvd. Gen Art will share Rock Media’s Miami office at the Eden Roc resort.—Deborah Belgum