Juan Saavedra...the real deal. LAW

After researching for a lawyer that would fit my needs I found Mr. Juan Saavedra. When I called his office they were so welcoming that was the first thing I liked about them, then Mr. Saavedra gave this quote “The good lawyer would not allow the client to say what they will be doing. The lawyer gives a services and that is the purpose.” (Juan Saavedra) I need someone that is there to understand and help me make the right decisions, not what I say I am going to do. He also has demonstrated total domain in the Puerto Rico judicial system. In addition he can also litigate in New York. For Enid Collazo, LLC is of big advantage because most of the companies we work for are based in New York City.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Mr. Saavedra managed to leave a small town and do his Bachelors in Yale with a mayor in Literature. His goal was to become a reporter concentrating in law this is why he went to Harvard Law where he got his Graduate degree and found his passion in life; since then he has been practicing for 27 years. After he graduated, it is a tradition in Puerto Rico, to work with a judge to learn the etiquette of the Court House. Then he moved to New York where he worked for four years at a White Shoe Law Firm, White and Case. After this experience he returned to Puerto Rico to become the lawyer of the Bank of Development of Puerto Rico for one year. This job only lasted a year because there was a change in government, he tried to find a job in the private sector, not being able to find any open position, Juan opened his own office; it has been 17 years since that day when he decided to practice on his own.

Juan Saavedra was first introduced to the entertainment community ten years ago when he had the opportunity to represent a writer that was in a legal dispute over copyright infringement. After succeeding in this case many cases of litigation in the entertainment industry came along, with this Mr. Saavedra became one of the most prominent entertainment lawyers in Puerto Rico. Now he dedicates half of his practice to litigation where he fights for copyright infringement, he claims protection for the authors. Because his goal is to make every possible move for his clients to win, he has made agreements without going to the stand. Through his career he has made contracts between artists and record labels, and recently he has re-negotiated a 30-year contract with the new owner of The Fania All Star. He is always seeking for business opportunities between artists and producers. In all these years he has learned that a good lawyer need good clients. As a client we need to read the contracts, be on top of the game, and let the lawyer use the right legal terms. It is important to remember that the lawyers will translate and interpret a juridical language to what the client wants. The client needs to be informed. The biggest liability is that the client says that they did not approve what is there, what they got as a final product. Another liability is that the subcontractor did not give their services or the money offered is not complete after the transaction is done. Mr Saavedra recalls of a case that the Artist claims that after a year or more of a cancelled concert he cannot remember if he got paid for that concert or if the money is still in the bank. Just a simple e-mail would have prevented this situation.

During this hour of a highly educated and entertaining interview Mr. Saavedra recommended ‘The Business of Music’ from his dear friend and colleague William Krasilovsky co written by Jonathan Feinstein. He encouraged me to read this book since Mr. Krasilovsky has worked many entertainment industry cases with great success. He also told me to never give up a deal because I could not get hold of my lawyer. “If the deal is worth it just take it.” Juan Saavedra. Also he said that if I need to consult my lawyer that means that there is something wrong with that deal and maybe I should not take it at all. Still believing that is always preferable to have a lawyer to revise the contracts, since a 95 percent of the litigated cases could have been solved by a well-written contract. This lawyer is a firm believer that the client is who wins or losses the case. This is why he fights harder to get good deals that would satisfy both parties. He learned this lesson the hard way when Juan represented a client that he should have negotiated an agreement in that moment and refused to do it, he did not get what he wanted for his client. After this lesson Juan Saavedra has had many shinning moments that he can call to mind, but the most precious is as he called it, ‘The Napkin Deal’ he feels honored to negotiate a contract of $10 million dollars to save a project of 150 millions. The contract was signed in a napkin in a restaurant in Old San Juan. Today this deal is The Conquistador Hotel and Resort. Juan sees that the lawyer’s job was to leave aside emotions and resolve this issue.

This really humble person has represented many Latino artists and managers. One case that I can recall that he represented Mr. Ralph Cartagena, the former manager of Gilberto Santa Rosa and El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, both sued Mr. Cartagena for copyright, royalties and breach of contract. After Juan Saavedra won the case for Ralph Cartagena, Gilberto Santa Rosa went to the Court of Appeals where Gilberto tried canceling the contract and collection of royalties for four productions that where created for Combo Records. The judges of the court of appeals understood that it was to late to claim of rights over these productions. Like these cases, Juan has represented numerous Artists and Manager’s claiming that one of his most interesting and challenging clients has been Ralph Cartagena.

If you want to contact him:

http://lawyers.justia.com/lawyer/juan-saavedra-1169344

The mind behind El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. PAM

In May of 1962 a group of musicians wanted to work while each of them found a job to sustain their families. El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico as it was named, started working without thinking in long-term goals.

Rafael Ithier has been the Bandleader, pianist, composer, arranger and music director of the group since this meeting, because it was a short-term job he also managed the group. Ithier has demonstrated to be a great self-manager for this group creating euphoria through out the world for 47 years.

El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico is a Salsa band that has opened doors and new markets for other Latino artists. Thanks to Rafael Ithier, El Gran Combo is the most successful salsa band in the country and worldwide. When the group was growing Ithier understood the necessity of having a limited management hiring the owner of the record label they recorded for, Ralph Cartagena. Cartagena was in charge of the international aspect of bookings, while Ithier still had the book and made the contracts in Puerto Rico. Each member of El Gran Combo has a duty making Ithier’s job as a manager a little easier there is a treasurer, travel agent, stylist and choreographer. With this team they have made Puerto Rico understand that if you work as a team, you also win as one. Many have different opinions of their management but the truth is that Rafael Ithier has made wise decisions that have benefited the group in many aspects. We need to remember that when this group was formed having a manager was not a norm, only a few artists had one.

Rafael Ithier was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico 29 August 1926. Rafael Ithier has made El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico an institution in Latin music history. “A talented, self-taught pianist, Ithier described himself, saying, “Ever since my childhood, music was my love. I never studied how to play any instrument. I am practically self-learned, an innate musician, because music comes easy to me. It takes me a month to learn what normally it takes someone else to learn in a year. And since I take it to a practical level because I work so often, it’s been easy for me to learn.”” (musicofpuertorico.com)

Rafael Ithier started his career when he was 18 years old with Conjunto Lucerito, then Conjunto Hawayano. There were many groups that did not last long; it was until the composer Faustino “Tito” Henriquez made a group that was named Conjunto Taone. As Rafael Ithier recalls it was in this group that his professional career began. After a few years with the band Ithier left to the Army, there he formed a group called Los Borinquenia Mambo Boys. Even after their duty was over the group travelled to New York, Chicago and other places. The group stayed together until 1955. After Los Borinquenia Mambo Boys Ithier started getting recognition as the pianist of Cortijo y su Combo. Led by Rafael Cortijo and Ismael Rivera.

In the peak of the band career the musicians had controversies with the leaders decisions, the musicians just left the band. It was in May 1962 that a group of struggling musicians had a meeting and created El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.

“We have manage to be together as a group this long because we are human beings first. We are respectful and educated maintaining the humanism and a direct contact with the fans.” (Rafael Ithier) Ithier never imagined he would manage a group that would last this long or that would be as famous. After el Gran Combo signed with Combo Records, Ithier and Cartagena got to a managing agreement. It was then that Ralph Cartagena became the international manager of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico and still Ithier had total control of the contracts that Ralph did for El Gran Combo. Rafael Ithier through out these years he would not make any decisions differently. He has never changed his mind or regrets any decisions he has ever made.

After 12 years of surviving with El Gran Combo, one of the members got a note from his mortgage to create their record label EGC. This was a group’s milestone since they created many hits under this label. Another moment that Rafael Ithier realized who they had become was when Motown offered a contract to sign El Gran Combo to their label. For reasons out of their control, El Gran Combo was not added to their roster.

After all this years Ithier has not changed his managing style. “The only change we had was that when we signed with Combo Records and the owner became the group’s international manger.” (Rafael Ithier) As an innate musician, Rafael got to work his business according to him “I studied a little bit of accounting and when I went to the Army the discipline that I have I had applied it in El Gran Combo. Every decision that I’ve made I stood by it until this day. I have learned from my errors.” (Rafael Ithier)

After 46 years El Gran Combo has survived, maintained and lived. They are part of the Puerto Rico History and a pillar of the Salsa history. Ithier knows that El Gran Combo legacy will end someday “I am a firm believer of new talent; we started as one. When we started as El Gran Combo we had many enemies, but still we managed to outgrow it and become what we are today. There is a need to support new talent, new groups. We are united as one, we are Salsa. I did for the gender what I could; we are an established group that has become an icon of Puerto Rico, of Salsa. Now it is time to see new groups write the new history of this beautiful gender that has given us the opportunity to grow and become who we are today. Right now what we can do is give support to this new generation of Salsa, and for us to give all the advice they are willing to take.” (Rafael Ithier)

In this picture with Rafael Ithier at a traditional puertorrican christmas party I did for El Gran Combo ;)

Orlando Cepeda Jr. when something is “meant” to be it will happen. Deal making became his life.

Negotiating is hard work, and is even harder when you are a person who follows emotions and dreams. It is difficult to put aside one’s emotions in order to successfully do business, and this interview truly opened my eyes to this, and to the fact that one needs to learn how “real life” is; how important it is to be a team player and have a good lineup of professionals by one’s side. One needs to realize that in order to be a good negotiator one must take advantage of situations and see how they benefit your deal. Negotiating and deal making is a challenge which not everyone is competent enough to be successful at; with my Leadership Portfolio I got the opportunity to interview a person that I feel deep admiration for, who is quite successful at this great matter: Orlando Cepeda Jr. One of the few Latino sports agents in the United States, Cepeda Jr. is a great negotiator who truly has learned to take advantage of all the situations in life. According to him, getting a YES is an art form and a way of negotiating without giving in.

Orlando Cepeda, Jr. was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His father, Hall of Famer Orlando M. Cepeda, raised him in Puerto Rico until his late teens, when he took him to California to further intensify his love for baseball. After years of dreaming of becoming a professional baseball player, Cepeda Jr. found himself injured at the age of 24. The necessity of finding a new source of income and success became quite conspicuous then, and he took his passion and knowledge for sports and made them his business.

A few years later, Orlando got the opportunity to work with a company owned by Adidas, called Ben Greck, which wanted their brand on the Latino players. Orlando knew several baseball players who, he knew, would help him out on this guerrilla marketing. He proceeded to use all these contacts and proved his abilities as beginner negotiator. In the early 90’s Adidas was in the process of expansion in the USA, and it was then when Cepeda Jr. became in charge of Adidas Baseball, where he stayed for 10 years. In this process he got to meet a lot of agents that encouraged him to work directly in the business, but he did not like nor felt he was mature enough to negotiate players; he remained working with Adidas. Cepeda Sr., his father, was quite proud to introduce his son to one of the greatest sports agents, Jeff Moorad. At the moment, Orlando seemed too young and too “green” for Moorad’s business, which proves, once again, that luck is when opportunity and preparation meet. Cepeda Jr. was not prepared, and Moorad’s good business judgments could see that.

A few years later, when Orlando was working in Adidas, Dusty Baker a Major League baseball player from the San Francisco Giants invited him to have dinner at his home, where once again Jeff Moorad was to meet his way. At this dinner Jeff asked Orlando to “talk business”. At this point, Jeff had seen the development and maturation of Cepeda Jr., and he was ready to offer him a job that was “perfect” for him. Because of the Latin craze in baseball, Jeff needed a key person to connect him with the Latin players; Orlando Cepeda, Jr. needed to be the link between the players and Mr. Moorad and he did it. Jeff became Orlando’s mentor and taught him the greatest pillars on how to be an agent and, over all, a good dealmaker.

Today, Orlando Jr. still works in the same company, LS Legacy Sports Group located in Newport Beach, CA. This boutique agency represents baseball players only, and gives them the proper attention they deserve as successful sportsmen. Currently, LS Legacy Sports Group is one of the eight most powerful agencies in Baseball, even after Jeff Moorad left the agency to become a part owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Orlando is a key component of this great company whose “trick” is to always have a great team of dealmakers.

As the successful team that they are they use two techniques that are key for their negotiations: market value and bluffing. The market value technique is where every agent awaits for the first player to sign a contract after they have asked for money, depending on the player and stats. This sets the standards and the price that other players can expect. The second main technique is to bluff to the team about another team. Contrasting two teams is a good means to get a good negotiation, and no one can know whether it is true or not. A lot of times there are more than two teams that want to sign a contract with a player, and the agent must be ready to take the most intelligent step, which, at times, means letting go of a deal with a team. For Cepeda Jr. one of the most gratifying negotiations was when Nike signed a marketing campaign for eight years with Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez who has been one of the most influential Latino baseball players in the Major Leagues, and Orlando understands the difficulty that it is to negotiate a contract with such a sponsor, which can truly pick out anyone they wish to.

In this picture with Orlando Cepeda Jr. and my mom.

How many goals can you set in a year? Work done during Full Sail Experience

When I started the masters I also wanted to do everything. During this past year I worked as a promo manager for Leaddog Marketing. That meant hiring the team that was going to work the promotion for the week ends that they were needed; the schedule for each one of them and their duties, giving them the so needed breaks meanwhile keeping the event running smoothly. You guys know who you are and did an amazing job! Thank you.

When this promo ended I went to Puerto Rico and worked with Enid Collazo the Inmediata clients cocktail. There I was in charge of the decoration and entertainment for the event. I needed to subcontract the people that worked with us, rent the needed equipment and hire the performers.

When the winter season was over I came back to Los Angeles and started working promotions with Market Development. My job with them is also as a manager. What I need to do is hire people and assign them what promo they will be working and where. Till this date I still have this job and is really fun also. During Summer I was hired as a part-time at mun2 and I know you guys already read all the details about it.

I think that I have accomplished successfully this past year goals. I just don’t know when it is too much or if it is even possible to have too many goals. I have worked more during this past year but these ones I feel really proud of. This week I have been scheduling new challenges…new goals. The past has been great and really rewarding. I am just really excited for my future.

Welcome to my life…

I have already talked about my move to Los Angeles. My dreams of pursuing acting how I started with music. Hopefully you went to myspace.com/marielworld and heard me singing. Linked on mun2 and saw Annie ;) dancing and calling Joey out…wow! Seriously…that was funny.

http://www.holamun2.com/candy/el-show-shorts/chica-vs-papi-granny-panty

http://www.holamun2.com/candy/el-show-shorts/dances-of-the-americas-reggaeton-annie

I also talked to you about guys, love and how we all have a “Mr. Big’ (Sex and the City). The most important subject right now is another milestone in my life, my masters degree. Since I’ve already told you how I picked Full Sail, now I want to give you an inside scoop on each of my classes and how each class influenced me, whom I interviewed and what I learned. Each of my interviewers are Latinos because I want to learn from them how each one of them made it to be who they are today.

Welcome to my life. Thank you for being part of it ;)

Mariel

Searching for more… Full Sail University

Coming from an artistic family it has been my dream to move to Los Angeles and pursue acting. I started following my passion by singing since a really early age in my life. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico; I make this note because that has everything to do with me pursing a career in music first. When I realized that acting could be a serious career I packed my bags and this is where I am now.

Since I graduated college I wanted to do my masters, I just needed to find the right moment and place to get my degree from. Currently I am doing my Entertainment Business Masters at Full Sail University. It was a really hard task to find a University that would give what I needed, when I needed, where I needed, Full Sail gave me exactly that. The experience has been amazing. Since I started the program I understood that this was a challenge and I feel really good about it… it is with great pleasure that today I can say that in October 2^nd I will be graduating and accomplishing a personal goal.

I just can’t express the joy that fulfills me today, the satisfaction I feel. Now I need to start my search again. Find what am I going to do now. What is the next project, the next mission… I will be writing blogs more often and letting people know how I feel, what is new and what is happening in every aspect. School is over Sunday and I already volunteered for a charity event Saturday 3^rd and I am organizing a small shoot with a friend. Monday we will start writing a script, the goal is to shoot a short film that we can also use as a pilot. Let see how that new project goes. It just sounds exciting! The most important goal after graduation is to finish one really important project…soon I’ll say the name and the details ;)

I love every step I take, it doesn’t matter if I fall I know that I am strong enough to get up and keep going. I am not afraid whatever my future is; that is what I am destined to do.

Hear me sing :

www.myspace.com/marielworld

The end of a reign, the beginning of the new emperor.

How many times have we started going out with a guy and we see all of our future? It doesn’t matter how cool or unattached we are there is always ‘One’ guy. You just sit across the table and say… “he is everything I am looking for”. Or maybe he is the exact opposite of what you are used to date. If you feel like THAT, it doesn’t matter, you are already fantasizing about the future, probably a future that will never exist.

Lets just hold this future for a bit and focus on this ‘One’ guy…the ‘One’ guy that breaks our heart, ‘One’ guy that teach us about life, ‘One’ guy that we learn everything from…ahhh!!!…There is always a Mr. Big (Sex and the City). We fall so hard for this guy that we are willing to do ANYTHING for him. That person makes us alive when we’re with him…makes us feel happy. Many times they don’t even break your heart, he is the perfect partner, you are the perfect couple.

But something always goes wrong. Inevitably our heart is broken, we think that we are not going to be able to deal with such a pain. “Why me???” And that is how this reign ends, with pain and suffering. You still maintain communication because you think that deep, deep inside he is the right guy for you. Because he is going to see what you are really worth and things will change between you too.

Then you meet a guy, randomly of course. Blind dates are so awkward and strange and being set up barely ever works. Going back to the new emperor…you start feeling excited for a date and you just start feeling… not for the ‘One’ guy but instead for ‘The’ guy. The one that really makes you happy and makes you understand how valuable you really are. That there was no reason to cry or think that the end of the reign was the end of the world; it was just the beginning of a new emperor.

In the picture with my eternal love…My dad….