Claude Grunitzky

Claude Grunitzky (b. Feb 28, 1971 in Lomé, Togo) is a journalist, editor and entrepreneur.^[1] He is best known as founder and editor-in-chief of the quarterly publication TRACE, an international fashion and music title, and as a co-founder of the Trace TV network. He runs TRUE, a transcultural think tank and consultancy through a strategic partnership with leading network TBWA\Worldwide, and is often involved in organizing international cultural exhibitions and events.

Biography

Grunitzky grew up in the Togolese capital of Lomé. His granduncle was Nicolas Grunitzky, former president of Togo. When Grunitzky was seven years old, his family left Togo for the United States, where his father had been appointed ambassador to Washington. Five years later, Grunitzky moved to France to study at the Catholic boarding school College de Juilly and, later, at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris Sciences-Po.
At the age of 20, Grunitzky moved to London after a year at Sciences Po, to pursue studies in economics at London University. It was there that he embarked on his career in journalism, writing for Dazed & Confused, The Big Issue and The Guardian. In 1995, at the age of 24, he launched TRUE magazine, which met with immediate critical success and was renamed TRACE a year later. In 1998, he uprooted to New York and oversaw the magazine as it carved a niche for itself in the world of independent publishing, with its own distinctive brand of transcultural reportage. As the magazine grew in influence, he co-founded TRUE Agency, a specialized advertising agency based in Los Angeles and Nashville. In February 2003, Grunitzky and business partners Richard Wayner and Olivier Laouchez completed a multimillion-dollar financing deal led by Goldman Sachs Group. As a result, the TRACE brand is now being leveraged globally across various television, radio, mobile, event and interactive platforms.

Grunitzky, a frequent contributor to the French weekly “Courrier International,” has worked as an associate producer on the BBC’s “The Works” series. He currently advises global marketers in the fields of youth culture and social responsibility. In 2008, Grunitzky co-curated, with the cultural services of the French Embassy in the United States, the “I Kiffe NY” festival,^[2] devoted to bringing the best of French urban culture to New York City. Grunitzky is also a board member of Humanity in Action,^[3] a non-profit organization which works to build global leadership, defend democracy, protect minorities and improve human rights in Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, and the United States.

TRACE

TRACE Magazine

Born out of the short-lived TRUE magazine, TRACE was started by Grunitzky in London in 1996. Beginning life as predominantly an urban culture magazine, TRACE’s identity was quickly influenced by Grunitzky’s nascent interest in what he termed ‘transculturalism’ – a phenomenon referring to those individuals who, in their lifestyles, transcend all traditional sociological notions of race, class or gender.^[4][5] Although the magazine’s front pages continued to feature stellar figures from the rap and R&B scenes, including Alicia Keys, Mary J Blige and Rihanna, the establishment of ‘country themed’ issues, beginning with ‘Brasil 2000’, marked a clear step in the direction of an explicitly international approach to popular culture. As a continuation of this, 2007 saw the launch of TERRACE Magazine, a travel-oriented sister publication to TRACE.

Television
In 2002, Grunitzky launched TRACE TV, the world’s first international urban music channel, with Richard Wayner and Olivier Laouchez, in partnership with Goldman Sachs and Groupe Lagardère. TRACE TV is now broadcast in over 130 countries.

Marketing
In 2002, Grunitzky also co-founded the TRUE, Agency, a marketing agency based in LA in partnership with the TBWA\Worldwide group and with three partners, Richard Wayner, Valencia Gayles and Christopher Davis.^[6]

Publications

• With Liz Farrelly : Jam : Music + Style, London, Booth-Clibborn, 1996
• Transculturalism : How The World Is Coming Together, New York, powerHouse, 2004
• With Steven Psyllos : 10 Years of TRACE, New York, London, Booth-Clibborn/Abrams, 2007 ^[7]
• Transculturalismes : Essais, récits et entretiens, Paris, Grasset, 2008

External links

• TRUE
• Trace magazine official site
• Trace TV official site
• Official site for the book Transculturalism
• Official site for the French language book Transculturalismes

References

1. ^ http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a1371.asp
2. ^ http://www.frenchculture.org/PR/I-Kiffe-NY/I-Kiffe-NY-Brochure-Low-Res.pdf
3. ^ http://www.humanityinaction.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=24
4. ^ http://www.frenchculture.org/spip.php?article1772
5. ^ Transculturalim: How the World is Coming Together, by Claude Grunitzky (powerHouse, 2004) ISBN 1-57687-218-1
6. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06EFD8123CF93BA15751C0A9659C8B63
7. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Years-Trace-Claude-Grunitzky/dp/186154300X

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Name	Grunitzky, Claude
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Date of birth	1971
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