David Sonenberg

David Sonenberg is known for being the founder of the music management label DAS Communications. Sonenberg also dabbled in the film industry as the producer of the Academy Award winning film When We Were Kings.^[1]

Born and raised in New York^[when?], Sonenberg received a degree in Theater and Political Science at Tufts University and a law degree at Harvard Law School. He joined the entertainment law firm of Weissberger & Frosch, which counted among its clients Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, John Gielgud, and Lawrence Olivier. Sonenberg represented Broadway and Off Broadway musical productions, including Hair, Godspell, and Cabaret.

Sonenberg then established his own law firm and began DAS Communications Ltd., a full service management company located in New York and Los Angeles for artists in the entertainment and amusement industries. DAS’s first management project, Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell, set an industry record for a debut album with worldwide record sales to date of more than 40 million. Sonenberg has stated that before representing Meat Loaf he thought managers were "lowlifes." ^[2] Other clients of DAS Communications have included Jim Steinman, Jimmy Cliff, Southside Johnny, Jimmy Iovine, BeBe & CeCe Winans, Keith Thomas, The Spin Doctors, The Fugees, Joan Osborne, Spacehog, Lauryn Hill, The Black Eyed Peas, Ke$ha, Indiggo, Antonio Pontarelli and many others. To date, artists represented by DAS Communications have written, produced, and performed recordings with sales totaling in excess of 200 million records worldwide.

1997 saw the release of Sonenberg’s first film project, the acclaimed documentary When We Were Kings about boxer Muhammed Ali, for which Sonenberg received an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.^[3] In 2002 he was the producer of Dance of the Vampires on Broadway.^[4]

DAS Ventures Ltd, another of the DAS family of companies, entered into agreements with Yoko Ono and the Estate of John Lennon in 1997, which culminated in the launch of The John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Over 28,000 songs were submitted by aspiring songwriters in the inaugural year of the competition.

External links

• David Sonenberg at the Internet Movie Database

References

1. ^ "'English Patient' Dominates Oscars With Nine, Including Best Picture". NY Times. http://www.times.com/books/00/05/14/specials/ondaatje-oscar.html. Retrieved 2010-02-26. 
2. ^ Cool Careers: David Sonenberg Veronica Dominguez, Music Alive! 11/04
3. ^ Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Archive
4. ^ Young Leads Cast in Broadway's Dance of the Vampires Ernio Hernandez and David Lefkowitz, Playbill, 05 Jun 2002

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