Professor Jonathan Sigmund Shalit (born 17 April 1962) is a British

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-da ...

and chairman of the InterTalent Rights Group, formerly ROAR Global and Cole Kitchenn. InterTalent represents household names across broadcasting, film, television, theatre, comedy, music, sport, digital, social media and literature. He is a regular speaker at UK and global entertainment industry events and advises government on the UK's entertainment and creative industries as well as appearing regularly as a media commentator. He is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and a supporter of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, attending the

West London Synagogue The West London Synagogue of British Jews, abbreviated WLS ( he, ק"ק שער ציון, ''Kahal Kadosh Sha'ar Tziyon'', "Holy Congregation Gate of Zion"), is a synagogue and congregation, affiliated to Reform Judaism, near Marble Arch in centr ...

Career

Shalit left the City of London School at the age of 18, working initially as a

broker A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be con ...

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...

and at then worked at

Saatchi & Saatchi Saatchi & Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency gr ...

before founding his first West End talent management company, Shalit Global, in 1991 In 30 years of talent management he has guided the careers of stars including

Charlotte Church Charlotte Maria Church (born Charlotte Maria Reed, 21 February 1986) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress, television presenter and political activist from Cardiff. Church rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching in ...

Mel B Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Melanie B or Mel B, is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sc ...

, Baroness Brady,

Kelly Brook Kelly Ann Parsons (born 23 November 1979), known professionally as Kelly Brook, is an English model, actress, and media personality. She is known for her modelling work in the UK, and in the US for her role as Prudence on the NBC sitcom ''One ...

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industr ...

, Dame Joan Collins, Rebecca Ferguson,

Katherine Jenkins Katherine Maria Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.Sir Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer. Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Ch ...

Kelly Hoppen Kelly Elaine Hoppen (born 28 July 1959) is a South African-born British interior designer, author, and proprietor of Kelly Hoppen Interiors. From 2013 to 2015, she was a "Dragon" on BBC Two's '' Dragons' Den''. Family Kelly Hoppen was born ...

Lorraine Kelly Lorraine Kelly, (born 30 November 1959) is a Scottish journalist and television presenter. She has presented various television shows for ITV, including '' Good Morning Britain'' (1988–1992), ''GMTV'' (1993–2010), ''This Morning'' (2003� ...

, Myleene Klass,

N-Dubz N-Dubz are an English hip hop trio from Camden Town, London, consisting of cousins Dappy and Tulisa, and Fazer. After winning a MOBO Award for Best Newcomer in 2007, N-Dubz briefly signed to Polydor Records before joining All Around t ...

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, talent scout, television judge and presenter, theatre director, and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment. For many years, she was most noted as the c ...

, Sir George Martin, the Beatles' producer,

Pixie Lott Victoria Louise Lott (born 12 January 1991), better known by her stage name Pixie Lott, is an English singer and songwriter. Her debut album, ''Turn It Up (Pixie Lott album), Turn It Up'', released in September 2009, reached number six on th ...

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-ear ...

, Tulisa,

Gregg Wallace Gregg Allan Wallace (born 17 October 1964) is an English broadcaster, entrepreneur, media personality, writer and former greengrocer. He is known for co-presenting ''MasterChef'', '' Celebrity MasterChef'' and '' MasterChef: The Professionals'', ...

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and '' Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

, and the winners of the ITV television talent show ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

''. In 1994, he was instrumental in the making of

The Glory of Gershwin ''The Glory of Gershwin'' is a 1994 tribute album by various singers and performers in celebration of American musician Larry Adler's 80th birthday. Adler himself plays the harmonica on each of the songs, all of which are written by Adler's lif ...

, Larry Adler's album of George and

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...

songs. He has been executive producer in two movies (as of 1 September 2019):''Pudsey the Dog: The Movie''(2014) (also voiced character "Cyril the Chicken") and ''The Time of Their Lives'' (2017).

Litigation

In 2000, after launching the career of child singing star Charlotte Church with a five-album deal, Shalit was sacked as her manager. He sued over the dismissal and was awarded £2million plus costs at the High Court in London..

Charity

Shalit is chair of trustees and Chief Barker of

Variety, the Children's Charity Variety, the Children's Charity is a charitable organization founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1927. History On October 10, 1927, a group of eleven men involved in show business set up a social club which they named the "Variety Club". On ...

and a leading figure behind the return to London of the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards in 2022. He is also Chairman of the MOBO Charity Foundation (Music of Black Origin), a Trustee of both

ChickenShed Chickenshed (also known as Chicken Shed or the Chicken Shed Theatre Company) is a British theatre company based in Southgate, London. Chickenshed's membership programme comprises four Children's theatre groups and two Youth theatre groups for ...

(Theatre Changing Lives), Patron of the Royal Television Society and Co-Chairman of the

Classic BRITS The Classic BRIT Awards (previously Classical BRIT Awards) are an annual awards ceremony held in the United Kingdom covering aspects of classical and crossover music, and are the equivalent of popular music's Brit Awards. The awards are org ...

, and a supporter of Norwood.

Media

As a regular media commentator on entertainment issues, Shalit appears frequently in broadcast and print. In 2012 he gave evidence to the

Leveson Inquiry The Leveson Inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A series of ...

into the culture, practices and ethics of the British Press. His evidence disputed that given by Charlotte Church claiming that she had been encouraged, more than a decade previously, to perform at

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

's birthday party in exchange for positive media coverage, waiving a £100,000 fee.

Recognition

Shalit was awarded the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 2014 for services to the entertainment industry. He is also holds an honorary professor, awarded in 2012, and honorary doctorate at

Henley Business School Henley Business School is a business school which now forms part of the University of Reading. It was formed by merging the previously independent Henley Management College (formerly the Administrative Staff College) with the existing business ...

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

in recognition of his contribution to the arts, music and broadcasting.

References

External links

jonathanshalit.com
Retrieved 12 April 2015 *
Debrett's
Retrieved 12 April 2015 1962 births English Jews Living people British talent agents Officers of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-bio-stub