Isaac "Zack" Werner (born 1960) is a Canadian

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

, producer,

entertainment law Entertainment law, also known as media law, encompasses legal services provided to the entertainment industry. These services often overlap with intellectual property law, which includes key components such as trademarks, copyright, and the right ...

yer and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Early life and education

Born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

in 1960, Werner attended the St. John's-Ravenscourt School. He received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and a law degree from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Musical career

Werner moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and joined local

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

''The Ringing''. The band, managed by Gary Pring ( Glass Tiger), secured a development deal with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. Werner formed the group Thick As Thieves and relocated to Los Angeles. The group opened for

Alice In Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

and

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

and negotiated a distribution deal through BMG. When the band broke up, Werner returned to Toronto and signed a development deal with MCA as a solo-artist and worked with producer John Punter (

Spoons Spoons may refer to: * Spoon, a utensil commonly used with soup * Spoons (card game), the card game of Donkey, but using spoons Film and TV * ''Spoons'' (TV series), a 2005 UK comedy sketch show *Spoons, a minor character from ''The Sopranos' ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

). Werner is a founding member of Canadian country rock band Haymaker, founded in 2007.Leperre, Bruce (August 2, 2008). "New Music: Haymaker: Wrong Place, Right Time", ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

'', p. C4.

Management career

Werner practiced

Entertainment law Entertainment law, also known as media law, encompasses legal services provided to the entertainment industry. These services often overlap with intellectual property law, which includes key components such as trademarks, copyright, and the right ...

with the firm Sanderson, Taylor (now Sanderson Entertainment Law), where his clients were The Philosopher Kings, Chris Smith Management,

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

Ron Sexsmith Ronald Eldon Sexsmith (born January 8, 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. He was the songwriter of the year at the 2005 Juno Awards. He began releasing recordings of his own material in 1985 at age 21, and has ...

and

Sass Jordan Sarah "Sass" Jordan (born 23 December 1962) is an English-born Canadian rock singer from Montreal, Quebec. Her first single, "Tell Somebody," from her debut album of the same title won the Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1989. S ...

. During his legal career Zack presented showcases for record companies that were among the first exposure for k-os,

Rascalz Rascalz are a Canadian hip-hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia. The group played a crucial role in the artistic and commercial development of Canadian hip hop as well as specifically for the Westcoast scene in Vancouver popularizing the te ...

, Sarah Harmer and

Finger Eleven Finger Eleven is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1990. They have released seven studio albums (six as Finger Eleven and one as Rainbow Butt Monkeys), with their album ''The Greyest of Blue Skies'' bringing th ...

(then known as Rainbow Butt Monkeys). In 1997, Werner founded Venus Corporation with Beau Randall. The company offered artist and producer management and a record label, Venus Records, in partnership with

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

Canada. Werner managed the artists

Esthero Esthero ( ; born Jenny-Bea Englishman on December 23, 1978 in Stratford, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who lives in Los Angeles, California. The name ''Esthero'' refers both to the singer and formerly to the two-person team of herself ...

Down With Webster Down with Webster is a Canadian rap rock band from The Beaches area of Toronto who signed with Universal Motown in April 2009. The band first achieved commercial success with the release of the 2009 EP, '' Time to Win, Vol. I'' which consisted ...

Skye Sweetnam Skye Alexandra Sweetnam (born May 5, 1988) is a Canadian Rock music, rock and Heavy metal music, metal singer. She first entered the music industry in 2003 with the release of her debut single "Billy S." More than a year later, her debut studio ...

Tara Slone Tara Kamala Slone (born September 7, 1973) is a Canadians, Canadian rock music, rock vocalist, actress and television personality. Early life and education Slone was born in Montreal, Quebec, and raised in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Wolfville and H ...

Patricia O'Callaghan Patricia Mary O'Callaghan (born October 2, 1970) is a classically trained Canadian singer. She is a soprano who has built an international reputation as a performer of contemporary opera, early 20th-century cabaret music and the songs of Leonard Co ...

Simon Wilcox Simon Wilcox is a Canadian poet and songwriter, based in Los Angeles, California. Her songs have been recorded and released by Blink 182, Britney Spears, Carly Rae Jepsen, Enrique Iglesias, Miranda Lambert, The Used, Nick Jonas, Camila Cabello, ...

Robin Black Robin Black is a Canadian combat analyst and sports commentator. He formerly competed in mixed martial arts, and previously had a career as a glam rock musician.Heath Jon McCoy, "Loud and proud in leather and feathers: Intergalactic Rock Stars lo ...

Lindi Ortega Lindi Marie Ortega (born May 28, 1979) is a Canadian country singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario, who had lived in Nashville, Tennessee then moved to Western Canada in 2017. She spent nearly a decade as an independent artist in the Toronto ...

, Joel Parisien ( Newworldson),

Doc McKinney Martin "Doc" McKinney (born August 27, 1971) is a Canadian Americans, Canadian-American record producer and songwriter. He was formerly one half of the duo (now solo act) Esthero. McKinney is widely credited with developing The Weeknd's sound as ...

, The Johnstones and James Robertson. The firm also managed both winners of the TV series Rock Star,

Lukas Rossi Lukas Rossi (born December 21, 1976) is a Canadian rock singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. He was the winner of the CBS Television reality series '' Rock Star: Supernova'' – a televised audition contest to become lead singer of the h ...

and J.D. Fortune.

''Canadian Idol''-present

From 2003-2008, Werner was one of the judges on ''

Canadian Idol ''Canadian Idol'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show '' Pop Idol''. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Do ...

'' (in which capacity he appeared on a 2004 episode of

Corner Gas ''Corner Gas'' is a Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. Reruns still air on CTV, CTV2, CTV Comedy Channel, Much, E! and are streaming on Crave and Amazon Prime. The series ...

). He was also a judge on the 2003 one-off performance show, World Idol. In 2011, Werner formed Zack Werner Idol School providing vocal performance training and mentoring across Greater Toronto and producing live concerts. The students included

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

recording artist Ren,

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

semi-finalist Peter Serrado and up-and-coming singer/songwriter Mikalyn Hay. In 2013, he played a small role in the film ''Catch a Christmas Star''. In 2016, Werner moved his Idol School to

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ame ...

. In partnership with

The Telegram ''The Telegram'' is a weekly newspaper in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, published by Postmedia Network. First published in 1879, it was the first and longest-running daily in Newfoundland. In August 2024, following its sale to Postme ...

and NTV (

CJON-DT CJON-DT (channel 21), branded on-air as NTV (short for Newfoundland Television), is an independent television station in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, owned by Newfoundland Broadcasting Company Ltd. The station's studios ar ...

), he produced a province-wide singing contest for three years, ''Sing NL''. He also created a pop youth performance group KidZrock NL and produced and managed records by artists Madeline Salter and Abigale. Werner also returned to playing live with a long-term residency at Erin's Pub, and as a member of retro jam bands Groovy and, with Wade Pinhorn, Brad Jefford and Boomer Stamp, The Atomic Dogs. In 2021, Werner returned to Toronto to work in business development/affairs in the digital rights and music publishing industry.

Early life and education

Musical career

Management career

''Canadian Idol''-present

References

Further reading