Interested in a career in entertainment and media? Learn about the agency career path as well as broader career trends in the entertainment industry from Todd Christopher '00 (former Partner at Gersh, CEO of Spur Entertainment, Co-CEO of Streamline Content) and partners and agents, Brett Norensberg, Jay Cohen and Laura McDonald, from the Gersh Agency.

The Gersh Agency has been a force in the entertainment industry since its founding in 1949. With a commitment to excellence and hands-on representation, Gersh – a full-service agency with over 300 staff, including more than 130 agents – has earned an unrivaled legacy in Hollywood. In 2023, an equity investment from Crestview Partners signaled a new era for the agency, beginning a global expansion plan.

The Arts at Work program is designed to provide Princetonians with a supportive arts and creative community and opportunities to learn about the realities of life and work in various creative fields. Co-sponsored by the Center for Career Development and Lewis Center for the Arts.

Open to Princeton students and alumni. Advanced registration required.

Speakers

Todd Christopher '00 

Todd recently founded media venture Spur Entertainment as it’s CEO in 2024 which is a content creation, management and brand creation studio. He also founded and is the current Co-CEO of Streamline Content, an AVOD sports and entertainment streaming platform based in Africa.

Prior to these ventures, Todd Christopher lead content packaging for the Gersh Agency as a Partner in their Beverly Hills offices. As a talent agent, Todd advised and managed the careers of many of the most famous celebrities and artists known globally. Also, while at Gersh, Todd founded and co-led a media consulting and strategic partnerships venture, Canon Media. The core purpose of Canon Media was structuring digital content programming strategies and creating content packaging partnerships.

Todd Christopher graduated Princeton University in 2000 and immediately began his entertainment career as an agent trainee in the William Morris mailroom. In 2003, Todd began his executive career as a television literary agent at The Gersh Agency.  During his career, Todd has worked in virtually every aspect of entertainment including streaming, film, broadcast television, cable, branding, licensing and digital content distribution. Todd created and led the unscripted packaging division as well as created and led the digital packaging division, which represented some of the most successful influential social media stars in the world across all platforms. 

Spur Entertainment currently has several television and film projects in development with Sabrina Carpenter, Naomi Campbell and Charlie Sheen.  

Brett Norensberg

Brett is a talent agent and partner at Gersh Agency. Before that, he served as a talent assistant and talent agent at UTA. Earlier in his career, he gained experience as a music assistant/trainee at WMA, following a role as a music manager assistant at Premiere Artists Services. Brett holds a Bachelor of Science in journalism from the University of Florida.

Jay Cohen

Jay Cohen is a Partner and Head of Film Finance and Distribution at The Gersh Agency, one of Hollywood’s oldest and largest talent agencies with offices in Los Angeles and New York. At Gersh, he oversees a department which represents multiple equity funds, sells finished films, and consults on independent financing for a wide spectrum of industries across all media. During his time at the Gersh Agency, Jay has successfully packaged and sold hundreds of films.

Jay Cohen’s entertainment career includes a three-year partnership with Dustin Hoffman and Village Roadshow Pictures Australia. Mr. Cohen created the company Cosmic Entertainment, a partnership with Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell and Kate Hudson. Mr. Cohen raised the capital for this venture and  was responsible for the full-time staff, day  to day  operations, as well as  all negotiations regarding film, telvision and production facilities. 

Through his decades of experience in the entertainment  industry, Jay Cohen has  developed excellent relationships  with major studios, streamers, independent domestic  distributors, talent  agencies, management companies, international distributors, equity  providers, international film funds, domestic and international banks, public relations firms, attorneys, actors, writers and directors.

Laura McDonald

Laura McDonald is an unscripted agent in the Alternative Television Packaging & Digital department at Gersh. She represents talent, producers, and production companies that create and star in projects that span all of nonfiction programming- game, talk, competition, reality shows and more.

Her talent roster includes Shawn Wayans, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Caroline Rhea, Montel Williams, Jeff Dye, Jake T. Austin, Willam Belli, Corinne Olympios, Ashley Parker Angel, Jai Rodriguez, Patrick Warburton, Logic, Brad Williams, Trish Suhr, Jessie Graff, Jessica Hall, Rebekka Johnson and Kimmy Gatewood. She also works with crossover talent such as musicians (All Time Low, 3OH!3, Ashely Parker Angel, Logic) and athletes (Summer Sanders, Jonny Mosley). 

She represents producers on a variety of broadcast and cable shows including “The Voice”, “Story of God”, “Family Legacy,” and more.  The production companies that are in her repertoire have created and sold shows to Netflix, VH1, Discovery, A&E, Comedy Central, Facebook, Fox Sports, CW, TBS Digital and more.

Laura graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in finance and sociology. She then received her juris doctorate from the Pepperdine School of Law and is barred in the state of California. During law school she interned at law firms that specialized in all things unscripted, which is what helped her decide to pursue a career in the field.