Hollywood Reporter’s Power Business Managers Event to Feature WME’s Dan Limerick, Honor John McILwee

During a year rife with disruption, the entertainment industry’s top business managers — the advisors who handle many important strategic and financial decisions for their star clients — are set to convene together at The Hollywood Reporter‘s 14th annual power event in Beverly Hills next month.

John McILwee, founder of J. McILwee & Associates, Inc., has been chosen as the honoree to receive this year’s Business Manager Icon award, which spotlights his contributions to the field. McILwee, who has appeared multiple times on THR‘s top Business Managers lists, founded his eponymous firm in 2019 and counts Kevin Costner, Maura Tierney, Jane Lynch, Chris Olsen, Kerry Condon and Matt Reeves as clients.

This year’s Power Business Managers event, a breakfast to be held at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago on Oct. 9, will feature a keynote conversation with WME chief operating officer Dan Limerick. The exec, who previously spent 13 years at Warner Bros. Television as evp/head of television business affairs, joined WME in 2016 and oversees business strategy for client deals at the Endeavor-owned major talent agency.

This year’s THR Business Managers list will be unveiled in the Oct. 9 issue of the weekly magazine, on newsstands and for subscribers. City National Bank — which has served the entertainment industry for 70 years, working with clients in business management, film, television, music and sports industries — is returning as the presenting sponsor of the event.

Last year’s event, held at Wolfgang Puck’s CUT, Beverly Hills, featured a keynote conversation with CAA’s Ted Chervin and honored Mark Landesman of ML Management with the Business Manager Icon award. Previous honorees of the Icon award include Andrew Meyer of Freemark Financial and Steve Savitsky.