Who would of thunk?

I am so proud of my brother. he is smart, good looking and funny. One thing he is not is 58 as is reported in the paper. I wonder who gave them that info. Maybe I should add delusional and vain ( haha) never. My brother is the BEST!!!!

Playbill Boston publisher helps local arts groups look to the East

By Geoff Edgers, Globe Staff  |  August 26, 2008

This week, as Boston Ballet undertakes its first tour of South Korea, one man back here will be watching intently. He is Tim Montgomery, the former Boston magazine publisher and longtime president of Jerome Press, which publishes Playbill Boston magazine.

Montgomery isn’t plotting out how to write up the event. He’s trying to sell it.

The 58-year-old is principal and co-producer of New Venture Entertainment, a recently formed production company created to import arts and culture to South Korea. He hopes the Boston Ballet tour, which includes four performances in Seoul on Saturday and Sunday, will be the first of many to showcase local institutions. Talks have already been held with the Museum of Fine Arts and Boston Pops.

“There’s clearly a lot of activity in Southeast Asia,” Montgomery said in a recent interview at his Congress Street offices. “The whole world seems to be tipping there and they have a real appetite for American culture.”

For the groups Montgomery has approached, the notion of working with New Venture Entertainment is almost a no-brainer. The company is paying the entire $400,000 to $500,000 cost of bringing 38 members of Boston Ballet to South Korea, and therefore takes the risk if the shows don’t sell out. (Montgomery won’t give specifics about the Seoul ticket sales, other than that they are selling “slightly below expectations.”)

The Pops has been trying to contain costs for its touring operation by flying less and traveling more by bus and truck. The idea of a fully-funded trip East is attractive, Pops leaders say, as they look for new ways to spread word of the orchestra. And the MFA could do a photography exhibit as soon as 2009.

“We are very grateful that he approached us for a show in a place we’ve never done any touring exhibitions before,” said Danielle Berger, manager of touring exhibitions at the MFA. “Having someone like Tim – who knows the market in Korea, has the connection to the best museums in Korea, and speaks our language – those are great advantages.”

New Venture Entertainment came about through a chance meeting. Company founder Don Kwon, who lives in Seoul, attended Boston College before starting a venture capital fund back home. Tadd Rosenfeld, the Miami-based grandson of Jerome Press chairman Jerome Rosenfeld, worked with Kwon in New York at one point, and introduced him to Montgomery and to Rita Fucillo, director of marketing and public relations for Playbill.

Among Kwon’s goals was to find investments for Koreans who wanted to get into the American entertainment business. He needed help scouting the States, and knew of the senior Rosenfeld’s long history, both running theaters and publishing Playbill and Panorama, a publication largely distributed in hotels.

Montgomery recognized the attraction of having foreign money pumped into American shows so they could eventually play Korea. He formed New Venture Entertainment with Tadd Rosenfeld in 2005. Kwon formed separate branches of New Venture in South Korea and Tokyo.

So far, New Venture has taken its lumps with a series of financially unsuccessful investments, including a touring production of “Dr. Dolittle” and the Broadway musical “Cry Baby,” which closed in June after 113 performances.

But Montgomery notes New Venture Entertainment is a virtual start-up, and is more concerned with presenting performances to build a customer base. The company did secure the rights to “Cry Baby” for Southeast Asia.

As part of his scouting mission, Montgomery talked to Kwon about viewing Boston as a brand of its own.

“We have the Boston Symphony, the Boston Ballet, the Museum of Fine Arts. We have the Boston Pops,” said Montgomery. “Don immediately seized on that and wanted to bring the Boston Pops to Seoul.”

That proved too difficult to do quickly. Montgomery knew Boston Ballet, hot off last summer’s six-week tour of Spain – its first overseas tour in 15 years – would be eager to hit the road again. He also knew that a theater was available in Seoul in August. Kirsten Hwang, the company manager who oversees touring for Boston Ballet, said she was surprised by the accelerated pace with which New Venture moved.

“Our Spain tour was three years in the making,” she said. “When I first met [Montgomery] in November, I remember thinking, ‘That’ll be a first for me having to put together an international tour in less than a year’s time.’ ”

The MFA’s Berger has also been impressed by Montgomery’s energy. Right now, the museum is hoping to send its “Karsh 100: A Biography in Images” show to Seoul after it closes at the MFA in January 2009.

The Pops also looks forward to continuing discussions with Montgomery.

“We’re at a point in the economy when it’s very, very difficult to get sponsorships,” said Dennis Alves, the organization’s director of artistic planning. “A lot of companies have really cut back, so the fact this gentleman is doing this, it’s fantastic. It’s sort of a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Geoff Edgers can be reached at gedgers@globe.com.