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Rich Frank Todd GraffDennis Zablosky
Paul FrankDarryl Frank
Rich Frank
Owner
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One of the classic cars in Rich's collection
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It’s no wonder that Rich Frank, one of Hollywood’s most creative, vibrant and ingenious players owns one of Napa Valley’s most unique wineries, Frank Family Vineyards. In the late 80s, Rich, a long-time Disney executive couldn’t find the time to get away for long vacations. Soon he started coming to Napa on the weekends, realizing it was only a short plane flight away from Los Angeles and in 1990, he purchased a home in the Eastern hills of Napa in Rutherford.
Over dinner one night at one of his favorite restaurants in Napa, Tra Vigne, Rich commented to the owner that he really loved the bottle of wine he was drinking. The owner told Rich who had made it, and the next day, Rich met Koerner Rombauer at his house. And so began a decade plus long friendship and business partnership between Rich Frank and Koerner Rombauer.
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In the tasting room
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As Rich and Koerner became friends and Koerner began teaching Rich more about the world of wine, Rich told Koerner he wanted to get into the wine business, to which Rombauer immediately shot him down and told him to keep his day job in Hollywood. Two years later, in 1992, Frank received a midnight phone call at his home in Los Angeles from Koerner, telling him that the Kornell Champagne Cellars on the site of historic Larkmead Winery was for sale and if there was ever a time to get into the wine business it was now. Remembering his earlier conversation with Koerner about staying out of the wine business, Rich wisely told Koerner to offer half the asking price, and less than 24 hours later the showbiz man and the renowned Napa winery owner were co-owners of the Calistoga winery now known as Frank Family Vineyards. In 2007, Rich and Connie Frank purchased Koerner’s partnership share and now assume total control of Frank Family Vineyards.
Rich’s passion for Napa and Frank Family Vineyards underscores a wildly successful long-term career in Hollywood. Rich was Chairman of Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications and headed Disney’s syndication arm Buena Vista. He was the President of Walt Disney Studios for nearly a decade and also oversaw the development of The Disney Channel. Prior to his tenure at Disney, Frank was President of the Paramount Television Group and of Chris Craft Television and was also one of the founders of the USA Network and served on their board. Under Frank’s leadership, television and movie properties such as "Cheers," "Taxi," "Family Ties," "Shogun," "Winds of War," "Entertainment Tonight," "Golden Girls," "Home Improvement," "Ellen," "Regis and Kathy Lee," "Dead Poet’s Society," "Good Morning Vietnam," "Pretty Woman," "Father of the Bride," "Aladdin" and "The Lion King" achieved phenomenal success.
Rich was President of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for an unprecedented six years, a board member of the MPAA for eight, and is currently a vice chairman and executive board member of the American Film Institute. Rich also launched Telerep, a television ad sales firm, and was a buyer and media planner at BBDO.
In April 2003, Rich stepped out of semi-retirement and founded Integrated Entertainment Partners (IEP), a brand, advertising and marketing strategy company. In March 2004 Rich was named Chairman of the Board, The Firm, when IEP was merged into the high profile management company. With clients ranging from Cameron Diaz, Martin Scorsese, to Snoop Dogg, Korn and Clay Aiken, The Firm was launched in 1997 by Jeff Kwatinetz, and made its most significant acquisition in 2002, when it bought the assets of former Hollywood superagent Michael Ovitz's Artists Management Group. The merger of IEP and The Firm has created the largest talent management company in the world.
Never one to rest on his laurels the former adman turned Hollywood film and TV exec has stepped into his new role pioneering the future of marketing in America with ease, and in his “free time” runs one of Napa’s most notable and profitable limited production wineries, Frank Family Vineyards.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO ARRANGE AN INTERVIEW, PLEASE CONTACT JARVIS COMMUNICATIONS AT 310.313.6374
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