Jai Khanna | The Power of Working with People You Like

The Lesson: 

For some people, especially those shot into stardom through acting or professional sports, it's easy for the passion they have for their craft to proceed without a deeply-rooted purpose. When one day that passion is no longer available, they have nothing to look inward at to find a new path through life.

Notable Excerpt: 

“Even if it felt like a purpose, sports in general, it still ends at a very early age for a lot people too, you still have a whole life, you're still defined and to keep exercising your passion. So what does it translate into? It's interesting even like, pro guys, I've seen it, it's like "how did that happen?" And then there's some others that have really successfully transitioned to other businesses, or broadcasting, or coaching, and they've been really successful at it, so it didn't matter really what, but it was something they fell into."

The Guest:

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Jai attended the University of California at Davis on an athletic scholarship, playing collegiate baseball for the Aggies from 1988-1993. Wanting to continue a career in sports, he moved to Los Angeles to gain the ‘mailroom’ experience by working at several talent agencies.

Jai settled at Writers & Artists Agency in 1996, where he was promoted to Talent Agent, working with a variety of clients, ultimately segueing from sports to traditional entertainment and representing actors, writers, and directors. Highlights of the stint at Writers & Artists included working on the James Gandolfini team and the meteoric rise of the hit series ‘The Sopranos,’ to nurturing Eva Mendes into an in-demand star. Jai moved over to famed Brillstein Entertainment Partners (fka at Brillstein-Grey Management) in 1998, to become a Manager and ultimately more entrepreneurial. He successfully guided an A-List client roster that included talent, producers, and financiers, ultimately leading the content packaging and financing department. He was involved in over 100 film and TV transactions, credited on 25+ films and helped raise over $300 million in project financing.

In 2020, after 22 years at Brillstein, Jai exited to launch the timely Oakhurst Entertainment with select clients and investors. The mission is to produce premium content yet meet the voracious appetite of consumers demanding socially impactful content that makes a difference. The core focus areas are curating content with values, delivering to underserved audiences, all the while creating a strong call-to-action. Oakhurst has already produced several films with a full development slate on the horizon tackling themes of mental health, immigration and climate change. Jai was profiled in The Hollywood Reporter as ‘one of the top 35 executives in Hollywood’ and has been featured in The New York Times, Variety, and The Wall Street Journal. Indiaspora Forum recognized him as one of the "100 Influential Indian American Leaders in the US” and the Asian American Business Development Center named him one of the “Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business.”

Episode Resources:

Jai Khanna | LinkedIn 

Oakhurst Entertainment | Website