Richard Kraft
Richard Kraft is the co-owner of Kraft-Engel Management, one of the world’s leading agencies specializing in representing film, theatre, television and video game composers, songwriters and music supervisors.
Richard Kraft has directed and produced shows at major venues including the Hollywood Bowl of such musicals as Disney’s The Little Mermaid in 2016 and 2019, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, La La Land, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas with all-star casts including Billie Eilish, Sara Bareilles, Rebel Wilson, John Stamos, Catherine O’Hara, Tituss Burgess, Darren Criss, Ingrid Michaelson, Lea Michelle, Zoey Deschanel, Kelsey Grammer, Taye Diggs, Finn Wolfhard and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Kraft has also directed Alan Menken’s one-man show A Whole New World of Alan Menken and he directed and produced Evil Dead Live at the Ace Hotel.
He executive produced ABC’s Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration starring H.E.R., Josh Groban, Martin Short and Shania Twain, and ABC’s The Wonderful World of Disney: Little Mermaid Live! starring Queen Latifah, Auli’i Cravalho and Shaggy.
Richard directed, wrote and produced the online special Soundtrack of Our Lives: A Celebration for the Film & TV Music Community benefitting the MusiCares Covid-19 relief fund featuring Sting, William Shatner, Patti LuPone, Zachary Levi and Reba McIntire.
He’s also the book writer and lyricist for a new musical, A Beautiful Lie, directed by 3-time Emmy nominee Jamal Sims.
Richard and his partner Laura Engel are the producers of stage productions and live film music concert experiences including Danny Elfman’s Music From The Films of Tim Burton at Royal Albert Hall, PBS’ Live From Lincoln Center, Disney’s Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Live in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl starring Danny Elfman, Catherine O’Hara, Ken Page and Paul Reubens. Additionally, they executive produced the Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box which received a Grammy nomination.
Prior to starting his own company in 1991, Richard was an agent at ICM and started his career working with several of his musical heroes such as Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein and Henry Mancini. Kraft once ran Varese Sarabande Records where he executive produced over 150 soundtrack albums. His award-winning feature documentary, Finding Kraftland played at over 75 film festivals around the world, and his That’s From Disneyland exhibit of Disney theme park artifacts garnered great attention and money for charity.
Richard and his partner Laura Engel are the producers of stage productions and live film music concert experiences including Danny Elfman’s Music From The Films of Tim Burton at Royal Albert Hall, PBS’ Live From Lincoln Center, Disney’s Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Live in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl starring Danny Elfman, Catherine O’Hara, Ken Page and Paul Reubens. Additionally, they executive produced the Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box which received a Grammy nomination.
Laura Engel
Laura Engel is co-owner of Kraft-Engel Management, one of the world’s leading representatives of film, television and theatre composers, songwriters and music supervisors.
Over the years, Laura’s clients have garnered some of the most prestigious honors in the entertainment business; from Oscars, Golden Globes, Emmys to BAFTAs and Grammys. Engel’s clientele has earned overwhelming acclaim in recent years and the trend continued in 2018 with Alexandre Desplat’s second Oscar win for his score to the Guillermo Del Toro film The Shape of Water. Desplat also won the Golden Globe and BAFTA for Best Original Score. In 2015, Desplat won the Oscar, BAFTA and Grammy for Best Score for The Grand Budapest Hotel.
In 2011, Engel was honored by Variety as one of the year’s “50 Most Impactful Women in Showbiz.” Engel was also featured in Variety’s 2014 edition of “Executive Lair,” an article elegantly showcasing her unique Los Angeles office.
Engel executive produced, with KEM partner Richard Kraft, the historic Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box which was nominated for a Grammy as Best Box Set. Engel was previously nominated for a Grammy for producing the long form Oingo Boingo video, Farewell: Live from the Universal Amphitheater.
Engel also co-produced the live orchestra concerts, Danny Elfman’s Music From the Films of Tim Burton. The shows have been a massive success with sold-out performances in cities all over the world. The world premier was in Oct 2013 at London’s Royal Albert Hall and the show has been performed over 40 concerts in over 13 countries including a 3 night run at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre and at New York’s Lincoln Center Arts Festival in July 2015.
Prior to joining partner Richard Kraft in 1997, Engel owned and operated Engel Entertainment where she managed bands and recording artists including Oingo Boingo, Katey Sagal, Craig Chaquio and Danny Elfman.
Engel is an avid supporter of the Scleroderma Research Foundation and Education Through Music – Los Angeles.
Sarah Kovacs
Sarah Kovacs is an agent at Kraft-Engel Management—one of the world’s leading agencies specializing in representing composers, songwriters, music producers and music supervisors in film, theatre, television and video games.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Business Management from Berklee College of Music in 2008, Sarah found the perfect home at Kraft-Engel. As an integral part of KEM for over ten years now, she has built a career around her passion for discovering, cultivating, and championing unique and diverse voices in the music for visual media space. Sarah combines her love of music and storytelling, eagle-eyed business savvy, and curiosity for emerging media spaces into her work and is a dedicated advocate for her clients.
“Developing new and exciting talent is something that really drives me, especially right now,” she says. “The pathway to becoming a successful composer is no longer a singular road, and there are more opportunities than ever for new voices to be heard.”
When she’s not making deals and giving composer advice, Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband Alex and two young children, Everly and new baby Wilder.
Jeff Jernigan
Beloved industry veteran Jeff Jernigan enthusiastically joined the Kraft-Engel Management team in 2016 as an agent representing composers, songwriters, music supervisors, and executive music producers.
A native Texan, Jeff graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and moved to Los Angeles where he began his music career at BMG Music Publishing. From there, Jeff transitioned to ASCAP where he was the Director of the Film & TV Music department. During his time at ASCAP, Jeff excelled at cultivating personal relationships and made it his top priority to help composers and songwriters get recognized. Since joining Kraft-Engel, he has loved working with the roster and supporting their career goals. Jeff’s vast knowledge and genuine passion for the industry is what makes him a true advocate for music creators. “Composers have always been my colleagues, my family, and my best friends,” he says, and loves the fact that Richard Kraft calls him the good will ambassador of media music.
In addition, Jeff is an associate producer of Elsiefest, Broadway’s annual outdoor music festival.
Jonathan Clark
Jonathan Clark has been an integral part of Kraft-Engel Management since 2010. After years of working closely under the tutelage of Laura Engel, Jonathan has established himself as a knowledgeable and passionate agent for composers and music supervisors.
Jonathan prides himself in his musically eclectic and culturally diverse roster of composers. Over 1/3 of Jonathan’s roster is female and his client list spans over 20 different nationalities. Clark aims to work with up-and-coming talent and seasoned veterans alike. His background as a musician also helps amplify his efforts to bridge the gap for recording artists who score for films, TV and video games.
Jonathan’s musical journey began as a blues-loving guitarist. After years of performing around the Los Angeles club scene, he quickly shifted his attention to talent discovery in the A&R department at Rick Rubin’s American Records. From there, Jonathan spent time learning from legendary rock manager Bill Siddons, bolstering his interest in talent representation. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz in 2010, Jonathan found a permanent home at Kraft-Engel Management.
With a deeply rooted passion for music, Jonathan’s goal is to help guide the careers and legacies of the next generation of composers and music supervisors.
Dan North
Dan North joined Kraft-Engel Management in 2011. He is proud to have worn many hats throughout his time at the company; from starting at the front desk answering phones, to working as an assistant to Richard Kraft, and now representing his own flourishing roster of composers and songwriters.
Dan is also an integral part of Kraft-Engel Productions, working on the production of their live film music concerts at the Hollywood Bowl including Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, and La La Land in Concert. He was also the associate producer of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at The Hollywood Bowl.
Dan’s musical background includes dabbling in bass guitar and trombone but he finds that he’s much better suited at representing musicians than trying to be one.