JB Smoove and Evan Shapiro Take the Stage at Variety's Business Managers Breakfast

Comedian JB Smoove told a West Hollywood crowd that "if you're scared of AI, you ain't shit" during Variety's annual Business Managers Breakfast, held Thursday and presented by City National Bank. Media analyst Evan Shapiro used the same event to argue that Hollywood is not being disrupted but "reinvented." The morning also honored Citrin Cooperman's Arnie Herrmann as Business Manager of the Year.

City National Bank president and CEO Howard Hammond opened the event before Variety's 2026 Business Managers Elite honorees. "You're a core part of the past of City National Bank," he told the standing-room-only crowd. "But more importantly, our future will always be intertwined with entertainment and sports." Hammond thanked attendees for their support as clients and for "blunt feedback," and recalled Herrmann crediting two things for his career: trust and service.

What did JB Smoove say?

Sitting down with Variety's executive editor for television Michael Schneider, Smoove pressed the case for taking control of your own career. "I do believe you have to start early and think about where you're going to end up at. But be open to changing yourself as you go along," he said. Skip that, and "you are basically in a mental zombie apocalypse" once you finally get hungry for success.

Smoove said he has been at least five different people in his lifetime, and he credits his comedic instincts and thick skin for that resilience. "Everything I ever wanted to do, I'm taking a swing in," he said.

His career proves the point. He was a finalist to join the cast of "Saturday Night Live" and instead was hired as a writer — a job he'd never done. "Sometimes you gotta play the long ball for later," he said. "You prepare for that moment, and I'm great in the moment."

His advice to almost everyone: take an improv class. "You'll be surprised how that's going to come in handy when you're selling real estate, or you're building a company or you're a small business owner," Smoove said. "It helps being able to change gears in the moment."

He launched the comedy-focused advertising agency The First Darrin in 2025 with United Entertainment Group CEO Jarrod Moses, and he also runs Alternate Side Productions. "You got to almost constantly sell yourself, and there's nothing wrong with that," he said. "I think I'm a great salesman, and when I show up, it's always 200%."

He ties credits like "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and two Spider-Man films to driving his own vehicle: "You gotta make chess moves." And on AI: "If you are worried about something that's coming in, you don't have faith in the human mind."

What is the 'affinity economy'?

Evan Shapiro, speaking with Variety co-Editor in Chief Cynthia Littleton, argued that the entertainment business now runs on an "affinity economy" — fan engagement — rather than the old "attention economy." The companies that win, he said, have a creator mindset and serve the entire consumer. "Most content does want to be free," Shapiro said, pointing to his research showing YouTube leads all platforms in total attention because it costs nothing.

Any major platform, he warned, will ultimately be "detrimental" to artists: "It's not a corporation... It's not a charity. They're in it to make money."

He pointed to "Obsession," the 2026 box-office hit from YouTuber Curry Barker, as the model. "This guy is the new Tarantino," Shapiro said. "It's not because he has a massive following. It's because he knows how to engage fans today." Community management now decides who opens a movie: "There's a reason why The Rock can't open a movie on his own without Kevin Hart."

The box office looks recovered, he noted, but only because ticket prices have risen 128% this century. Syndication windfalls on the scale of "Seinfeld" and "Friends" will return, he predicted — differently. "Hollywood and the traditional media ecosystem are not being disrupted," Shapiro said. "They're being reinvented."

Who is Arnie Herrmann?

Candice Bergen introduced Herrmann after video messages from longtime clients Liam Neeson and Martin Scorsese. "He's intelligent, he's modest, he has a nobility, he behaves himself," Bergen said. "He's just someone that you really would appreciate as a friend and as a guy to handle your cash."

Herrmann has nearly 40 years of experience and joined Citrin Cooperman in 2010. He recalled a colleague at a large accounting firm asking, "Why keep score if we can play the game?" — advice that pushed him to a boutique outfit where he found his calling.

Near retirement, he read a client's message aloud: "You've served your firm and your clients so spectacularly with such heart. Now it's Act Three, the most important, the last one... You are much more to me than a business manager and you have been for so long."

Quoting Viktor Frankl — "He who has a why can bear almost any how" — Herrmann closed on his family: "If the 'how' are the long hours, the missed family time, the missed events, the 'why' is my love for you, my family." His Act Three, and Shapiro's reinvented Hollywood, both now take shape.