Lawrence G. Ryckman is an entertainment, technology and sports entrepreneur. He is best known for developing patented technologies used in the music and entertainment industries and for his ownership of the Calgary Stampeder Football Team of the CFL. He is currently President and CEO of MyStudio, Inc. and AfterMaster HD Audio, Inc.
Contents |
Ryckman was born August 28, 1959, in Toronto, Canada, to Claude and Magdeline (Gallo) Ryckman and is a decendant of William Lawrence Ryckman, one of the original founding pioneers[1] of the State of California. He married Elaine Howes and together they have three children, Lauren, Aaron and Kiera.
Ryckman started his career in entertainment in 1982 as Vice President, Development of the film and TV production company American Artists, Inc. He became President and CEO in 1984 and produced several feature films including the Virgin Queen of St. Francis High,[2] Snowballs, and Crime of the Century.
In 1986, Ryckman left American artists to co-found Archer Communications, Inc./QSound, Ltd., an audio technology company to which developed proprietary audio technologies for the music, film, TV industries, computer and video game industries. At the time he became the youngest CEO of publically traded companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. QSound[3] developed the first patented three dimensional audio process for playback through traditional stereo. Ryckman assembled a team of entertainment industry professionals to assist in building the company, including CAA and super agent Michael Ovitz, music industry veterans Jimmy Iovine (VP of Music), Shelly Yakus (VP of Audio Engineering), and Bob Ezrin and film producer, George Folsey Chairman and Warner Bros. director Salah Hassanein. Todd-Ao/Glen Glenn Studios then the world's largest motion picture and television sound studios was large stakeholder and intoduced QSound to feaure films with the movie Robin Hood, Prince of Theives.
In 1990, Ryckman and music attorney Allen Grubman negotiated a first of its kind deal in the music industry with Polygram NV, then the world's largest record company, for the payment of a mechanical cash royalty on all albums sold that were mixed with QSound. Ryckman oversaw the engineering of several albums using QSound including Madonna's "The Immaculate Collection", Michael Jackson's "Dangerous', Paula Abdul's"Spellbound", Sting's "The Soul Cages" and Julian Lennon's "Help Yourself". In addition, three music recordings engineered with QSound during Ryckman's tenure won GRAMMY awards including the motion picture soundtrack, Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. The Company achieved a market capitalization approaching $500 million and was broadly covered in major publications includingBarron's, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter.
After the Company's first profitable quarter, Ryckman then moved from CEO to co-chairman of QSound and teamed up with Jimmy Iovine to start a new music label. Shortly therafter Ryckman was approached to purchase the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL and left the music industry to pursue the ownership of the Calgary Stampeders football team. Iovine then partnered with Ted Field and formed Interscope Records.
In 1991, Ryckman became the youngest professional sports team owner in North American history after purchasing and privatizing the Calgary Stampeders Football Club[4] of the Canadian Football League (CFL). At the time the team was struggling finacially and Ryckman was widely credited for saving the team.[5] Many changes took place under his ownership, including the signing of Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Doug Flutie, quarterback Jeff Garcia from San Jose State and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and in team management and player personnel. Offices and locker rooms were renovated, new stadium signage was created and a new marketing campaign was built around "The New Calgary Stampeders". During his tenure the Stampeders broke dozens of league and team records, participated in five Grey Cup Championship games, and won the Grey Cup in Toronto in 1992, for the first time in 21 years.
During his five years in the CFL, Ryckman co-chaired the CFL expansion committee with late actor John Candy and served on the Executive Committee of the CFL Board of Governors. In 1993, he purchased the rights to host the 1993 Grey Cup game for the City of Calgary from Toronto Argonauts owners Bruce McNall, John Candy and Wayne Gretzky. The 1993 Grey Cup festival drew a capacity crowd of over 50,000 spectators. Ryckman constructed and donated new private luxury boxes at the Stampeders home field, McMahon Stadium in Calgary. Ryckman was subsequently awarded the CFL's Outstanding Contribution Award for his contributions to both the league and as a Governor.
Despite the games won and league-leading attendance, the team continued to lose money after the termination of provincial Lottery funding and in the absence of a meaningful league TV contract. Ryckman sold the team in 1996 through a voluntary receivership which served to eliminate the prior government debts the club inherited when he took over the team. The Stampeders remain one of the top teams in the CFL.
In 1996, the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) alleged that Ryckman had conducted illegal 88 wash trades over a six month period in the stock of Westgroup Corporations in 1994. The ASC held a quasi-judicial hearing at their offices and banned Ryckman from trading in Alberta for 18 years and assessed costs of approxiamtely $500,000. The trading ban was adopted through reciprocity by Ontario and British Columbia. Ryckman denied the allegations and at the hearing asked to call evidence in his defense and that the matter be heard in a civil court, both of which were denied.
In 2004, Ryckman returned to the entertainment industry and founded Studio One Entertainment, Inc., a private company established to develop MyStudio[6] [7] interactive recording studios, Mystudio.net and related technologies. In 2007, Ryckman sold his interest in Studio One Entertainment to public company, Studio One Media in an all stock transaction valued at $30 million and became the largest shareholder of Studio One Media, Inc. As CEO of MyStudio, Ryckman negotiated multi-year deals with Simon Cowell's "The X Factor," The GRAMMY Foundation, EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music, SONY/ATV and reality TV pioneer, Mark Burnett. Multiple patents have been issued and filed relating to MyStudio and its underlying processes and technologies. In 2008, Ryckman negotiated a groundbreaking music license with publishing giant EMI which allowed consumers for the first time to legally create music videos in a publicly accessible venue using popular music for unlimited online posting. The EMI license was followed up with multi-year licenses with Universal Music, Sony ATV and BMG.
In April, 2011, Ryckman finalized a multi-year agreement involving stakeholders Fox, Freemantle, Sony and Simco for the use of MyStudio's for Simon Cowell's "The X Factor."[8] The 2011 MyStudio auditions resulted in the discovery of numerous X Factor finalists including "Drew" who made Simon Cowells top three girl finalists. Ryckman currently serves as Chairman of Studio One Media's advisory board which includes music producer, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, songwriter, Diane Warren, music producer, Richard Perry, media investor, Ted Field, music executive, Jason Flom, casting director, Sheila Jaffe, former Lucasfilm CEO, Charles Weber and music executive, Phil Quartararo.
In late 2009, after four years of development, Ryckman and his audio engineering team, Shelly Yakus and Ari Blitz, released AfterMaster HD Audio a process for mastering audio recordings. The proprietary (patents pending) AfterMaster hardware and software process creates a final audio master recording with a loudness, fullness and clarity unachievable through traditional mastering techniques. The first major music releases using MyStudio Masters AfterMaster HD Audio process were Janet Jackson's "Make Me" produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, and Lady Gaga's multi-platinum "Telephone."
Mastering[9] (partial list):
2010 - Studio One Media was awarded the Technical Achievement Award at the 2010 Hollywood Music and Media Awards[10] for its MyStudio and AfterMaster HD Audio technologies developed by Larry Ryckman and his engineering team.
1985 - Most notable personal production accomplishment was the award winning, one-hour documentary, The Aryan Nation,[11] which he produced and hosted. The critically acclaimed investigative news program was an exclusive and powerful expose of the Aryan Nations and the growing neo-Nazi movements in North America. Ryckman and his film crew were the first to enter and film inside the Aryan Nations Hayden Lake Idaho compound after 20/20 and 60 Minutes were denied entry.
1992 - Listed as one of the top 25 most powerful people in Canadian sports by the National Globe and Mail newspaper.
1993 - Received the Canada's Vanier Award[12] for his business and community accomplishments. The Vanier Award is one of Canada’s most prestigious national awards and is presented to young Canadians under the age of 40 who have made recognized and significant achievements of national interest.
1994 - Voted Runner-Up to the Premier of the Province of Alberta in the category of top Civic, Business and Political leader of the last 100 years in the City of Calgary Centennial Awards.
Awarded the "CFL’s outstanding contribution award" for his contributions to the league both as an owner and Governor.
Received the First Calgary Community Vision Award of Merit for his community contributions.
Received the Achiever's Canada award for entrepreneurial leadership and success.
Youngest President and CEO of a NASDAQ listed public company.
Youngest President and CEO of a Toronto Stock Exchange listed company and TSE index listed company.
Youngest owner of a Professional sports franchise in North America.
Youngest Member of Who's Who in Canada
|
|||||