Activist Artists Management Signs Human Rights Watch For Representation

Matt Grobar
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Activist Artists Management on Tuesday announced their signing of Human Rights Watch, the international organization working to promote and defend human rights around the world. Activist’s Bernie Cahill and Jon Kanak will rep the organization, as well as its 40+ years of human rights research and advocacy, helping to extend its reach through the creation of fresh scripted and unscripted storytelling opportunities across film and TV.

Winning the Nobel Peace Prize as part of its International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Human Rights Watch is known for investigating international human rights violations by governments and other powerful actors, its mission being to help build a world where we can all live with dignity and where all our rights are respected, no matter where or when we are born. The organization, with no government affiliation or funding, is well known for uncovering war crimes in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Iraq, documenting attacks on activists, women and LGBT people, and confronting autocracy globally.

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Human Rights Watch has developed methodologies allowing them to work on some of the worst human rights abuses in countries such as China, Iran, Cuba and Saudi Arabia that are closed to independent researchers, proving instrumental in setting up global tribunals like the International Criminal Court to try individuals responsible for serious international crimes. Their staff of 600, based in more than 50 countries, also includes experts on the rights of women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, older people and children, as well as racial justice, poverty and inequality and the right to health.

“If you want to ensure your children have access to education, know your water is clean and love the person you want – if you want to live with dignity and justice, you need governments and corporations to respect your human rights,” said Human Rights Watch’s Executive Director, Tirana Hassan. “We’re excited to work with Hollywood to spread that message and equip committed activists, advocates and artists standing up for justice through the stories they tell.”

“Activist is honored to partner with Human Rights Watch to amplify the important stories of its decades-long fight for justice, dignity, compassion, and equality for people everywhere,” added Activist’s Cahill.

Other notable clients of the full-service music and talent management firm Activist Artists Management, founded in 2018, include musicians and bands like The Lumineers, Empire of the Sun, The Grateful Dead, Dead & Company (with co-manager Azoff/Moir), Bobby Weir, Dwight Yoakam, Young The Giant, Brittney Spencer and Michael Franti & Spearhead, as well as actors Ken Watanabe and David Alan Grier, screenwriters Terry Rossio (Pirates of the Caribbean, Godzilla vs. Kong), White Collar creator Jeff Eastin, the Oscar-winning media company Lion Forge Animation (Hair Love) and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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