The Principal’s Advocate™.
A New York firm representing a small number of senior principals for a select set of studios, networks, labels, and agencies. Bespoke representation and permanent placement. Personal, from first call to signed offer.
We represent the principal.
Most firms in this category work for the studio. They are paid by the buyer to fill the chair fast. We invert that. Northgate™ works for the principal, who is the rarer asset and the one whose career carries the longest tail.
The work is bespoke representation and permanent placement. Not interim. A partner leads the conversation from the first private call to the signed offer, and your name does not leave this office without your written sign-off.
We represent principals across the arc of their careers, from rising programming executives to studio heads, label COOs, agency partners, and network leadership.
The first conversation is private. There is no obligation on either side.
Where we work.
The rooms where culture is actually decided. Studios, labels, agencies, and the platforms between them: businesses where leadership taste compounds for decades and a wrong chair is public.
- i Film & Television Studios
- ii Music Labels
- iii Talent Agencies
- iv Streaming Platforms
- v Broadcast Networks
- vi Production Companies
- vii Live Entertainment Operators
- viii Music Publishers
What we practice.
Everything the firm takes on arrives as one of these engagements. Each is personal, runs in confidence, and moves on the search’s own clock.
- Permanent Search
- Confidential, personally led searches for studio heads, programming and content executives, label leadership, agency partners, and network executives. Each engagement runs its own arc; none are accelerated to fit an upfront or a slate announcement.
- Leadership Assessment
- Structured evaluation of finalists for senior content and operating roles. Used during active searches to surface fit beyond the deal sheet, and engaged stand-alone by studios, labels, and agencies evaluating internal succession.
- Succession Planning
- Multi-year advisory engagements for studios, networks, and labels facing leadership transition. Pipeline development before a chair opens, with a written succession point of view.
- Board & Trustee Advisory
- Composition guidance for media-company boards, label parent groups, and agency holding companies seeking content and operating talent at the director level.
The fields we work in.
The disciplines where we spend most of our hours. If your work sits adjacent to this list, write anyway. The door is the same.
- Studio Leadership
- Film, Television, Streaming
- Programming Executives
- Original content, Acquisitions
- Label Leadership
- Major, Independent, Catalog
- Agency Partners
- Talent, Literary, Brand
- Network Executives
- Broadcast, Cable, Streaming
- Production Company Leadership
- Independent, Studio-affiliated
- Music Publishing
- Catalog, Synch, A&R
- Live Entertainment
- Venues, Festivals, Tours
- Digital Media & Platforms
- Creator economy, Subscription
- Branded Entertainment
- Sponsorship, IP licensing
When you are ready to make a move,
you need the right people in your corner.