March 28, 2024 6:56 AM
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Adam Friedman Jurassic Quest Photo credit Timothy Norris
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Adam Friedman Joins Jurassic Quest As New CEO

(Pictured above: Adam Friedman; photo credit Timothy Norris)

Jurassic Quest, a leading family edutainment company and producer of the largest North American touring dinosaur exhibition, has named Adam Friedman as their new CEO. Friedman is charged with the continued growth and global expansion of the company and the live entertainment vet sees major growth for company and brand accelerated by its revolutionary drive-thru concept.

With more than 25 years in the live entertainment industry, Friedman has played a lead role in building and growing iconic brands including Nederlander Concerts, House of Blues and Universal Concerts. He has promoted, produced and toured premium live entertainment including music, comedy, family entertainment, sports and a wide range of special events and has developed, operated and programmed award-winning entertainment venues across North America. Most recently, he was president of Banc of California Stadium Entertainment, overseeing the programming and operation of the new Major League Soccer stadium in Los Angeles.

In 2019 (pre-COVID), Jurassic Quest produced 96 multi-day events in 34 states, selling more than a million tickets in mostly large arenas and convention center exhibition halls. After the live entertainment industry was shuttered by the crisis in the spring, the company was the first to quickly pivot to an outdoor drive-thru exhibition, which recently completed three sold out multi-day events in San Antonio (June 12-21), Dallas (June 26-July 12), and Oklahoma City (July 17-26) with 45,000+ cars and an estimated 150,000 fans experiencing an entertaining, educational, safe and secure environment displaying over 70 full-scale, animatronic dinosaurs. The current tour of the Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru show is heading into a three-week run in Atlanta (July 31-Aug. 16). The touring company is launching a second Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru tour which will kick off for three weeks in Detroit (Aug. 7-23). The company will be announcing more 2020 dates as they are confirmed.

“I am excited to join Jurassic Quest and its incredibly talented team of people, who have grown the company into the industry leader and created this one-of-a-kind programming including the Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru model, which continues to show high demand for family entertainment with a purpose,” says Friedman. “With the support of our dynamic ownership group including L2 Capital Partners, we are poised to come through the pandemic well positioned for further growth and expansion globally. There are exciting opportunities to produce programming, merchandise and media content loved by people around the world with no language or cultural barriers. Everyone loves dinos.”

Friedman adds, “With an expansive footprint that will accommodate a safe and secure environment and allow for appropriate physical distancing, we will also be back to market early with our traditional walk-through exhibition version of the show as entertainment facilities begin to reopen.” Friedman also noted that he is delighted that Robert Hardy, Jurassic Quest’s prior CEO, will be staying on in a senior executive role to help execute the growth strategy.

Jurassic Quest was acquired in 2019 by L2 Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Devon, Pennsylvania. “During a challenging time when most of the entertainment industry is offline, we’re honored to welcome Adam Friedman to Jurassic Quest, which continues to revolutionize the industry through expansion of its popular drive-thru concept,” says Bob Levine, founder and managing partner of L2 Capital. “Adam’s leadership and proven entertainment track record will enable the company to launch new concepts and continue the transformation to a leading family entertainment enterprise focused on meaningfully engaging with its customers.”

The new Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru version of the show features over 70 lifelike dinosaurs including the very popular T. Rex, Spinosaurus and Triceratops. Jurassic Quest’s herd of animatronic dinos are displayed in realistic scenes that allow guests to experience them roaring and moving from their own vehicles as they drive their way through the tour. Baby dinosaurs greet guests and bring big smiles to explorers of all ages. During the Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru experience, guests are guided by an engaging and informative digital audio tour featuring show entertainers and dino wranglers (https://www.jurassicquest.com/audiotour) that lasts about an hour. Guests stay in their cars throughout the tour with limited contact, if any, with staff, who wear masks, are social distanced, and follow all state and local guidelines regarding health and safety. To further ensure the safety of patrons and staff, all equipment and workstations undergo regular sanitization throughout the show. All attendees receive a free, safari-style family photo in their vehicles set against a dinosaur backdrop as a memento of their experience.

As Jurassic Quest expands to new markets with the innovative Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru, the company has partnered with both global venue management firms and local operators to help create inventive and safe solutions during the COVID-19 crisis utilizing parking lots and large venues and facilities in multiple cities across the U.S. Since June 2020, the company has had its crews on the road and recently hired an entire new crew for its second tour launching in August to accommodate demand for the Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru experience.

Jurassic Quest is North America’s largest and most realistic dinosaur event. Guests walk through the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic periods and experience for themselves what it was like to be among dinosaurs of all kinds. Jurassic Quest is the only interactive dinosaur event that has more than 100 true to life-size animatronic dinosaurs in each of its indoor touring shows from the very small to the gigantic. In collaboration with leading paleontologists, each dinosaur has been painstakingly replicated in every detail. Whether their prehistoric counterpart had skin that was scaly, had feathers or fur, Jurassic Quest has spared no expense in bringing the dinosaurs to life. Jurassic Quest exhibits also allow future paleontologists to dig up fossils, ride their favorite life-sized dinosaur, enjoy walking dinosaur and baby dinosaur shows, and enjoy a dinosaur themed play land in addition to face painting, crafts and much more. Jurassic Quest produced 96 multi-day events in 34 states and Canada selling more than a million tickets in 2019. For more info, visit www.jurassicquest.com

L2 Capital Partners is a boutique, lower- to middle-market, private-equity firm that specializes in making controlling investments in a diverse range of family and founder-built companies with demonstrated market leadership and unlocked potential for growth.  L2’s impressive track record over the last nine years includes top quartile returns for its portfolio of business service and consumer product companies with enterprise values up to $65 million. L2 Capital adds value by partnering closely with company leadership to meet their strategic and financial goals by providing intimate operational support including a proprietary breakthrough growth framework in addition to access to resources and technology gained over 40 years of principal investing experience. For more info, visit www.L2Capital.net

 

 

 

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