Jurassic Quest (www.jurassicquest.com), a leading family edutainment company and producer of the largest North American touring dinosaur exhibition, announced that Adam Friedman has taken the position of Chief Executive Officer. Friedman is charged with the continued growth and global expansion of the company.
With over 25 years in the live entertainment industry, Adam 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, Friedman 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 over one 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-July 26) with over 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-August 16). The touring company is launching a second Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru tour which will kick off for three weeks in Detroit (August 7-August 23). The company will be announcing more 2020 dates as they are confirmed via www.jurassicquest.com.
“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 says, “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.”
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. 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,“ said Bob Levine, Founder and Managing Partner of L2 Capital. 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.