Bruce Furst serves as the president of Ashber Corporation, a music and film licensing firm in Texas that arranges for the incorporation of songs into films and negotiates the distribution of movie soundtracks. Beyond his professional responsibilities, Bruce Furst supports the global human rights organization Amnesty International. The organization opened its second “massive open online course” (MOOC) on human rights in November of 2016 entitled Human Rights: The Rights of Refugees. The Right of Refugees course provided participants with the information they need to defend rights of refugees around the world. Participants could connect with a global community of human rights activists and learn to think critically about approaches to a wide range of human rights challenges and violations. A team of dedicated human rights leaders with years of experience guided the course and offered insight. Course content included an introductory understanding of refugee rights and concepts for international protection. Participants also learned about the circumstances that transform people into refugees and the extreme conditions refugees encounter after leaving their homes. The course further explained the government’s role in protecting refugees and the steps members of the public can take to ensure those rights are upheld. Amnesty International offered the course from mid-November 2016 to mid-November 2017.
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As the president of Ashber Corporation, Bruce Furst pursues high-profile licensing ventures that include supplying music content to film productions. Over the years, Bruce Furst has also merchandised licensed products for organizations such as the Major League Baseball Players Association, the Paramount Pictures Theatrical Library, and King Features Syndicate. Having syndicated more than 200 comics over its century-long history, King Features dates back to the late 19th century, when William Randolph Hearst acquired the pioneering comic strip The Yellow Kid for his newspapers. He subsequently helped launch early-20th-century favorites such as Krazy Kat, Bringing Up Father, and The Katzenjammer Kids. In 1915, Hearst founded King Features in order to better manage the burgeoning syndication business. Many of the company's best-known properties have been in print for decades, including Flash Gordon, Dennis the Menace, Prince Valiant, Family Circle, and Bizarro. Notably, the company combines strategies of product merchandising and newspaper circulation with a core commitment to works that have artistic and cultural value. Based in Austin, Texas, Bruce Furst is the president of Ashber Corporation, an entertainment licensing, production, and negotiating firm. Bruce Furst relocated Ashber Corporation to the City of Austin due to its thriving economy and entrepreneurial spirit. In 2013, Austin was named one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation. The city continues to draw residents and visitors to its flourishing music scene. When visitor to Austin want to experience live music, they don’t need to look very far. In fact, live music can be found at the airport, in grocery stores, on street corners, and in over 250 venues featuring every kind of music imaginable. A large number of music festivals occur in Austin each year, drawing thousands of people to city. The most well-known festival, South by Southwest, occurs every March and draws noted filmmakers, musicians, and artists from all over the world. At the internationally renowned festival, performers showcase their work and introduce new releases. Attendees can experience the festival at over 90 venues across the city. The Austin City Limits festival also draws thousands of attendees. Hosted in Zilker Park, the two-day festival presents some 130 musical acts from all over the world. The Pecan Street Festival is a family-friendly event that occurs biannually. The street fair features music, food vendors, and arts and crafts. The Sound on Sound Festival and Urban Music Festival are also noteworthy Austin events featuring a wide variety of genres of music. Since 2000, Bruce Furst has served as a president of Austin, Texas-based Ashber Corporation, where he maintains responsibility for licensing music content for film productions and negotiating film rights. Outside of this role, Bruce Furst supports the Harvard College Fund Parents Committee. The Harvard College Fund Parents Committee brings together parent volunteers to foster a sense of community among parents of Harvard students around the world. Committee members help develop relationships between the college and parents and assist in recruiting volunteers. They also attend or host regional events for parents, including Parents Leadership Weekend in Cambridge. Another important role of committee members is fundraising for the school. Leading by example, committee members who donate at least $1,000 per year belong to the Associates Committee, and those who donate at $5,000 annually earn a spot among the Leadership Gifts Committee. At both levels, parents serve a one-year renewable term. Parents who donate at least $50,000 per year earn a spot among the Regional Vice Chairs and serve a two-year renewable term. Finally, those who donate at least $100,000 annually may receive a special invitation to serve as co-chairs on the Harvard College Fund Executive Committee. In this role, they serve a two-year renewable term and lead events and meetings throughout the year. An executive producer of films and music recordings, Bruce Furst leads Ashber Corporation as president. Concurrent to this role, Bruce Furst serves as the chief executive officer of Intergalactic Royalty Operations Corporation (iRoc). Anticipating the advancement of space travel, iRoc aims to license and distribute royalties for the performance of members' copyrighted works anywhere off of planet Earth. This includes performances of works on any planet within the Milky Way Galaxy other than Earth and its stratosphere, which extends 31 miles from Earth’s surface. In addition to distributing royalties, iRoc plans to develop effective marketing for brands interested in distributing products in space. In preparing for these endeavors, Bruce Furst met with NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to explore NASA’s capacity to provide iRoc with verification of music and data to be projected to other planets. Led by experienced entertainment industry professionals, iRoc aims to create “a digital handshake between branded entertainment content and outer space.” Since 2000, Bruce Furst has served as president of the Ashber Corporation, a company specializing in brand licensing and music production. Outside of work, Bruce Furst gives back to the community through his support of multiple organizations, including Amnesty International, an organization committed to protecting human rights at home and around the world. Recently, Amnesty International announced that Alicia Keys and Indigenous Peoples, a group that fights for native rights in Canada, are the winners of its prestigious Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2017. This award recognizes people and organizations who have done the greatest work in championing human rights. Alicia Keys has used her popularity as a musical artist to make a real impact in the United States and abroad. She founded Keep a Child Alive, which provides assistance to families impacted by HIV in Africa and India, and the We Are Here Movement, which seeks to mobilize youth to social action. Indigenous Peoples fights to change the situation of native men, women, and children in Canada. These individuals remain among the most marginalized people in Canadian society due to decades of public apathy and silence. The group aims to break this silence and rally support for indigenous rights. For over 15 years, Bruce Furst, an executive producer of film and music, has served as the president of Ashber Corporation, based in Austin, Texas. In addition to his activities in the entertainment industry, Bruce Furst works to give back to the community through his support of organizations such as Amnesty International. Those who wish to assist Amnesty International in its work to protect human rights worldwide can take part in campaigns focused on discrimination, international justice, arms control, corporate accountability, and other priorities. The organization enables individuals to take direct action by volunteering their time at Amnesty offices and/or signing petitions, sending emails, and advancing public awareness of human rights abuses. People can also support Amnesty International by becoming a member of the organization. For an annual fee, which varies depending on one’s country of origin, individuals can join more than 2 million other Amnesty members. In addition to sustaining an organization that is committed to strengthening justice and fighting for human rights, becoming an Amnesty member confers benefits such as receiving crucial updates about the organization’s work and a subscription to Wire magazine, which features stories about how Amnesty is helping improve lives around the globe. For more information about how you can support Amnesty International, visit www.amnesty.org. A veteran entertainment executive, Bruce Furst is also popularly known as “Mr. Brand Licensing.” Among his roles, Bruce Furst serves as CEO of Intergalactic Royalty Operations Corporation (iRoc), headquartered in Austin, Texas.
iRoc is patterned after the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, the largest firm in the United States distributing and collecting royalties on behalf of the entertainment sector. In iRoc’s case, the company licenses and distributes royalties for those who publicly perform their copyrighted creations outside of earth and earth’s stratosphere, which more specifically spans 31 miles above earth’s surface. With the exception of earth, copyrights of members are protected in all planets located inside the Milky Way Galaxy, and the firm will offer marketing services for brands wishing to expand to outer space. iRoc has already made initial discussions with NASA on issues relating to music and data verification outside of planet earth. It is also in various stages of planned collaboration with prominent individuals and their companies with interest in space. These include Elon Musk of SpaceX, and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his Blue Blue Origin aerospace venture. An entertainment executive who has helped launch new talent and produced a number of albums and films, Bruce Furst also performs a range of music licensing functions as the president of the Ashber Corporation in Austin, Texas. He is currently working on a project that pushes the boundaries of printed media. Bruce Furst hopes that this printed media project will include Lady Gaga as its initial featured artist. Mr. Furst is reaching out to Lady Gaga because, as an artist, she embraces futurism as a large part of her self-created musical universe. In 2013, she announced that she would be the first singer to perform in outer space after accepting a ticket through the commercial spaceflight organization Virgin Galactic. This news first broke during Gaga’s ArtRave presentation at Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City. Gaga announced that she would sing in space in 2015 as part of a special event by the entertainment company Zero G Colony. A source close to Gaga at the time told Us Weekly that the singer would complete a month of vocal training in order to perform in the far thinner atmosphere. While the 2015 performance did not occur, Virgin Galactic continues to make test flights. One source notes that a realistic timeframe for commercial space flights is 5 to 10 years. Bruce Furst, the president of Ashber Corporation, resides in Austin, Texas, where he provides music and film licensing. In his private life, Bruce Furst supports the human rights movement through Amnesty International, an organization that safeguards freedom of expression and international justice.
Having dedicated more than two decades to establishing an international justice system, Amnesty International advocates for global acceptance of the authority of the International Criminal Court. Governed by the Rome Statute, the court tries severe crimes of international concern, such as war crimes, genocide, and extrajudicial executions, that have not been investigated or prosecuted in a national justice system. Special exceptions are made for cases that go to trial but are conducted in a manner deemed questionable and insincere. The court serves as a last resort. As of April 2015, 123 countries have adopted the International Criminal Court system. Of these countries, 34 are located in Africa, 27 in the Caribbean and Latin America, and 19 in Asia. A majority of the proceedings held thus far take place in Africa. To learn more about Amnesty International and the International Criminal Court, visit www.amnesty.org. |
AuthorWith over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, Bruce Furst boasts significant expertise in film and music licensing. Archives
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