Talent Booker
With almost two decades of experience, Christopher McDonald brings to the table an extensive network of connections and opportunities. But it’s not just his network, but the actual relationships he builds. Going beyond merely booking talent, Christopher has worked with everyone from high profile billionaires to celebrities to small businesses to identify, strategize, and build bridges that develop not just into relationships but new ventures never before imagined.
With a strong familiarity with traditional media, and having booked an array of top talent from the world of entertainment, sports, business, science, tech, and politics. Christopher launched Connections First in order to bring opportunities never before seen by many small businesses.
Christopher grew up a citizen of the world. His father served 35 years active duty in the U.S. Army with his career taking Christopher and his family to Japan, Korea, Germany and various posts around the United States. Christopher holds a bachelor of science in broadcast journalism from Boston’s prestigious Emerson College, which led to the beginning of his professional career at CNN.
Christopher has had the pleasure and honor to work with the following brands:
“Tavis Smiley” (PBS), “The Arsenio Hall Show” (CBS/Tribune), “It’s Not You, It’s Men w/ Tyrese & Rev Run” (OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network), “Impact Theory w/ Tom Bilyeu” (YouTube/Itunes), “Quest Nutrition, Prince, Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Angelina Jolie, Jay Z, Kanye West, Dave Matthews, Joni Mitchell, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Michael Strahan, Dierks Bentley, Martina McBride, Paul Mitchell’s John Paul DeJoria and Tony Robbins.
Below are the results Christopher has gotten his clients:
TAVIS SMILEY
– 1 of 9 members in the launch team, and played a key role in sustaining annual sponsorship fund
of $4 million dollars from Toyota Corp for 4 years of production of the PBS show, and $1 million
from Wal‑Mart and $250k from Annie E. Casey for an additional 6 years.
ARSENIO HALL SHOW
– Critical member of the launch team of the nationally syndicated show, which exceeded it’s
projected premiere week numbers and scored the highest‑rated premiere week for any syndicated
talk show in key demos in seven years. In key demos, The Arsenio Hall Show scored a 1.0 rating/4
share in adults 18‑49 and 1.2/5 in adults 25‑54 in Nielsen’s markets with Local People Meters,
beating every late‑night program on the broadcast networks.
– For the entire premiere week The Arsenio Hall Show fared well – In adults 18‑49, Hall’s 0.7
rating/3 share ed with “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” on NBC as the top‑rated post‑primeme
talkshow — ahead of the likes of Jimmy Kimmel (0.6/3), Jon Stewart (0.6/2), Steve Colbert (0.5/2)
and others. And in adults 25‑54, it trailed only Leno.
IMPACT THEORY W/ TOM BILYEU
– 1 of 7 members who created the media‑based company Impact Theory and the related web
interview series Impact Theory in January 2017. Christopher booked a colorful array of guests which
gave Impact Theory grand exposure. The show, which broadcasts on YouTube, started with 0
subscribers and exceeded its projected goal of 100k year‑end subscribers by two times the amount,
rounding out the year with 202k subscribers.
– As Director of Talent Relations, Christopher introduced Tom to a great number of entrepreneurs,
change‑makers and key influencers and raised Tom’s stock in the speaking forum, where he closed
out the year garnering $85,000 in speaking fees.
– Contributed to the growing media landscape of web video interviews, giving a much wider global
platform to various luminaries from the world of business, athletics, speaking, and writing.
– These viral videos are seen on average of 150 million views per guests across social media and
web video outlets, giving authors a significant spike in book sales.
OVERTURE GLOBAL
– Secured a line‑up of influential woman in the world of tech, government, education and human
development that supported the acceleration of gender balance in a never‑before‑done meeting of
the minds in STEM & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT that executed on creating support for women in
various stages of their education AND careers. This resulted in a dynamic shift and accelerating
progress in the perspective fields, introducing sponsors like Johnson & Johnson to a variety of both
established and start‑up STEM companies.
PRESS
3/18/20 Conscious Millionaire – Christopher McDonald: The Power of Genuine Networking – Today’s guest, with almost two decades of experience, Christopher McDonald brings to the table an extensive network of connections and opportunities. But it’s not just his network, but the actual relationships he builds. Going beyond merely booking talent, Christopher has worked with everyone from high profile billionaires to celebrities to small businesses to identify, strategize, and build bridges that develop not just into relationships but new ventures never before imagined. LISTEN HERE
2/13/18 VoyageLA – Meet Christopher McDonald of Connections First in West Hollywood READ MORE
7/15/13 Deadline – ‘The Arsenio Hall Show’ Names Senior Production Team READ MORE
7/15/13 The Hollywood Reporter – ‘Arsenio Hall Show’ Bolsters Senior Production Team Adhead of Premiere READ MORE
7/15/13 Press Release – ‘The Arsenio Hall Show’ Announces Production Team READ MORE