2006 Show Circuit Magazine, Spring Issue
The Beat Goes On
A lifetime of achievement in the music industry helps Laura Wasserman keep her patience in the hunter ring.

By Tyler Gray

For most of the world, the glitz of the film business is light years away from the dirt and sweat of a show ring. For Laura Wasserman, the Grammy-nominated founder of film music company Avenger Entertainment and bone fide member of Hollywood royalty, however, they are a shared universe. As someone who has been living in both of these high-stakes arenas for most of her life, she should know.

Raised in Los Angeles, Wasserman started riding at age 6. Her mother had horses growing up, Wasserman remembers, "I would compete at two shows a year." She continued riding until she finished her studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern University; at that point, life, love, and work got in the way of her equine pursuits. After working at Disney as an intern in the music department, she moved to Hollywood Records where she worked on A&R and soundtracks. She was subsequently hired as an in-house music supervisor at Twentieth Century Fox. During that time, she coordinated the music for some of the studio's most successful films, including Dr. Doolittle, Hope Floats, There's Something About Mary, and Great Expectations.

When she left Fox after five years, Wasserman was a senior vice president. She married Casey Wasserman (grandson of Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman) and had two children - Emmet, now 3, and Stella, 1. She finally got back to riding seven years ago and has stuck with it ever since, even though for four of those years she was pregnant or, as she recounts with a laugh, "recovering from being pregnant."

This time around, several factors have recently made her wonder why she ever lapsed.

First, she started working with renowned California trainer Archie Cox. "He's fantastic. I wish I had him around when I work. He knows how to build on the good things that you've done. He's like a life coach," she remarks.

Then, Cox brought her Quality Time, an 8-year-old amateur hunter from New York. "Literally every time I think about him, I smile," Wasserman reveals of her handsome horse. She spoils him with a stead stock of carrots and Mother's Oatmeal Cookies (sans frosting). In exchange, he provides her with ribbons, including a recent class win on the HITS Indio Desert Circuit.

This is the life lesson on which she had counted. "Patience is a huge thing which I'm not always so good at. Riding is teaching me patience," she attests.

Lastly, she's learning a new way of thinking about her own accomplishments. "I've been riding better than I've ever ridden, but I'm extremely hard on myself," she confesses. "The other day Archie said, 'I notice that you come of the ring and focus on what you did wrong. You need to focus on the great things that you've done.' "As someone who will "do everything in my power" to succeed, slowing down to smell the horse manure can't be easy.

For Wasserman, the struggle is worth it. "I want to do great. You make a mistake and you want to go back and fix it." From Cox, the message is that we all make mistakes. "He'll say, 'You're human. It's O.K. You've come so far and you've worked so hard.'"

Wasserman's Zen formula seems to be working in the other areas of her life as well. The Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association recently asked her to join its board of trustees. "Laura has the perfect blend of passion for animals and animal conservation with her deep, abiding commitment to philanthropy," details Genie Vasels, the zoo's vice president for institutional advancement. As an Angelino, Wasserman has a special attachment to the L.A. landmark. "It's a place where every walk of life goes: you see all races and ages, gang members there with their families, young couples, school field trips, and it's fantastic," she says, beaming. "It's not an expensive outing." In particular, the zoo is integral to a community where many of the children never get a chance to travel and see animals in their natural habitats.

After several years of donating to various organizations, Wasserman decided that she did not want to be the kind of philanthropist who just writes a check and disappears for a year. "I was sick of giving a little bit of money to a bunch of charities and wondering where it was all going," Wasserman recalls. The zoo lets her get her hands dirty. She feeds the giraffes; she handles the tarantulas; and she has "adopted" a koala and named it Baz after her friend, director Baz Luhrmann. Recently, she came to the zoo's defense when critics charge that its elephants belong in sanctuaries where they can roam for miles. "The zoo exercises them really well; they're so well cared for," she maintains. A team of veterinarians attested that the quality of care the elephants were receiving in Los Angeles was better than any that they had seen. Still, "I feel sad about [the controversy]," Wasserman allows. With her help, the zoo is building a 2.5--acre area for the gentle giants.

"Laura knows that when a child or adult sees our Sumatran rhino and learns that it is one of five in the United States and one of 200 left in the world, it is possible that the experience will help that child or adult care about wildlife and make connections to the animal world in a different way," Vasels states of Wasserman.

Her charitable work doesn't end there. Every year she co-chairs a dinner for the Children's Defense Fund's "Beat the Odds" program, which provides scholarships for high school kids who have succeeded and graduated despite devastating personal tragedy and extremely difficult circumstances.

"One little girl's father shot her mother, brother, and sister in front of her when she was 10 years old," recounts Wasserman. The girl went on to life in a foster home and taking care of her two younger siblings, but instead of falling apart she graduated from high school and received a full-ride college scholarship, plus an additional one from CDF. "I have a fantastic family and my kids have everything they need. These kids fight so hard, sometimes without parents or family, I can't even believe it," she marvels.

Other commitments include the National Resources Defense Council, which dovetails with her belief that we need to take care of the earth and its inhabitants. Wasserman is also a contributor to the Democratic Party.

After taking some time off to be with her family, Wasserman is about to start working again. "I've done a few things here and there. I have a consultancy with Disney, which keeps me busy but still allows me time with my children. I'm going back to work because I love that too." It will be fascinating to see how her recent learning curve will come into play. "Sometimes I hear music when I'm riding. I completely forget about the rest of the world. I think that's important."

When Luhrmann, the critic's darling who directed Strictly Ballroom and La Boheme, needed a soundtrack for Moulin Rouge! - his operatic extravaganza with an A-list cast topped by Nicole Kidman - he returned to Wasserman. She had a winning record that included soundtracks for a series of films as wide-ranging as his own. More importantly, Wasserman had been the music supervisor for Luhrmann's 1996 take on Romeo + Juliet, A pop-colored valentine to Shakespeare's tragedy with another stellar cast, this one led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

Luhrmann is happy to detail his list of her invaluable talents: "Laura has an instinct for what is fresh and what sounds good; she understands that music will be the real scripts," he begins. "She has relentless energy and a natural ear for music." What remains unsaid is that Wasserman credits a lot of her success in her field to a well-proven work ethic that she has learned during a lifetime on the horse-show circuit.

"With competing you go out there and every day is different and every show is different. Just like the movies. You have to navigate everything as it comes," she elucidates. "With my work, you get in trouble if you try to push it and don't just put your head down and let it happen. Everything works out in the end. It's kind of like that with riding."

Reprinted with permission from Show Circuit Magazine.