Founder & Chief Executive Officer Anthony-Lynn "Cheap-O" Kirkland today is at the helm of a fully integrated entertainment company. He is a rare creative force in the entertainment industry with an innate ability to develop unique strategic business plans for Kirkland Media’s diverse media businesses while identifying emerging growth opportunities for the company in each realm. Kirkland focuses the bulk of his energies towards creating vertically integrated business strategies into optimal cash flow revenue streams while leaving the principle duties of delegation and implementation of his ideas and business strategies to the rest of the senior management team.
Cheap-O grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and attended Northside High School for the Performing Arts. In 1989 Cheap-O started an internship at WVEE V103, which at the time, was the only urban radio station in the Atlanta market. While at V-103, Cheap-O had the opportunity to work with such industry legends as Ryan Cameron and Joyce Little. As an intern he was allowed to watch the behind the scene aspects of running a media company, however it was another nine years before Cheap-O would see it payoff.
In September of 1997 Cheap-O moved to Boston, Massachusetts to create an urban recording studio called Mass Sound Recording Studio. The plan was to make a studio that could serve as a launching pad for artists in the region. After approaching in excess of 50 bankers, Cheap-O was able to secure a $25,000 business loan from Bank of America which he repaid six months.
In the summer of 2001 Cheap-O chose to move back to Atlanta, Georgia where the idea for the Kirkland Media Entertainment Campus was launched. Cheap-O is a focused and energetic entrepreneur with over 16 years experience as a record producer, sound engineer, and small business owner. His talent has been a magnet to urban recording artists all over the East Coast. Kirkland works tirelessly at his motivating impulse to transform Kirkland Media into a global leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing, and marketing of all forms of entertainment and their related businesses.
Cheap-O has a track record of success resulting in his being recognized for his achievements by organizations such as Black Enterprise Magazine, Business Week Magazine, MTV, Viacom, and The Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Chief Operating Officer Daniel Moore is a seasoned veteran in the entertainment business world. The COO of Kirkland Media proves that disciplined focus, business acumen, and persistence can make one a heavy hitter in any industry. To many, Moore is the "right-hand man" who assists in molding the company into a juggernaut in film, music, and the worlds of both business and entertainment. While Kirkland remains very much the public persona of the company, Moore serves as the “quarterback in the pocket”, delegating and implementing the lucrative business strategies developed by Kirkland and other members of the senior management team.
Born in Boston, Daniel Moore was raised in Massachusetts and attended college at Fairfield University in Connecticut. On a 1-AA football scholarship, Moore studied Finance and International Business, two fields that proved to be very important for the COO of Kirkland Media. Subsequent to college, he became a manager on the administrative staff at the prestigious Boston law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom until 2001 when he left to join Kirkland Media as the Chief Operating Officer. Daniel understands all aspects of operating a media company with recording and distribution capabilities. Moore has the unique ability to manage the operations entailed in business affairs, while keeping his creative intelligence. Moore handles the day-to-day business affairs of Kirkland Media which allows Cheap-O the freedom to lead the company with his creativity.
President M. Lewis Thomas is a seasoned professional who has participated in numerous financing and advisory transactions for both public and private companies in a variety of industries. Mr. Thomas' career path comprised positions in commercial banking operations with Capital Crossing Bank, and in real estate brokering over $10 million dollars in transactions during his 2-year tenure with Prudential Real Estate. He wields the rare ability to manage the operations entailed in business affairs, while retaining a resourceful nature and intrinsic eye out for appealing opportunities. In his role, Mr. Thomas serves as the point-man for the coordination, planning, and implementation of Kirkland Media’s business and creative endeavors to efficiently execute the annual operational plan.
As the initial point of contact for new business development, Mr. Thomas serves as a liaison between our clients and the management team. Currently, Mr. Thomas is conducting due diligence on creating the “Charles River Fund” which will be an entertainment media based venture capital fund, a fund intended to provide gap financing for projects under development at the Kirkland Media Entertainment Campus.
Before exploiting his savvy for intricate business transactions and his passion for manufacturing great entertainment works, Mr. Thomas studied Business Management and Entrepreneurial Studies at The University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
