Q&A: Beyond Van Gogh featuring David Rosenfeld & Andres Naftali, Founders of Primo Entertainment

Beyond Van Gogh Miami from World Red Eye Films on Vimeo.

Miami, FL – May 14, 2021 – Beyond Van Gogh, an immersive experience like no other, has made its way down to Miami all thanks to the dynamic duo behind Primo Entertainment, David Rosenfeld and Andres Naftali.

Primo Entertainment was founded in 2013 by David and Andres out of a mutual love for and experience in the entertainment industry. Based in Miami with offices in Costa Rica as well, Primo has focused on promoting and producing major music concerts and live events throughout Latin America and the U.S., which include Ricardo Arjona, Guns N’ Roses, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Cirque du Soleil, Enrique Iglesias, Backstreet Boys, among many others. David was born and raised here in Miami, FL. With a finance degree and background, he started working for the biggest distributor of soap opera scripts and formats to Televisa in Mexico. Andres is from Argentina, but moved to Miami 20 years ago, where he started working for Fremantle Media, taking shows like Latin American Idol, as well as others, to Latin America. In 2013, David and Andres partnered up and started promoting and producing music concerts in Costa Rica. They quickly became one of the biggest live event promoters in the country, earning the confidence and business of many of the biggest names in music, as well as major global companies such as LiveNation. This then led to Primo Entertainment purchasing complete tours in Latin America and its operations extending across the majority of its countries as well as the United States, where it holds its main office in Miami, FL. Primo Entertainment is now bringing to Miami, and other cities, this amazing globally recognized phenomenon Beyond Van Gogh, which has been and continues to be a huge success in all markets. Beyond Van Gogh provides guests with a hands-on platform to experience the legendary artist’s works and has quickly become one of the hottest tickets to entertainment and art in town.

World Red Eye took a dive into the world of Van Gogh with David Rosenfeld and Andres Naftali and discussed how they got to where they are today, the magic behind this exhibit, and the future of Primo Entertainment. Read the full Q&A below.

By Gaby Cuevas

David Rosenfeld & Andres Naftali

David Rosenfeld & Andres Naftali

WRE: David, you originally have a background in finance. How did you first get involved in the entertainment industry?

David Rosenfeld: Well, my father has been in the entertainment industry for many years. When I was growing up, he managed different latin music artists and I remember that he would take me to some shows and tours with him. That was my first introduction to the industry and that seed has always been implanted in me.

WRE: Andres, what about you? How did you first get involved in the entertainment industry?

Andres Naftali: My background has always been in entertainment. When I was young, I had a rock and pop radio show in Spanish in Miami, I worked for a few ad agencies, and after that I worked 8 years at Fremantle, the company that owned successful content formats such as American Idol, Got Talent, and The X Factor among others. There I ended up managing the entire Latin American and U.S. Hispanic department including sponsorships, licensing and production. While at Fremantle I was introduced into the world of live shows, music rights and artist relations.

David Rosenfeld & Andres Naftali

WRE: How did the two of you meet? What made you decide to partner up?

DR: We are actually cousins, hence the name “Primo Entertainment”. In 2013, Andres came to me and asked if I would be interested in partnering up to start an entertainment company. At the time, I was working in the television business and he was working for Fremantle Media, taking Latin American Idol and Got Talent to Latin America. We immediately began working and soon thereafter, we were able to secure our first major show, Ricardo Arjona, in Costa Rica. And from then on, we haven’t looked back.

WRE: Tell us more about Primo Entertainment. What exactly do you specialize in?

AN: Primo Entertainment specializes in promoting and producing live events, specifically music concerts. Primo started doing shows in Costa Rica and has since expanded throughout Latin America and also the United States, while also purchasing the rights to entire tours throughout the region. It manages and is responsible for the complete 360 around the shows and tours, which includes production, logistics, marketing, sponsorships, ticket sales, etc.

David Rosenfeld & Andres Naftali

David Rosenfeld & Andres Naftali

WRE: Primo Entertainment offers all kinds of services from producing events, to managing artists, and also serving as an activation platform for brands. What aspect do you enjoy the most from working on all of these?

DR: Although it may seem cheesy, they are all amazing. Everything we offer and provide is a little different, but at the same time, is intertwined. At the end of the day, they are all equally rewarding and depend on making people, whether it is the public attending a show, the artist, or the brand, happy. Seeing this happiness and seeing it all come together after, in some cases, many months of work, is extremely rewarding and makes us want to go after more.

Andres Naftali & David Rosenfeld

WRE: What was the hardest part about starting an entertainment business from the ground up? What advice would you give to others planning to do the same?

AN: The hardest part, specifically for a business in the entertainment or concert business, is creating relationships with the artists, agencies, managers, and market credibility. For us, we started from scratch, so we had to build all of the relationships from the ground up and gain the confidence from the artists so that they could give us the trust necessary to succeed. Then from there, it was about building the best team possible that could deliver the production, logistics, etc. that the artists and agencies require in each different market.

The best advice we can give to someone starting a business from scratch is to not skip any steps. Don’t be in a rush to do anything too big. Step by step is the best way and everything will fall into place at the right time, if you do things the right way.

Andres Naftali & David Rosenfeld

WRE: What has been the most rewarding experience since starting the company?

DR: For us, the most rewarding experience has been being able work on a project like Beyond Van Gogh, which is outside of our comfort zone, as we have always focused on music concerts. Bringing this event to Miami and the rest of the cities, seeing it come to life and how amazed the public is when they walk out definitely tops the list. People in the industry would ask us what we are doing when we brought up the idea, but due to the pandemic and music concerts not happening, we had to adapt our business model a little bit, to stay active and do events that can run during these times.

Andres Naftali

The best advice to someone starting a business is to not skip any steps. Don’t be in a rush to do anything too big… Everything will fall into place at the right time.

Andres Naftali

Andres Naftali

David Rosenfeld

David Rosenfeld

Everything Primo Entertainment offers depends on making people happy. Seeing this happiness and everything come together after many months of work is extremely rewarding.

David Rosenfeld

Andres Naftali & David Rosenfeld

WRE: Primo Entertainment is now bringing the ultra popular phenomenon, Beyond Van Gogh, to Miami. What can guests expect from this experience?

DR: Guests can expect to be absolutely amazed, that is the best way to put it. It is a completely different way to see and experience art. It is a journey through Van Gogh’s life and art, while giving guests the feeling of being completely immersed inside the painting. What is great about it is that its for people of all ages. Kids absolutely love it. Where many people, including kids, would usually be bored walking through a museum looking at art on a wall, here, they love to see the video projections, the music, the feeling as if they are inside the painting or there when Van Gogh painted it. It is truly a time machine that takes you back to the 1800’s and creates a feeling as if you were there with him.

Andres Naftali & David Rosenfeld

WRE: Where did the idea for the Beyond Van Gogh experience come from? Why did you decide to bring it to Miami?

AN: Well, these types of immersive experiences have been traveling around for some time. When we first saw it, we immediately said that we had to bring this to Miami. It was a no-brainer. Miami has changed so much over the years. The multi-cultural city that it is, the fact that people are always looking for entertainment, and the art scene, is the perfect storm and ideal mix to make this event successful. We immediately began contacting the content creators, who are in Montreal, Canada, and started working on ways to bring it to Miami. It was about a year of work and took a lot of convincing, as they had not even done any other cities in the US. We just knew that Miami would love this and it would be a great success, which thankfully it has been.

WRE: Does Primo Entertainment have other projects planned for Miami? What can we expect in the future?

AN: We are always looking for amazing events and experiences to bring to Miami. We have a lot of exciting options and things on the horizon, that we expect to announce very soon!

Andres Naftali

Miami has changed so much over the years. The multi-cultural city that it is, the fact that people are always looking for entertainment, and the art scene, is the perfect storm and ideal mix to make this event successful.

Andres Naftali