CEO
Frank Productions | Madison
Joel Plant is chief executive officer of Madison-based Frank Productions, one of the largest concert promotion companies in the country. Frank Productions has a national footprint, producing and promoting events in arenas, performing arts centers, theaters, clubs and other venues across the U.S. The company manages Madison-based FPC Live and Nashville-based National Shows 2, and it has offices and venues in Madison; Nashville; Columbia, Missouri; and Charleston, South Carolina.
FPC Live is currently developing a 4,500-spectator capacity venue in Milwaukee, south of Fiserv Forum in Deer District, on the northeast corner of the vacant lot once occupied by the Bradley Center. The $70 million venue is expected to open in late 2025.
Plant was previously chief of staff in the Milwaukee Police Department, an aide to former Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz – a role in which he was responsible for public safety and neighborhood issues – and Madison’s first alcohol policy coordinator. While working in the mayor’s office, Plant helped develop downtown Madison’s annual Freakfest celebration, which served as his introduction to Frank Productions.
Plant has also worked as a research assistant for the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, a crime analyst in the Tempe (Arizona) Police Department and a teaching assistant and adjunct professor. He also has criminal prosecution experience.
Education: Bachelor’s, Marquette University; master’s, Arizona State University; J.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
2022 Wisconsin 275 Profile
Hospitality | Entertainment
CEO
Frank Productions | Madison
Joel Plant joined Madison-based concert venue promotion company Frank Productions as its chief executive officer in early 2017. He was previously the chief of staff in the Milwaukee Police Department, an aide to former Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz with a focus on public safety and neighborhood issues in the city, and Madison’s first alcohol policy coordinator. While working in the mayor’s office, Plant helped develop downtown Madison’s annual Freakfest celebration, which first introduced him to Frank Productions. Plant has also worked as a research assistant for the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing and as a crime analyst in an Arizona police department. He has criminal prosecution experience.
With a national footprint, Frank Productions provides oversight to two brands, Madison-based FPC Live and Nashville-based National Shows 2. It has produced national tours for the likes of Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 2019, FPC Live entered a preferred promoter agreement with Summerfest’s parent company, Milwaukee World Festival Inc., through which FPC has preferred booking rights to national touring shows during non-Summerfest dates at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater and BMO Harris Pavilion.
That partnership grew into a proposal late last year from FPC to develop a new concert venue complex near the Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. Following opposition from neighborhood residents, FPC dropped those plans, and days later announced a new proposal to instead build a $50 million concert venue complex at the former Bradley Center site in the Deer District in downtown Milwaukee. Once it opens, the complex is expected employ about 18 full-time staff and hundreds of part-time workers,
Education: Bachelor’s, Marquette University; master’s, Arizona State University; J.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
