Bay Area Productions Celebration 40 Years of Entertainment
Bay Area Productions was founded in 1984, is an Independent Black-Owned Concert Production / Special Events Company based in Oakland, CA specializing in presenting top quality live entertainment to the urban market both locally and nationally. Co-Founded by Lionel Bea and later joined by team members Janice Cotton, and Carlos Pedraza make up the total production team at Bay Area Productions.
Innovators in Rap and Black Comedy genres, Bay Area Productions produced the first national Black Comedy ensemble tour and produced some of the first concert appearances for RUN D.M.C., Beastie Boys, Too $hort, Chris Rock, Janet Jackson, Maxwell, Mary J. Blige, and Jamie Foxx.
The Bay Area Productions portfolio includes concerts, festivals and events for artists and celebrities such as Maxwell, Mary J. Blige, New Edition, Chris Weber, Jalen Rose, Jason Kidd, and others adding to an extensive list of partnerships.
Festivals include: The Stone Soul Concert, Oakland Jazz Festival and Hot Summer Night just to name a few.
Bay Area Productions is a proud supporter of EOYDC, Lend-A-Hand Foundation and The Manzanita Group charities based in the Oakland/Bay Area.
Executive Summary
Lionel Bea
Is the Co-founder & Director of Operations of Bay Area Productions. He’s a 35+ year Entertainment Executive whose duties include booking artist, negotiating contracts, constructing concert budgets as well as creating & developing event concepts. At age 15 Bea worked as a DJ in an Oakland Night Club and as a 16-year-old high school junior Bea started producing High School Dances and never looked back. Bea, a concert prodigy of the world’s most successful promoter, the late great Bill Graham, has been instrumental in the careers of many of today’s top entertainers. By introducing them to the Bay Area music scene.
Janice Cotton
A graduate of San Jose State University with a B.S. in Journalism with a concentration in Public Relations. Ms. Cotton is the Director of Business Affairs at BAP and joined the team in 1984 as an Administrative Assistant and quickly advanced within the company. Her current responsibilities include managing all company finances from distributions to all event settlements, booking concert venues, routing concert dates, insurance liability, Human Resources, Box Office Management as well as day-of-show management. Ms. Cotton has an extensive relationship with over 50 concert venues across America.
Carlos Pedraza
Serves as the Director of Marketing & Advertising Campaigns at Bay Area Productions. He recently joined the company in 2022. His duties include coordinating advertising campaigns & designing marketing plans for all concerts and events. With over 30 years of experience & has directed ad campaigns for thousands of concerts and events in Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, Los Angeles and the San Francisco / Bay Area. Prior to joining Bay Area Productions, he served as the Director of Marketing & Special Events for multi-media & entertainment outlets including, but not limited to iHeartMedia, CBS Radio and Bonneville International Corporation.