VANZAN · JONESWORKS · THE INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS
A PR executive, a disputed phone, a Doe lawsuit, and a web of entertainment-industry relationships that runs from Jonesworks through Wheelhouse, ITV America, All3Media and Group Effort Initiative.
The phone at the center of the fight
Stephanie Jones founded Jonesworks; Jenn Abel worked there as a publicist. In Jones v. Abel, their falling-out became a federal legal dispute over communications retained from Abel’s former work phone. Abel alleges that Jones obtained the device and accessed and distributed private messages, including material later reaching Blake Lively’s side. The pleadings and responses set out opposing accounts of how the phone and its contents were handled.
Then came VANZAN. On September 27, 2024, VANZAN filed a Doe summons and complaint. A withdrawal followed on December 19, one day before Lively’s December 20 California Civil Rights Department complaint. The timing and use of the material are at the heart of the controversy surrounding these filings.
Brent Montgomery is on Jonesworks’ own corporate record
Look at the California Jonesworks filing. It lists Brent Montgomery, Stephanie Jones and Jason Hodes as managers; Jones is also named chief executive officer. This is a recorded corporate relationship, not a casual acquaintance.
Jonesworks also had a direct financial and business connection with Montgomery’s Wheelhouse Group. In 2019, industry coverage reported that Wheelhouse had taken a minority investment in Jonesworks and that Stephanie Jones sat on its board as chief branding officer.
The Montgomery → ITV connection
Montgomery founded Leftfield Entertainment. ITV acquired a majority stake in Leftfield in a deal valued at approximately $360 million, and Montgomery went on to lead ITV America. He later founded Wheelhouse. His ITV leadership is part of his career history; the Lively v. Baldoni: A Hollywood Feud documentary has a separate production chain.
That separate chain matters: Optomen made the documentary. Optomen belongs to All3Media, which RedBird IMI acquired in 2024. The ITV chapter explains Montgomery’s background; Optomen and All3Media identify the documentary’s actual production group.
Reynolds and Lively’s GEI connection to All3Media
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively launched the Group Effort Initiative (GEI) in 2020. The initiative connects aspiring entertainment workers with industry opportunities. Its own public participant directory identifies three people with All3Media connections:
So the documented links to All3Media are twofold: Optomen is an All3Media company producing a documentary about Lively and Baldoni, and the Reynolds–Lively GEI program has placed or supported people who worked within All3Media. Both connections can be followed through the underlying records.
One more overlapping business trail
Wheelhouse founder Montgomery and Jimmy Kimmel developed entertainment ventures together. Kimmel’s Kimmelot later collaborated with Reynolds’ Maximum Effort and Disney on a televised special. That is another documented company-to-company relationship linking names already in the Jonesworks and Reynolds orbit.