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ABOUT US
Blue Highway Advisory is a one-of-a-kind boutique services firm with bases in the U.S. and U.K.
We specialize in providing unmatched Tier One media plans and access; multi-level, cross-community advocacy; and structural and senior-level strategic counsel for high-stakes litigation and crisis matters.
Our expertise lies in the following distinct categories:
Creators' rights: We have a proven track record in offering litigation and public affairs support, legal referrals, reputation enhancement and recovery, and hard-nosed mass media campaigns to assist composers, recording artists, filmmakers, visual artists, and writers/authors who have been aggrieved, short-changed, un- or under-compensated, or have had any other sort of contractual arrangement negated, ignored or violated.
Litigation communications support: We provide comprehensive assistance for civil and criminal cases, particularly those progressing through the US Federal system in DC, Northern Virginia, New York, and Los Angeles, as well as more contained, localized matters. Additionally, we deftly handle communications and strategic support for cross-Atlantic prosecutorial referrals to the U.S. from the U.K, and vice-versa.
The ‘NewSpace’ sector: We serve the global NewSpace industry, offering senior-level strategic, structural and media services to a rapidly expanding field that requires deep knowledge of defense, intelligence and government civilian space functions.
Whistleblower media support and legal referral services: We devise media plans and connect government and industry whistleblowers with appropriate legal resources.
Media advisory counsel for the legal sector: We offer counsel and guidance to select legal professionals and law firms regarding media and other vital communications-related matters.
OUR TEAM
IAN CHRISTOPHER MCCALEB
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Founder & Principal
Blue Highway Advisory
Photo Credit: Nalinee Darmrong
Our founder and principal, Ian Christopher McCaleb, is a sought-after media strategist, multiple award-wining strategic counselor and litigation communications and support specialist.
He has held senior editorial positions at renowned media organizations such as CNN and the Fox News Channel, as well as with a long-revered international news agency and a national newspaper chain. His beats as a reporter and correspondent included the Federal Justice system and Federal law enforcement, the Federal Court system, the U.S. military and intelligence services, foreign military conflicts, the U.S. Congress and multiple U.S. presidential elections.
He has worked as a senior strategist and practice chair at two major consulting firms, and at a Top 10 international law firm.
Further, he has extensive experience as a senior US government spokesman (Department of Justice, Criminal Division), intelligence community civilian operative…
…AND as a longtime music critic and writer, and musician.
Blue Highway Advisory marries his life's work in media, law and government with his greatest passions, the worlds of music, art, the printed word and cinema, to create an expanding agency that will form a formidable, protective shield for the rights of creators and artists. The work includes the most closed-fisted, relentless sort of media campaigns often devised for high-power corporate or government entities, but here applied to wide communities of aggrieved of undercompensated creators.
Mr. McCaleb planned and administered a comprehensive North American media campaign in relation to lengthy US Federal litigation over a beloved cult music motion picture, which played a key, concurrent role in all rights being returned to the control of the original creators.
Similarly, in 2023, he planned and executed an unremitting top-tier media campaign for a one-time hip hop luminary facing Federal trial on a variety of charges of unusual complexity. The campaign included the cover story in an international weekly business magazine, a full profile published by a long-influential music and culture monthly, drive-time scene-setters via a national radio network, a trial table-setter via a national business daily newspaper, and more prized placements and positive press throughout the trial process.
His sector work for clients has ranged from law, to tech, to heavy industry, healthcare, the international space industry and space law, defense, high net-worth individuals, musicians, artists, filmmakers, philanthropists and charities.
AMANDA HARCOURT
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IP Consultant
Harcourt Global
UK-based Amanda Harcourt has devoted her distinguished professional career to the interests, rights and revenues of authors and performers in the U.S. and Europe.
Harcourt’s early film work in the 1980s was complemented by her acting as lead author and editor for a book on the law and trade practices of the independent film and television sector - a text labelled on publication as “ground breaking” by the UK’s Financial Times.
She has a particular expertise in the worldwide collective administration of IP rights and the regulatory regimes of administering bodies (CMOs). Her unmatched reputation as a complex problem-solver grew significantly as she conducted a global audit in the early 1990s on behalf of the global musical powerhouse U2. This work consisted of an inquiry into their collectively administered revenues as both authors and performers. Equivalent forensic work for other similarly positioned music luminaries quickly followed.
Most recently, she spearheaded successful US Federal litigation in relation to a cult music motion picture which resulted in all rights being returned to the control of the original creators.
She is now retained as legal advisor to the global songwriters and composers council, the UK trade body for cinematographers, and the UK CMO for film craft workers (film editors, designers and cinematographers). She is also retained by the creators of a revolutionary new software system that can read and analyze over 250 different royalty payor accounting statements and formats. The system’s unique capabilities enable the cleansing of copyright metadata and detailed identification and tracking of the copyrights’ exploitation: revenue sources, territories, the routes of income and the royalty values arising from initial exploitation by sub-licensees onward into the ultimate hands of creators and copyright owners. The system promises to be a vital tool in rebalancing the battlespace for un- and undercompensated creators.
Ms. Harcourt spent 11 years as an Adjunct Professor in entertainment law at a top-tier US university. She is now a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Brand and Innovation Law at the highly prestigious Faculty of Laws at University College London.
Further details can be found at https://harcourt.global
ANDREW S. RICCI
Senior Strategist
Blue Highway Advisory
An award-winning communicator and communications expert, Andrew S. Ricci provides services to companies and organizations of all sizes, including communications strategy development, media relations, writing/content development and editing, messaging and narrative development, public affairs campaign development and implementation, crisis management, and a variety other specifically tailored services.
Andrew brings more than 15 years of communications experience, honed across a variety of sectors and disciplines, to include the political arena, litigation, national and international crises, and corporate reputation management, to his senior advisory position with Blue Highway.
Whether he is communicating the nuances of niche policies to the audiences who will be most affected, defending individuals or organizations making national headlines that may be misrepresenting their integrity or business practices, or unflaggingly representing the families of those being held hostage abroad, Andrew is a stalwart presence in his client’s corner.
He has worked as a press flack on Capitol Hill, an attack dog on the campaign trail, and in leadership roles at one of Washington’s top crisis communications firms. Drawing from his diverse interests, ranging from national and international politics to entertainment, sports and food and beverage, Andrew applies a powerful voice to his clients’ needs and stories.
Mr. Ricci has been featured as a spokesman or communications expert in outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Associated Press, ABC News, MarketWatch, CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, Politico, Roll Call, The Hill, and countless state, regional, and local publications. His ghost writing has appeared in the The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, The Hill, US News and World Report, and many other outlets.
Andrew has a B.A. in English from the University of Mount Union (formerly Mount Union College) in Alliance, Ohio and is a native of Beaver Falls, Pa.
Further details can be found at https://ricconstrategic.com
ANDY OCH
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Senior Operations Consultant
Blue Highway Advisory
Andy Och is a Swiss Army Knife of advocacy, instinct, marketing and communications experience. He is an award-winning television and multimedia producer. He is a documentarian. He is a published author. And he is an accomplished, multi-disciplinary writer with more than 25 years of domestic and global experience. Andy has spent his adult life traveling the world in search of adventure and provocative stories. These pathways have shaped him into an expansively critical thinker who creates effective and thoughtful multimedia campaigns for clients based on these travels, experiences and his wholly unique way of looking at life.
Andy is also a master of social media who thrives on sharp writing and storytelling to create and direct narratives for clients in all situations, whether their needs are business or advocacy related. He has been a part of election and campaign coverage, programming and strategy for cable and network news outlets since 2000, and he has been the lead creative force and writer for human interest stories, ad campaigns, documentaries and veterans’ issues for PBS, the Discovery Channel and ESPN.
Also known as “The First Ladies Man,” Andy is a world-renowned expert, public speaker and commentator on America’s First Ladies. He is the author of “Unusual for Their Time: On the Road with America’s First Ladies” www.firstladiesman.com He is a visible commentator and contributor on ABC News, CBS News, Fox News & Radio, BBC, CCTV, News Channel 8, SKY News, NTN, Alhurra, Sirius XM Radio, NPR, The Washington Post, The Washington Examiner, and many other national and international podcasts, blogs and periodicals.
Andy is a Washington, DC, metropolitan area native with a degree in Radio, Television & Film and a minor in Sociology from the University of Maryland in College Park. He has been playing drums since the age of 7 and is firmly established in the DC underground music scene and history. He currently plays, tours and records with DISTORTION, Inc. Andy lives with his rescue animals, a historic Harley Davidson and his drum collection South of Annapolis, MD, on the West River.