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WMA ADDS FOUR TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Gluck and Rudolph Walsh to Become First Women on WMA Board, Joining Fogelman and Itkin as Newest Members

BEVERLY HILLS, May 28, 2003 __William Morris Agency Chairman, Norman Brokaw, and its President and CEO, Jim Wiatt, today announced the election of four new members to the company's Board of Directors. The four – Mark Itkin, Worldwide Head of Syndication, Cable and Non Fiction Programming; John Fogelman, Co-Head of Motion Pictures Worldwide; and Suzanne Gluck and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, Co-Heads of WMA’s Worldwide Literary Department – will take their seats on the Board effective immediately.

They join current Board members Brokaw and Wiatt; Sam Haskell, Executive Vice President and Worldwide Head of Television; Richard Rosenberg, Executive VP and Worldwide Head of Personal Appearances; Jim Griffin, Executive VP and Head of Television, East Coast; Dave Wirtschafter, Executive VP and Worldwide Head of Motion Pictures; Mike Simpson, Executive VP; Steve Kram, Chief Operating Officer, Worldwide; Irv Weintraub, Chief Financial Officer; and Alan Kannof, Chief Operating Officer, East Coast.

Addressing the promotions, Brokaw said: “We welcome these four excellent additions to our Board. This change is further evolution of the leadership at William Morris as it heads toward a spectacular future. These new members have made outstanding contributions to the William Morris Agency and now they will play a major role in the overall direction of the company.”

Wiatt added: “Each of these distinguished young agents brings a fresh perspective and energy to our Board. This announcement signifies more than the promotion of four outstanding agents, it is also a history-making event for the agency as Suzanne and Jennifer become the first women to be appointed to the Board. We will benefit and grow from all of their counsel.”

Mark Itkin, 49, graduated Summa cum Laude & Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA with a BA degree in Communication Studies and followed it with a JD from Boalt Hall at U.C. Berkeley. After practicing law in the music business for three years, Itkin joined WMA in 1982 to become a television-packaging agent, specializing in first-run syndication, pay and basic cable television. In 1987, he became Vice President and West Coast Head of the first-run syndication and cable packaging department; and in 1991, he was promoted to Senior Vice President. Itkin – who currently is Executive VP and Worldwide Head of Syndication, Cable and Non Fiction Programming – has packaged such television network, cable and syndication projects as “Big Brother,” “Fear Factor,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “WWE Smackdown,” the new “Tarzan and Jane,” “The Ricki Lake Show,” “American Gladiators,” “People’s Court,” “V.I.P.,” “The Man Show” and “Loveline.”

John Fogelman, 37, did his undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California and Tulane University. In 1987, he joined KPMG Peat Marwick where he was accredited with a CPA. In 1990, he left accounting and enrolled at the Anderson School of Business at UCLA where he earned his MBA. Fogelman joined WMA in 1992 through the acquisition of Triad Agency and was promoted to talent agent in the Motion Picture Department. In 2000, he was named Head of the Motion Picture Talent Department and in 2002, Co-Head of Motion Pictures Worldwide. Fogelman's clients include Courteney Cox Arquette, Eric Bana, Kieran Culkin, Claire Forlani, Tyrese Gibson, Whoopi Goldberg, Topher Grace, Tom Green, Dylan McDermott, Neal McDonough, Suzan-Lori Parks, Mekhi Phifer, Roland Suso Richter, Mark Ruffalo, Rodrigo Santoro, Chloe Sevigny, Martin Short, Stephen Sommers and Kevin Spacey.

Suzanne Gluck, 43, graduated from Brown University. She joined WMA in 2001 as Co-Head of the Literary Department after a 16-year career at ICM, where she was hired as a literary agent when she was just 24 years old. Gluck – who in 2002 became Co-Head of WMA’s Worldwide Literary Department – represents a wide range of best-selling and prize-winning authors, including Caleb Carr (“The Alienist”), John Berendt (“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”), Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin (“The Nanny Diaries”), Matthew Pearl (“The Dante Club”), Jeanette Winterson (“The Passion”), Kurt Andersen (“Turn of the Century”) and Adriana Trigiani (the “Big Stone Gap” trilogy).

Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, 36, came to WMA in 2001 when the Agency acquired The Writers Shop, in which she was a Co-Owner and Co-President. She began her career as an intern in what was formerly the Virginia Barber Literary Agency (and became The Writer’s Shop) during her junior year at Kenyon College. Walsh went on to work for Barber after graduation, becoming a full agent in 1990. She currently is Co-Head of WMA’s Worldwide Literary Department. Walsh's prestigious and best-selling client list includes authors James Patterson (“The Beach House”), Kathy Reichs (“Deja Dead”), Christina Schwarz (“Drowning Ruth”), Ethan Hawke (“The Hottest State”), Ann Brashares (“Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”), Antwone Fisher (“Finding Fish”) and Suzan-Lori Parks (“Getting Mother’s Body”), among others.


 




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