Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers will take over Sept. 2 as head of corporate communications at Warner Bros. She will succeed Sue Fleishman, who is leaving now. Myers, the first female press secretary to a president, brings political savvy to the studio and close ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton. "If Hillary Clinton were to run for president, I would try to be helpful to her in the limited ways I could with another job at another business," Myers, 52, told the LA Times. "It's no secret that I am a Clinton person."
Myers said she was approached by friends at Warner Bros. in late 2013 to discuss the company, and the "conversation evolved over time" after meeting with Warner Bros. Chief Executive and Chairman Kevin Tsujihara.
Instrumental in bringing Myers to Warner Bros. was the studio's chief counsel, John Rogovin, according to two people familiar with the matter. Rogovin served on President Clinton's transition team, and later as a top attorney at the Justice Department."I just got intrigued," said Myers, who touted her experience as a consultant to the television show "The West Wing," which was filmed on the Warner Bros. lot in the late 1990s and mid-2000s. "I've loved Washington — politics is obviously something I care a lot about, but I think it is an interesting time to make a change."
Her title will be executive vice president of worldwide corporate communications and public affairs, reporting to Tsujihara. Before going to Washington, Myers worked in City Hall for Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and on California campaigns, including for Sen. Dianne Feinstein. More recently, Myers was a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and co-hosted the the CNBC talk show "Equal Time." She now is managing director of Glover Park Group, a strategic communications firm. Myers also comes with media ties: she is married to journalist Todd Purdum.
This isn’t the first time Myers has been involved with Warner Bros. As the first female White House press secretary during President Clinton’s initial two years in office, Myers was the inspiration for Allison Janney’s C.J. Cregg, a press secretary in Aaron Sorkin’s “The West Wing,” which was produced by Warner Bros. TV. Sorkin recruited Myers to be a consultant on the show.
The path from politics to Hollywood is especially familiar in the corporate communications area. Flo Grace worked at Rogers and Cowan in Washington D.C. before becoming a spokeswoman for Fox and then leaving to establish Grace PR. Prior to heading of media relations for CAA and serving as VP of government relations for Disney, Anna Perez was a press secretary to Barbara Bush and U.S. Congressman John Miller. Similarly, Charlie Sipkins, currently exec VP at Sony, began his career working for Rep. Martin Olvav Sabo in the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations.“Dee Dee brings a creative and strategic mindset to communications and public positioning. Her engaging and collaborative demeanor paired with her acute understanding of how to engage constituencies will help us strengthen our position as the leading global studio. I look forward to her becoming an integral part of our strong executive team,” Tsujihara said in a statement.
Myers is the author of Why Women Should Rule the World.
