There are few talent-representative partnerships in Hollywood which have lasted a profession. CSI creator Anthony Zuiker had that with supervisor Margaret Riley, most lately a companion at Lighthouse Leisure, who died Tuesday of ovarian most cancers at age 58.
In 1998, Zuiker was moonlighting as a tram driver in his native Las Vegas whereas attempting to make it as a screenwriter with a film script he had written, The Runner. Producer Jim Garavente slipped it to Riley, who had lately been promoted from assistant to supervisor at administration/manufacturing firm Addis Wechsler, and he or she signed Zuiker on his thirtieth birthday, 8/17/1998.
Riley then took Zuiker to all Hollywood businesses. He ended up at CAA (the place he nonetheless is a shopper) with Joe Cohen and Scott Greenberg. Riley additionally launched him to Kevin Yorn, who repped him without cost for an yr till he bought his footing.
“I used to be dwelling on the Hollywood Towers ravenous and Margaret would carry me meals from the deli throughout the road to eat,” Zuiker recalled. A yr later, in 1999, ABC and subsequently CBS would purchase CSI, which might change into a fall 2020 collection and launch a billion-dollar franchise.
Riley, who labored with Zuiker on his CSI script and the tasks that adopted, began her profession at Addis Wechsler and Associates earlier than founding Margaret Riley Administration in 2002, with Zuiker as one of many firm’s prime shoppers following the breakout success of CSI. The corporate was acquired by Brillstein Leisure Companions three years later, with Riley leaving in 2006 to hitch Lighthouse Administration and Media as a companion. All through all of it, Zuiker had remained on Riley’s roster till her demise.
“Margaret Riley managed me for 1 / 4 of a century,” Zuiker mentioned. “In 1998, she took a no-name tram driver from The Mirage Resort and stewarded me into CSI stardom with grace, persistence, and love. By far my hardest critic, however she led together with her coronary heart. She used to say to me ‘Life is lengthy.’ Though her treasured life was lower brief, she gave me the reward of an extended profession and helped me discover a voice. Now my voice is ours till eternity.”
