Name change at bicoastal praisery

Clein + White = Clein + Walker; Panagakis promoted

By MONICA ROMAN

NEW YORK -- Clein + White co-founder Harry Clein has officially changed the name of his bicoastal public relations firm to Clein + Walker Marketing, Media & Creative Services and has promoted publicist Alex Panagakis to vice president.

Clein said the name change reflects the enhanced role of Jeremy Walker, the head of the firm's New York office. However, Clein did not make Walker a financial partner in the praisery, which has evolved into a producers rep.

Walker recently returned to Clein + White after a stint as head of the New York office of Dennis Davidson Associates. Shortly after, executive vice president Jeff Hill and several other Clein + White staffers resigned to form their own public relations firm, Falco Ink.

"Since Jeremy's return to the company, he has stepped up to be a major collaborator with me in the same way my former partner Cara White was, so I think the name of the company should reflect that," Clein said. "Alex, too, has dived in and developed into a major player. His promotion is well-earned."

Official announcement

"Making my partnership with Harry official is, for me, a double honor," said Walker. "Cara White was in many ways my mentor, so seeing my name in her place means a great deal."

Panagakis has been with the firm for the past four years. A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a master's degree in cinema studies, Panagakis recently handled press campaigns for "Very Bad Things," "Happiness," the re-edit of Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil" and "The Celebration."

"We want to be producers' representatives in the fullest sense of that expression," said Walker. "We will represent both filmmakers and films to the media and to the acquisitions and distribution community. But we also want to consult with filmmakers on a creative level, helping them make the decisions that affect how their work is perceived in the marketplace."

Clein + Walker continues to work with such producers as Ed Pressman, Mark Canton, ShadowCatcher Entertainment and animation studio Klasky Csupo.

Walker will be involved in the film version of the Off Broadway hit "R&J" that Clein is co-producing, and in the Off Broadway production of Rob Nash's "Freshman Year Sucks," the one-man comedy that Clein is developing with New York talent manager T. Harding Jones.