Margaret Riley

Brillstein Entertainment Partners

By VARIETY STAFF

Margaret Riley has spent the last four years building a list of film and TV writer-directors at Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Clients include "CSI" series creator Anthony Zuiker; "The Interpreter" scribe Charles Randolph; "Watchmen" scribe Alex Tse; "Land of the Blind" scribe Bob Edwards; and TV scribes Michael Rymer ("Battlestar Galactica"), Jason Horwitch, Todd Robinson and the team of Susanna Fogel & Joni Lefkowitz.

Riley started in the blurb business in Chicago, found her way to AFI and cut her teeth on small indie productions. She learned the management ropes from Nick Wechsler, who hired her as an assistant and promoted her. She left to run her own firm, then brought her clients to Brillstein.

She learned a lot from the late Bernie Brillstein: "He was fearless when it came to protecting his clients. He was a great mentor and a dear friend we all miss very much."

ANTHONY ZUIKER: "She was the first person who called to meet me. I'm wearing a black turtleneck, black slacks and shoes, because I thought that was how you dressed in Hollywood. She said, 'I like your voice, I'd like to rep you, and the first thing we have to talk about is the way you dress.' Margaret taught me the business."