Longtime Hollywood publicity firm Baker Winokur Ryder (BWR) will be dissolved into parent company Burson Cohn & Wolf (BCW) after 33 years in business, BCW announced on Thursday.
In their statement, BCW said that several factors, including “the tremendous impact COVID-19 has had on the entertainment industry,” played into the decision to combine BWR into BCW Entertainment.
“While several of our BWR colleagues remain with BCW in Los Angeles and New York to oversee key client business, sadly we have had to say goodbye to other members of the BWR team,” the statement read. “We are incredibly grateful to them for all of their contributions to BWR and the BCW Group, and we will be providing support to them during their transition.”
Founded by publicists Paul Baker, Larry Winokur and Nanci Ryder in 1987, BWR’s current client list includes stars like Anna Anthony Anderson, Adam Sandler, Matt LeBlanc, Marcia Gay Harden, Garrett Hedlund, Zoe Saldana, and Connie Britton. Sources have told TheWrap that some of the senior publicists leaving BWR will form their own firm, a move that other BWR alums have done in recent years with the creation of firms such as Imprint PR and Vision PR. The remaining BWR staff is expected to be fully integrated into BCW Entertainment by the end of next week.
