After over three decades as a prominent motion picture talent agent in Hollywood, Risa Gertner has announced she will officially be retiring from Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Jan. 2024.
Gertner has spent the past 27 years at CAA, serving in various leadership roles including on the company’s Board of Directors and as co-head of the Motion Picture Group for 20 years.
Throughout her prolific career, Gertner represented and worked closely with a roster of high-profile directors and writers such as Tony Gilroy, Barry Jenkins, Kenya Barris, Ron Howard and Simon Kinberg, among many others. She played a key role guiding the careers of these and other commercially successful storytellers who have shaped pop culture for decades.
Beyond her work with individual creators and filmmakers, Gertner also made a large impact on CAA itself. She was instrumental in hiring and mentoring agents across the Motion Picture Literary Department, including talent agents like Maha Dakhil, Todd Feldman, Joel Lubin, Dan Rabinow and Ida Ziniti.
“I am profoundly grateful to have worked with artists whose brilliance and creativity has shaped popular culture for decades,” said Gertner in a statement. “And to have done so surrounded by the most inspired and passionate colleagues has been a gift.”
CAA Co-Chairman Richard Lovett added, “Risa is a world-class agent and leader. She has not only been a guiding force in the motion picture department, hiring and mentoring great agents and executives, but has impacted our entire company. We are forever grateful.”
Outside of her entertainment industry work, Risa Gertner serves on the boards of Providence St. John’s Health Center and the private equity firm Broad Sky Partners. She also previously sat on the board for Communities in Schools of Los Angeles.
