Sitrick Co

Michael S. Sitrick was more than willing to try to orchestrate this story. After all, it's what he does. Within hours of hearing that an article about his pricey public relations firm was in the works, Sitrick was on the telephone lining up satisfied clients to sing his praises.

The signs emanating from high in the Brentwood hills are unmistakable: The world's richest art institution is toiling to rehab its image. This week, the J. Paul Getty Trust's internal public relations manager -- hired little more than two years ago -- announced she was resigning. And since February, the trust has paid more than $250,000 to Sitrick and Co., a high-powered public relations firm best known for steering the prominent through times of crisis.

Michael S. Sitrick was more than willing to try to orchestrate this story. After all, it's what he does. Within hours of hearing that an article about his pricey public relations firm was in the works, Sitrick was on the telephone lining up satisfied clients to sing his praises.

As the head of the entertainment division of Sitrick and Co., a leading crisis-management public relations firm, Allan Mayer is an expert spinmeister on showbiz scandal and disaster. He's helped Rush Limbaugh deal with the fallout from revelations that he was addicted to painkillers allegedly obtained from his maid. He's been aiding R. Kelly, who is facing 21 felony counts of possessing child pornography.

The signs emanating from high in the Brentwood hills are unmistakable: The world's richest art institution is toiling to rehab its image. This week, the J. Paul Getty Trust's internal public relations manager -- hired little more than two years ago -- announced she was resigning. And since February, the trust has paid more than $250,000 to Sitrick and Co., a high-powered public relations firm best known for steering the prominent through times of crisis.

As the head of the entertainment division of Sitrick and Co., a leading crisis-management public relations firm, Allan Mayer is an expert spinmeister on showbiz scandal and disaster. He's helped Rush Limbaugh deal with the fallout from revelations that he was addicted to painkillers allegedly obtained from his maid. He's been aiding R. Kelly, who is facing 21 felony counts of possessing child pornography.

After months of headlines about abusive priests, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has engaged Sitrick & Co., a prominent and expensive public relations firm specializing in high-profile clients with big troubles.

Jeff Berg isn't the first veteran talent agent to start over. For one, his onetime arch nemesis, former Creative Artists Agency honcho Michael Ovitz, did it years ago. But at age 65, Berg, the former chairman and chief executive of International Creative Management, is one of the first to launch a new agency in the current Hollywood landscape, which has been buffeted by shifting sands and an overall retrenchment in an economically challenged entertainment...

The recent article regarding the Sitrick & Co.'s astronomical public relations fees of more than $249,620 for the Orange County bankruptcy debacle sheds an unfavorable dark shadow on fair-priced, hard-working public relations firms. I have spent the last 10 years as a public relations professional, representing financial institutions, hotels, law firms and shopping centers. Our policy is to offer value to our customers, not just billing for bucks. Please let's not judge the rest of the industry by these inflated standards.

In your July 16 profile of Michael Sitrick ["The Baron of Bad Tidings"], a so-called competing public relations executive is quoted as saying: "The high profile announcement [of Bill Koch's desire to explore the possibility of purchasing [MGM/UA] was definitely not PR's finest hour. . . . In a case like that, Koch should have been advised to approach [MGM's owner] discreetly. The whole thing laid a giant egg." In fact, from a public relations perspective, the effort was a success. In order to critique an effort or a program, one must first know--let alone understand--the objectives.

After months of headlines about abusive priests, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has engaged Sitrick & Co., a prominent and expensive public relations firm specializing in high-profile clients with big troubles.

Michael S. Sitrick was more than willing to try to orchestrate this story. After all, it's what he does. Within hours of hearing that an article about his pricey public relations firm was in the works, Sitrick was on the telephone lining up satisfied clients to sing his praises.

Michael S. Sitrick was more than willing to try to orchestrate this story. After all, it's what he does. Within hours of hearing that an article about his pricey public relations firm was in the works, Sitrick was on the telephone lining up satisfied clients to sing his praises.

Mark Saylor, a former Los Angeles Times editor who oversaw a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles on corruption in the entertainment industry, died Friday of cancer at his Pasadena home, his wife said. He was 58. Saylor, who was also a nationally ranked chess master, was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer last spring, said his wife, Nora Zamichow, a former Times staff writer. In 1998, as entertainment editor for The Times' business section, Saylor worked with reporters Chuck Philips and Michael A. Hiltzik on three major projects over one year: fundraising by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences that netted only pennies for its charity; a resurgence of radio station "payola," or illicit payoffs, for airplay of new recordings; and the preponderance of untested luxury detox programs for wealthy celebrities.

An Irvine-based consulting firm is buying two Southland consulting shops, including high-profile Century City public relations firm Sitrick and Co., which has represented a raft of bankrupt corporations and image-challenged executives. Resources Connection Inc., which was spun off as a public company from accounting giant Deloitte & Touche in 1999, said it plans to combine Sitrick and Riverside-based Brincko Associates Inc. into a subsidiary specializing in corporate advisory and restructuring services.