Grossman & Jack Talent’s on-camera roster will increase with the addition of new director of on-camera talent Robert Schroeder and agent Donna Simon Dunn, who join from Ford Models’ Aria Talent, which shut its doors Jan. 31 after 21 years.
Schroeder and Dunn, who officially started Feb. 1, physically moved into the Grossman & Jack’s office mid-month. Schroeder, who’d led Aria’s on-camera division for a decade, says he will bring aboard about 100 exclusive actors.
Agency owner/agent Linda Jack says the agency will go through the process of either narrowing the number of freelancers it represents or segueing into all-exclusives agency.
Schroeder fills the on-camera director’s role left vacant since the 2011 death of Mickey Grossman, Jack’s partner of five years. Schroeder will lead a department that includes agents Jess Jones and Michael McCracken, who moved to G&J last summer from Shirley Hamilton, Inc.
“Donna and I look forward to starting this new chapter,” says Schroeder. “Mickey left a strong legacy that Grossman & Jack has continued to build on. We look forward to beginning this alliance, adding our experience, our talent and client relationships to the GJT team.”
Grossman & Jack employs 14, in voiceover, print and fashion departments.
Last October, SAG’s national office named Schroeder agent of the month, calling him “knowledgable, protective of his talent, enthusiastic and caring about each of his actors’ careers.
New York-based Ford Models, Inc. entered the Chicago market in 1998 when it purchased David and Lee Talent Agency and expanded its presence when it bought Aria in the fall of 2003, making it the city’s largest talent agency at the time.
Marie Anderson, former Aria co-owner, and Katherine Tenerowitz, a former Aria fashion agent, are looking forward to being reunited with Schroeder after many years. Anderson and Tenewitz set up their Galatea Models & Management department at Grossman & Jack in 2009.
Ford started closing branches last February when it abruptly ended Milwaukee, one of the three Arlene Wilson offices it had gobbled up since 2007. Ford also shut Toronto on Jan. 31.
