..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

In Tribute To Warren Cowan
by Valerie Van Galder

In 1983, I was an english major at UCLA with little ambition and even less idea of what I would do with my life. In fact, I proudly sported a button reading "I don't know what I'm going to do when I graduate," because a diploma in English pointed to no obvious career path.

One day I was at the beach, reading a novel. The main character (I believe her name may have been Stevie Tree, classy stuff) went to a place called Rogers and Cowan to pick up her headshots. I had no idea what Rogers and Cowan was, but the name stuck in my head as someplace where celebrities must congregate. A few weeks later a friend from USC told me he had become an intern at none other than Rogers and Cowan. I blurted out, "Hey, I want to be an intern too."

(An aside, my parents, concerned that their oldest daughter was on her way to being a good for nothing had been pestering me to get an internship. Since I had no idea what I wanted to be, exactly where that internship should take place eluded me).

In any case, I tagged along with my friend to Rogers and Cowan and so began my career in the entertainment industry. I met a woman called Lori Bedrosian who worked in the music dept and she asked me if I'd like to work for her.

Of course!

What no one knew for a few months was that I hadn't applied for the internship, or filled out the proper forms, and I wasn't getting school credit or any sort of payment. I was just so intoxicated by the atmosphere that I showed up there every day after school in order to sit on the floor Xeroxing and compiling Julio Iglesias press kits.

I was eventually discovered by the intern coordinator and I persuaded her to let me stay despite her consternation at my interloping behavior. The end of the school year eventually rolled around and I had successfully made myself a fixture in the office (mainly by learning every menial task including operating the ancient teletype machine...it was a long, long time ago).

One day a woman named Sonia Stathes asked me if I wanted to fill in for Danny Kaye's assistant for the summer. Mr. Kaye was one of Warren's favorite clients. I spent the summer finishing my degree, watching The Olympics, and opening his mail. It was a wonderful experience.

Once I had my diploma, the only thing I wanted was to get back to that office on Beford Drive. It was my fondest dream to actually be an employee of this venerable agency. I was hired for the only position available, working as an assistant to the head of accounting. I spent most of my day typing balance sheets while he smoked in my face. But, I was undeterred. Rogers and Cowan was where I wanted to be. It didn't matter which department.

I eventually found my way to the desk of Ronni Chasen who ran the film division. We handled movies like Cocoon and Baby Boom and I loved it.

But, beyond loving the excitement of film premieres and movie sets, I so admired Warren and his partner Henry Rogers and was so proud to be part of their organization. I learned so much during my five years. One of the first things Henry taught me was never to come into my boss's office without a pen and paper, a lesson I remember to this day.

I left in 1989 and since then, Warren never failed to send me a note in his beautiful handwriting when anything noteworthy happened in my career. I was always so touched that he remembered the uninvited intern over all those years.

He was a legend and I feel honored to have known him. My colleagues tease me about my tendency to reflect back on experiences from the past, but I believe that it is so important to remember the people who helped shape us and the history of our industry. I hope Warren is somewhere with his old friends. He will always be remembered and will forever be missed.

- Valerie Van Galder
May 15, 2008

Ms. Van Galder is president of domestic marketing at the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group

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