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A massive collection of some of Hollywood’s biggest names have commended President Joe Biden for his “unshakable moral conviction” and helping to get home some of the hostages taken by Hamas in their terror attack against Israel.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer A dizzying amount of A-list Hollywood actors, comedians and entertainment executives signed an open letter to President Joe Biden on Monday, calling for the release of all hostages taken by terrorist group Hamas. Amy Schumer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Chris Rock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Katy Perry, Bradley Cooper, Justin Timberlake and more were among the highly visible figures to sign the note, launching a formal campaign called #NoHostageLeftBehind.

EXCLUSIVE: WME has expanded its executive leadership team with the appointment of Endeavor veteran Ginger Chan to the newly created position of Chief Marketing Officer.

WME is teaming with Inevitable Foundation, the non-profit helping disabled screenwriters to reach their full commercial and creative potential, on a new initiative to empower them.

Casey Bloys was about four years into his tenure as a programming executive at HBO when he was driven to champion a project that was disliked by others at the network. At first blush, the brilliantly raunchy Danny McBride comedy “Eastbound & Down” might have seemed out of place among the erudite offerings on HBO. When the series premiered in February 2009, HBO was still known for its New York-centric (“Sex and the City”) and Hollywood-set (“Entourage”) comedies. “Eastbound” revolved around Kenny Powers, a washed-up, foulmouthed, amoral former professional baseball player who heads home to North Carolina. HBO brass weren’t sure “Eastbound” fit their high-end brand. But Bloys, then the network’s young head of comedy, knew McBride had something with the show. “I truly thought and continue to think the show is funny,” Bloys says. “And it was at a point in my career where I was learning how to be an advocate for a show. How to explain to people why something is good, why we should put our name and our money behind something.”

In one of of the biggest TV showrunner agency moves in years, CAA has signed Greg Berlanti for representation in all areas.

William Earl Zack Estrin, the respected writer-producer and showrunner known for his work on Fox’s “Prison Break” and Netflix’s recent revival of “Lost in Space,” died Sept. 23 in Hermosa Beach, Calif. He was 51. Estrin’s death was confirmed Sunday by his longtime talent agency, WME. Estrin was remembered by friends and family as a versatile writer and producer who was a generous mentor to others. Estrin’s death has come as a shock to family and friends as he was known to have been in good physical health. The circumstances of Estrin’s death were not immediately clear other than he suffered a form of cardiac arrest.

Top television writer-producer Zack Estrin, known for his work as executive producer/showrunner of Lost In Space and co-executive producer on Prison Break, passed away suddenly Sept. 23 in Hermosa Beach. He was 51. Estrin, who was in good health, is believed to have died of natural causes though exact cause of death is unclear at this time.

Zack Estrin, a screenwriter and producer best known for serving as showrunner and executive producer for Netflix’s “Lost in Space” reboot, died Friday, a representative for the family said Sunday. He was 51.“Zack Estrin was our everything,” the screenwriter’s family said in a statement. “The best husband, father, son and friend.

WME announced Thursday that executives Richard Weitz and Christian Muirhead will replace Lloyd Braun as co-chairmen. Braun will exit the role he served for three years at the end of 2022.“I would like to thank Lloyd for his leadership over these past three years, navigating WME through the pandemic and setting the agency on course for its best financial year on record,” said Mark Shapiro, president of WME’s parent company Endeavor.

Richard Weitz and Christian Muirhead have been upped to co-chairmen of Endeavor’s WME talent agency, succeeding Lloyd Braun who will step down as chairman at the end of 2022 when his contract is up. Both are agency veterans, having come from the two companies that formed WME, Endeavor (Weitz) and WMA (Muirhead), and also come from different backgrounds, agenting and corporate communications, respectively. Ari Greenburg remains WME president and will now report to Weitz an Muirhead.

Meek Mill and WME are forming a strategic partnership that will focus on the next wave of cultural leaders. The collaboration between the artist and the talent agency is part of Mill’s Cultural Currency initiative that looks to expand his business while identifying and supporting his network of artists, athletes, and entertainers to better take advantage of their influence on culture and open up more opportunities for them.

EXCLUSIVE: Ashley Holland, a TV lit agent and partner at WME, is leaving the agency to join Onyx Collective, Disney’s curated content brand for creators of color and underrepresented voices. I hear her deal is still being finalized, and she will stay at WME for a few more weeks, but Holland is expected to be a senior scripted executive at Onyx.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterA media consultant claims in a new lawsuit that Endeavor stole his unsolicited ideas on how to pitch itself to Wall Street, and that his concepts are single-handedly responsible for saving the company from ruin.David Carde, who describes himself as a consultant in the media and technology sectors, alleges that in September 2019 his attorney emailed an 11-page analysis to Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and to Ari Greenburg, the president of WME. He apparently never received a response.At the time, Endeavor was making its first effort to launch an IPO.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterLindsay Aubin, Andrew Mathes, Dani Potter, and Andrew Wang have been promoted to partner in WME’s TV Scripted department, Variety has learned exclusively.Mathes started at WME in 2009, rising to the rank of coordinator in 2012 and then agent in 2013. His clients include Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, Carlton Cuse, John Legend, John Krasinski, Idris Elba, David Ayer, and Adam McKay’s HyperObject. He also led efforts to adapt podcasts into TV series, selling projects like “Limetown” to Facebook Watch, “Dirty John” at Bravo, and the upcoming “Gaslit” at Starz.Aubin started at WME in 2010, at first working as an assistant for people like Ari Emanuel, Ari Greenburg and Marc Korman.

EXCLUSIVE: The Paley Center for Media has added more heavy-hitter media and entertainment names to its ranks, appointing execs including Univision CEO Wade Davis and Spotify’s Dawn Ostroff to its Board of Trustees, and the likes of Warner Bros Television Group chairman Channing Dungey, WME president Ari Greenburg and Power creator Courtney Kemp to the nonprofit’s Los Angeles Board of Governors.

More than 22 months after thousands of scribes parted ways with their reps amid one of the biggest showdowns in recent Hollywood history,all of the town's major agencies have now made peace with the Writers Guild of America. The lone holdout, WME,has agreed to terms with the guild.

The Directors Guild has sided with the Writers Guild in the WGA’s ongoing legal battle with WME over the agency’s ownership interest in its affiliated production entity – Endeavor Content.

WME president Ari Greenburg told a federal judge today that many of the WGA’s members are afraid of their own guild. Greenburg said so in a supplemental declaration in support of the agency’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop the guild’s ongoing boycott of WME and CAA until the case goes to trial.

Patrick Hipes Executive Managing EditorDan Limerick has been promoted to chief operating officer of WME, the agency said Monday, moving up from his previous role as Head of Business Affairs at Endeavor Client Group.He will now work with Endeavor Client Group president and WME chairman Lloyd Braun and WME president Ari Greenburg to oversee all areas of the agency, business priorities and strategic initiatives.