Mark Itkin swapped selling shows for making them — and now wants to act in them
Mark Itkin spent 34 years getting other people's shows on air. Now he wants to audition for adverts.
The former agency partner started at William Morris and later became a partner at WME. He stepped back at age 62, telling The Hollywood Reporter he was no longer having fun and could not innovate in the job. The interview was published on 16 September 2026.
His credits sit at the centre of modern unscripted television. Itkin helped bring The Real World and Deal or No Deal to air, according to the Reporter. He was also part of the early wave of foreign format imports, meaning show ideas bought from abroad and remade for the United States, including Big Brother, as reported by Variety.
Retirement did not stick. Itkin stayed in the business as a producer and board member, joining the board of UK-based Plimsoll Productions in 2020. He helped get College Bowl with Peyton Manning for NBC off the ground. He did the same for America's Test Kitchen: The Next Generation for Prime Video.
His current slate mixes television, film and theatre. He has a straight-to-series order for a Highway to Heaven reboot for Fox, meaning no pilot is shot first and the show goes directly into production. He is developing a stage project about Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, the songwriting and producing duo behind the Philadelphia soul sound.
Film is also in the mix. Itkin is involved in the Ronnie Spector biopic for A24, set to star Zendaya and written by Barry Jenkins. The film, titled Be My Baby, will be produced by Marc Platt, Adam Siegel, Itkin, Tom Shelly and Zendaya, according to Deadline.
He has even pitched his own story back to the industry. His proposed memoir title is How I Made Reality Television Sexy. About a year ago, he added acting classes to his week.
The next step is bluntly practical. He is looking for an agent to represent him as an actor. The plan is to start going out for commercial auditions.
For viewers, this means a familiar behind-the-scenes name is moving in front of the camera. The crews still get hired. The shows still get made. Only the job title has changed.
