Jerry Kalajian Dies: Intellectual Property Group Partner Was 68
Literary manager Jerry Kalajian, a partner at Intellectual Property Group, has died aged 68.
Kalajian was responsible for a number of film and TV adaptations of books including Life of Pi, Big Little Lies, The Dry and The Book Thief. He died of cancer at Scripps Mercy Hospital.
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Kalajian was an agent, manager, and producer and represented a number of preeminent producers, directors, literary talent, and screenwriters.
Born in the Detroit area, Kalajian moved to Los Angeles in 1974, working as a waiter before earning his first position at the Diamond Talent Agency with Abby Greshler. He then went on to become a talent agent at Herb Tobias & Associates and APA/Agency for the Performing Arts. After APA, Jerry formed a partnership and new literary agency, Becsey, Wisdom, Kalajian. Then, Jerry, Larry Becsey, and Joel Gotler joined forces to do business as Intellectual Property Group and have worked together for 20 years under that banner, along with partners Leslie Conliffe and Brian Lipson.
He was a frequent visitor to Sydney as well as the London Book Fair, TIFF, Cannes, and many other festivals.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday October 15. In lieu of flowers, IPG requests that donations be sent to Scripps Health Foundation In Support Of Scripps MD Anderson Prebys Cancer Center.
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