The Sussex squad: a guide to Harry and Meghan’s Hollywood dream team
The Sussexes’ have spent the last year creating a new life for themselves in California and now it’s official: Harry and Meghan won’t be returning as working members of the Royal Family.
They have confirmed to the Queen that, after the agreed twelve-month review, they are stepping down permanently.
Of course, it’s no huge surprise. Harry and Meghan have been busily carving out new careers for themselves ever since the move to the US with a reported $100 million Netflix deal, as well as a multi-million dollar podcast, Archewell Audio, with Spotify. The pair have also unveiled a new foundation called Archewell and Meghan has become a private investor in wellness brand Clevr Blends.
A career makeover of this magnitude calls for a whole new power squad to help guide them through it. Among their big hires over the last year, the Duke and Duchess employed the services of former Pinterest communications chief Christine Schirmer to lead their public relations team alongside Hollywood PR firm Sunshine Sachs.
Former Bill Gates staffer (and friend of the Trudeaus) Catherine St-Laurent also joined the squad last year as Chief of Staff for Archewell, but a reshuffle is now underway following her announcement that she’ll be stepping down after 12 months to set up her own social impact firm.
Sources say the Canadian communications exec will continue to provide “daily guidance and support” for Archewell in a senior advisory role, while James Holt (currently the Sussexes’ comms guy in the UK) will step up as Executive Director of the Archewell Foundation - could this leave room for another big hitter at the top of the squad?
Meanwhile, new hire Ben Browning - the producer for Emerald Fennell’s new Oscar-nominated film Promising Young Woman - joins the squad as Head of Content for their production company, heading up the other two divisions of the company: Archewell Productions and Archewell Audio. New Yorker Toya Holness, their media relations spokeswoman in California, steps up to the role of Archewell’s global press secretary.
From their hot-shot business mastermind to the Duchess’ longtime power lawyer, meet the Sussex’s Hollywood dream team.
Christine Schirmer
Role: Head of communications
USP: Former Pinterest exec who studied at the same university as the Duchess of Sussex.
Background: Before joining the Sussexes in California, Schirmer worked as head of communications for image-sharing platform Pinterest in San Francisco’s Silicon Valley. She had been in charge of the site’s communications since 2017 and left the company in July.
The English and French-speaking media executive previously studied journalism at Northwestern University - the same US university as Meghan Markle - and has since worked as corporate communications manager at Apple and in communications at a San Francisco-based marketing company called Digg.
On her LinkedIn page, Schirmer, 42, describes how she loves “building teams, learning new things and making the conversation interesting”.
A publicist who knows her told the Daily Mail: “Christine is the real deal. She’s widely respected in the industry as one of the best and smartest there is. And through her work with Pinterest and other tech companies she is the perfect person to launch a global brand.”
Toya Holness
Role: Global press secretary
USP: Ex-footballer who used worked for New York’s education department.
Background: Before joining the Sussexes in October, Holness’ last role was as director of corporate communications and marketing for Deluxe, a video creation company in Los Angeles. A former footballer, she previously worked for the New York City’s Department of Education.
“I get to help people tell their stories for a living,” she writes in the bio for her private Twitter account, where she describes herself as “she/her/hers” and uses the hashtag #Fighton.
Her private Instagram account has more than 800 followers with a simple bio reading: “And in this moment, I swear we are infinite” with emojis of a key, anchor and four-leaf clover.
She now becomes global press secretary, following St-Laurent’s stepping down, and will oversee Holt’s former UK press duties.
James Holt
Role: Executive Director of the Archewell Foundation
USP: London-based political PR guru with an interest in diversity and charitable giving.
Background: Holt started his role as the Sussexes’ UK head of engagement and communications in September, having previously worked in political PR for the Cabinet Office, Liberal Democrats and 10 Downing Street, then as senior communications office for The Royal Foundation. Following St-Laurent’s departure, he’ll now take over as executive director - and presumably relocate to Hollywood from his home in Clapham.
Holt graduated in journalism at the University of Lincoln in 2003 describes himself on Twitter as an “occasional runner” and “regular volunteer” (he volunteered as director of communications for Pride in London from 2016-2017).
Ben Browning
Role: Head of Content for Archewell Productions and Archewell Audio
USP: Indie film producer behind current Oscar nominee Promising Young Woman
Background: Browning is no stranger to working with big names. This year the award-winning film producer has been nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and PGA Award for his work producing Emerald Fennell’s new film Promising Young Woman, starring Carey Mulligan. His work also includes the HBO limited series I Know This Much Is True starring Mark Ruffalo.
In his new role with the Sussexes, he is expected to work closely with Netflix and Spotify as part of the Sussexes’ production deals, which he notes will have “unparalleled global reach”.
“From the moment they shared their vision for Archewell as a global production company that will spotlight diverse voices and share uplifting stories, I knew I wanted to help with this unique opportunity,” Browning said this week in a statement. “It’s a thrilling company to be starting.”
Catherine St-Laurent
Role: Senior adviser for Archewell
USP: Yoga-loving Canadian communications exec who’s pals with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and used to work or Bill and Melinda Gates.
Background: St-Laurent previously worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and landed the job of Chief of Staff in April. She also served as Executive Director of the Sussexes non-profit organisation Archewell, but has now stepped down to launch her own social impact firm. She’ll stay on at Archewell in an ‘advisory’ role.
According to LinkedIn, the English and French-speaking Montreal-native is based in Seattle, Washington and describes herself as a “global, multilingual executive with over 15 years of experience across multiple sectors and geographies”. It is understood she met the Duke and Duchess of Sussex through their Canadian connections including the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie.
Having worked for the Gates foundation, St-Laurent became director of communications and then director of brand and special initiatives for Pivotal Ventures, an investment organisation set up by Melinda Gates. The company supported partners advancing progress for women and families in America – a cause close to Meghan’s heart.
Before this, she was based in London and Brussels, working at HSBC and sports consultancy Vero Communications where she worked on successful international campaigns including Rio’s bid to host the 2016 Games, PyeongChang’s bid to host the 2018 Games, and the International Rugby Union’s bid for re-inclusion of Sevens in the Olympic program.
According to her private Twitter account, she has two children and enjoys travelling, spinning and yoga - another of The Duchess’ keenest passions.
Nick Collins
Role: Agent
USP: Meghan’s former talent agent.
Background: Collins, Co-Head of Talent at Beverly Hills-based talent agency Gersh, used to represent Meghan in her Suits days and attended her wedding to Harry in 2018. The agency represents clients including Kirsten Stewart, Adam Driver and Jamie Foxx. Collins has personally represented a roster of A-listers from Taylor Kinney to Mandy Moore.
His role for the Sussexes is supposedly to negotiate film and TV offers such as their £112 million deal with Netflix, as well as philanthropic opportunities. A source told the Daily Mail earlier this year: “Collins has been keeping Meghan in the loop on offers from networks and filmmakers with a view to using those opportunities in the future.
"Meghan and Harry see themselves moving towards TV, multi-media and social media platforms and want to produce thought-provoking content designed to highlight their causes. They have been pondering for a long time what their next move will be.
“And it became abundantly clear that Meghan and Harry felt that working alongside technology giants and Hollywood studios and creating their own media projects was a natural fit.”
Andrew Meyer
Role: Business manager
USP: Hollywood business mastermind behind the renewal of Meghan’s lifestyle website The Tig.
Background: Meyer, who runs Beverly Hills-based business management firm Freemark Financial, is reportedly the mastermind behind the Duchess’ business endeavours - it was he who filed to renew the trademark for Meghan’s lifestyle site The Tig in September last year.
Over the years, Meyer’s clients have included Ellen Pompeo, Anna Kendrick and Alexander Skarsgard and he was named one of Variety’s ‘elite’ business managers for 2020.
Meyer told Variety last week that he finds clients introspective in their strategies, “whether that be real estate projects that they are working on or ethically based investing.”
The certified public accountant lives with his wife Stephanie in a six-bed, $6million mansion in LA’s Holmby Hills.
Rick Genow
Role: Lawyer
USP: Ben Kingsley’s power attorney helping the Duchess with her legal affairs
Background: Harvard graduate Genow has long been one of the top attorneys in Hollywood - he is a founding partner of California law firm Stone, Genow, Smelkinson, Binder & Christopher and he’s represented actors including Sir Ben Kingsley and Greg Kinnear.
Power lawyer Genow has long been an adviser of the Duchess and is believed to have been kept on behind-the-scenes to help handle her legal affairs.
