6 The CIA in Hollywood
Table I.1. Recent Directors of the CIA and the Public Affairs Office Directors of Central Intelligence (DCI) and Directors of the CIA (D/CIA)
Corresponding Director of Public Affairs
Corresponding Entertainment Industry Liaison Officer
Robert Gates 1991–1993
Gary Foster
None/responsibilities shared among the media relations team
James Woolsey 1993–1995
Kent Harrington
None/responsibilities shared among the media relations team
John Deutch 1995–1996
Dennis Boxx
Chase Brandon (hired in 1996)
George Tenet 1997–2004
Bill Harlow
Chase Brandon
Porter Goss 2004–2006
Jennifer Millerwise
Chase Brandon
Michael Hayden 2006–2009
Mark Mansfield
Brandon (left in 2007)/Paul Barry (2007–8)
Leon Panetta 2009–2011
Paul Gimigliano/ George Little
Position remains open/responsibilities shared among the media relations staff
David Petraeus
TBD
Position remains open/responsibilities shared among the media relations staff
although the position of entertainment liaison remained open as of the writing of this book.
The CIA in Hollywood during the Cold War Because the CIA did not hire its first entertainment liaison until 1996, many have assumed that it was completely inactive in the film industry during the Cold War. This assumption is incorrect, as other Agency employees did work with filmmakers to carry out covert operations and propaganda campaigns. For example, Hugh Wilford explains in TheMighty Wurlitzer that the CIA was very interested in Hollywood during the Cold War because it believed films were the best medium through which to communicate pro-democratic messages in countries where illiteracy rates
