PA to the stars Merryl Futerman speaks to Executive PA Magazine about one of her clients - Julian Clary by Cath Janes

When you chat to Merryl Futerman about her career it’s hard to not let your eyes widen. It sounds like the sort of scenario that you’d find woven through a chick lit novel. Words like ‘film set’, ‘A lister’ and ‘film releases’ are dropped into the conversation and even though she is too discrete to name names it’s clear that Merryl is at home as a PA to the stars. Lucky for us, though, there’s one name that she’s happy to divulge and that’s Julian Clary, the man to whom she has been PA for the last 13 years.

“I have worked as a PA for all sorts of people,” Merryl explains, “but Julian has been the constant in my career. I came from a PR, publishing and film background and knew that I wanted to do something that didn’t feel so superficial. I wanted to take my strengths and skills and use them to look after people.”

And, what a background that was. When Merryl became a PA she was working for Corbett & Keene, a big-name entertainment PR company. She says, “The perception is that it was glamorous but the reality was long hours, not being in control, juggling the demands of actors and directors and trying to satisfy everyone all of the time. I loved organising and looking after people but the problem was that I’d get close to an actor while working with them on a film and then the project would end and they’d wave goodbye. That was when I knew I wanted a proper working relationship.”

Merryl’s moment of epiphany, as she calls it, occurred during one such project. “I was working in a field at 3am with a journalist who had come all the way from the USA to do an interview with an actress. The problem was that she decided she didn’t want to talk to us. The director was in a stew and I had a journalist that no one wanted. I thought then that there had to be something better than this.”

Meeting of minds
And there was which was when Merryl and Julian met. Merryl recalls getting a brochure made up to promote her new role as a PA and the graphic designer mentioned that he had connections with Julian. The next thing she knew she had an introduction. “I was in the right place at the right time,” Merryl remembers. “The funny thing is that I had a thousand brochures made up and still have 999 of them. All of my work just seems to come from word of mouth.”

Merryl works as Julian’s PA on a part time basis. She works from his house on Thursdays even though they speak frequently during the week and she’s also able to work remotely. However, over 13 years their relationship has evolved to the point that Merryl admits that Julian feels like family. “Our relationship is based upon mutual respect,” she says, “even though we have been through ups and downs. Our current relationship wasn’t immediate. In fact, in the early days we were more cut and dried with each other.”

To read the full interview with Merryl Futerman get the September issue of Executive PA magazine - out soon. Subscribe Now

 

 

Image courtesy of: Michi Nakao