Howard West

Howard West, a talent manager and producer, got his start at the William Morris Agency after graduating from Long Island University with a degree in business administration, and serving in the United States Army. He worked his way up at William Morris and became a talent agent. He eventually moved to the branch's west coast offices in Los Angeles where he got involved in packaging talent for TV shows. There he met fellow William Morris agent George Shapiro. The two ultimately left the agency to start Shapiro/West Productions, where they worked as agents and producers. Their most successful venture was the critically acclaimed hit sitcom "Seinfeld," on which Shapiro served as executive producer. His work on the show earned him eight Emmy nominations and one win. He'd re-team with comedian Jerry Seinfeld again in 2004 for the TV documentary "The Seinfeld Story," and in 2010 for "The Marriage Ref," a program where celebrities take sides on viewers' marital disputes. Prior to "Seinfeld," Shapiro and West worked with the iconic oddball comic Andy Kaufman. Together the pair produced a number of the stand-up's specials including "Andy's Funhouse" and "Andy Kaufman Plays Carnegie Hall." In 1999, West and Shapiro served as executive producers on the biopic of Kaufman's life "Man on the Moon," in which West made a cameo appearance as an ABC executive baffled by Kaufman's act.