HBO PR Vet Mara Mikialian to Depart After 36 Years

By Will Thorne

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Veteran HBO public relations executive Mara Mikialian is leaving the premium cabler after 36 years.

Mikialian, whose position was senior vice president of media relations, led the network’s “Game of Thrones” PR efforts across all eight seasons of the mega-hit series.

She is the latest executive to depart following the management shakeup in March, when Bob Greenblatt was named WarnerMedia Entertainment chairman, prompting the exit of longtime HBO CEO Richard Plepler. The news also comes as WarnerMedia merges its communications departments under Kevin Brockman, who joined WarnerMedia after a lengthy stint at Disney in May. Mikialian’s fellow HBO vet Nancy Lesser, to whom she previously reported, also left the company in October.

Mikialian’s lengthy HBO career began in the early days of the network’s original programming, when she
handled strategic planning and publicity campaigns for numerous projects such as “
Not Necessarily the News,” “Dream On”
and “
1st and Ten.”

As the cable network grew into a premium powerhouse, Mikialian continued to spearhead its media outreach, overseeing the campaigns for a whole host of hit shows and movies “
Band of Brothers,” “From the Earth to the Moon,” “Six Feet Under,” “True Blood,” “The Pacific,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Our Boys,” “The Young Pope,” “My Brilliant Friend” and “My Dinner with Hervé.” Her most recent role had her in charge of overseeing publicity campaigns for HBO series, specials, limited series and movies.

Mikialian started her PR career in the music industry. While studying public relations and communications at USC, she worked in the PR departments for various record labels, including Elektra/Asylum and Epic Records. Her transition to television came in 1983 when she joined HBO.