President/CEO
COO & Sports Department Head
Director Of Appraisals
Hollywood Department Head
Executive Assistant/ Office Manager
Board Advisor
Board Advisor
Board Advisor
Board Advisor
Consulting Sports And Hollywood Memorabilia Expert
THE MEMORABILIA NETWORK
12400 VENTURA BLVD SUITE 779
STUDIO CITY, CA 91604
Harlan Werner’s career as an entrepreneur began at the age of twelve when he started buying and selling baseball cards at local card shows. As the sports collectibles industry took off, so did Harlan’s businesses and, later in life, he would eventually be nicknamed “Card boy” by George W. Bush.
Right out of high school, Werner founded Sports Placement Service Inc., a sports licensing and marketing company to market and capitalize retired athletes, and to this day, runs the agency as CEO. Loyalty and trust were and remain the cornerstones of the business.
Dubbed the “Heavyweight of hustle” by the Los Angeles Times, by the age of twenty, Werner was booking legendary athletes for appearances. Muhammad Ali and wife Lonnie entrusted him at a young age to help market and reintroduce Ali to a corporate market place, both domestically and internationally. His loyalty and friendship with Ali never waned and Werner would eventually serve as an honorary pallbearer at his memorial. In fact, it was at the urging of Muhammad Ali and wife Lonnie that Harlan began working with Mike Tyson. They saw that he was having a rough time and thought Werner could help him. Werner did and was responsible for the redemption of Mike Tyson.Werner executive produced the movie “Tyson” and consulted on”One Night in Vegas” for ESPN’s 30 for 30 series. He was also instrumental in Tyson being castin “The Hangover.”
Werner has since represented some of sports most iconic legends including Jim Brown, Roy Campanella, and Don Drysdale.Werner is currently doing work for Sandy Koufax, Joe Namath, John Riggins, Fernando Valenzuela, Clayton Kershaw and Kershaw’s Challenge,the estate of Sonny Liston,and the estate of Howard Bingham.Werner is also in pre-production for a docu-series about Howard Bingham’s life, working alongside director Alfonso Cuaron and producer Riccardo Romani. Over the past five years, Werner has created and made deals with Sylvester Stallone, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Kevin Costner, Alden Ehrenreich,and Teri Hatcher.
Werner remains a long-time sports memorabilia collector and dealer as a partner and founder of Art of the Game, a chain of high-end collectible stores inside of arenas and stadiums. He has consulted on or handled the sale of many pieces of iconic pop culture memorabilia including; the sale of a Honus Wagner T206, 1927 New York Yankees World Series ring and team signed photo, the World Series rings of Del Webb, the shoes that Muhammad Ali wore in the epic first Frazier fight, a Babe Ruth game worn jersey, the original artwork of Andy Warhol and Leroy Neiman, and countless others.
A lifetime of putting clients’ interests before his own, the respect and relationship with the people Werner works with and for is paramount. Seeing his clients succeed and receive proper recognition for their efforts means everything.Werner remains extremely loyal to his clients, and chooses to do business with those whom he feels transcend their respective sport because of their personality, character, and charisma. He continues to represent a distinguished and prominent group of the world’s most famous and iconic legends of the game.
In 2021 Werner took the next step in his storied career by founding The Memorabilia Network. The company has long been his ultimate vision for the best way to serve the industry and the clients therein. Under Werner’s direction, The Memorabilia Network will be the place where truly “the collectors are the stars.”
Mike’s complete adult career has been immersed in pop culture. Mike appeared for 10 seasons as an on-air appraiser of sports, entertainment, pop culture & general collectibles on the PBS series Antiques Roadshow. After being employed at CBS TV, Universal Studios & ABC TV, it gave Mike a strong foundation in the entertainment world, working his way up as a television executive for Dramatic Series Development, creating series ideas with writers, directors & producers. Mike retains some of his longtime contacts which helped result in the handling of Sylvester Stallone’s movie memorabilia collection, “STALLONE – THE AUCTION.”
As early as the late 1960s, Mike began buying, playing, trading & selling “old” guitars before the business eventually blossomed into the “vintage guitar” business. This groundwork plus his auction background gave him the opportunity to become Consignment Director for Heritage Auctions Vintage Guitar department for 10 years.
Collecting sports memorabilia since his first card show in 1979 had grown to such a passion that Mike switched into the sports memorabilia business and has since coupled sports, entertainment & musical instruments into his expertise. Mike also started his own auction company, Mike Gutierrez Auctions, and ran it successfully for 10 years. Along the way, Mike has appraised some important collections & authenticated autographs for PSA & JSA. Since Joining Heritage Auctions in 2006, Mike brought in numerous auction highlights in other areas such as coins, jewelry, movie posters, silver, watches, animation art & wine.
It is with this solid background in entertainment, sports memorabilia, musical instruments, auctions, consulting, authentication, as well as with USPAP accredited appraisal services, that Mike was welcomed in the role of Consulting Sports and Pop Culture Expert, at The Memorabilia Network.
David Elkouby is one of the top players on the Hollywood movie memorabilia scene and owns The Hollywood Show, one of the best and longest running pop culture conventions in the country that specializes in celebrity autographs and one-of-a-kind TV and movie cast reunions.
David began collecting autographs as a young boy when he was star struck meeting John Wayne at just 8 years old. This experience subsequently led to a career as a celebrity photographer. Over the next dozen years, he sold pictures to various publications including People, Time, The National Enquirer, Rolling Stone, along with numerous other outlets. He has photographed hundreds of celebrities including Michael Jackson, Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor to name a few.
In 1983, he opened Starworld, his first storefront on Hollywood Boulevard. There he specialized in selling and buying movie and music memorabilia. Starworld also provided an extensive collection of Hollywood photos, posters, film props/costumes. Over the next 10 years, he opened 3 additional storefront locations in Westwood, Santa Monica, and Beverly Hills.
His years of experience and expertise made him the “go to” man for Hollywood memorabilia. He was one of the largest suppliers of hundreds of collectibles to over 120 Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Café’s around the world as well as all the major auction houses including Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams, Julien’s, Profiles in History and more.
David continues to be an avid collector himself. In the past, he has acquired items including the Wizard of Oz ruby slippers, Bruce Lee’s jumpsuit worn in Games of Death, 1 of only 2 known fully signed Beatles guitars, Elvis Presley’s Directors chair, Marilyn Monroe’s wedding ring, John Lennon’s famous horn rimmed glasses and the original 1960’s television Batman and Robin costumes.
In 2008, he and his wife Ester purchased the Hollywood Show, a pop culture convention. They currently produce and manage this highly anticipated event that is a collector and autograph fans dream. It is host to an extensive cross-section of talent ranging from Richard Dreyfuss, Linda Blair and Bo Derek to Dick Van Dyke, William Shatner and legions more.
In 2022, David was welcomed to The Memorabilia Network as Hollywood Department Head.
After many years of successful agency, freelance and in-house public relations and marketing work in the fields of fashion, beauty and luxury spirits, Britt Johnson founded Mediaplacement Entertainment Incorporated in September 1998.
Mediaplacement was established with Mr. Johnson’s vision of providing consumer brands with creative ways to reach their consumers by utilizing various entertainment platforms. Disciplines include Product Placement & Brand Integration (film, television, cable and OTT), Public Relations, Special Events, Talent Influencer Endorsements and Partnerships. Early clients included: Smashbox Cosmetics, Donna Karan, Prada, Neutrogena, Safilo USA, Luxottica, Johnson & Johnson, HBO, CNBC and LVMH.
Mediaplacement has grown to become one of the premiere marketing firms in the entertainment industry with an enviable reputation in fashion, beauty and luxury spirits. Current clients include; Diageo, Enterprise Holdings, Kahala Brands, UPPAbaby, Revlonand HBO. The boutique style Mediaplacement created allows Mr. Johnson to work closely with each of his clients and oversee all creative programs. He is very involved in daily client management and personally oversees the Diageo and Revlon accounts.
Mr. Johnson’s contributions to his clients represent a major success story that has spanned more than 20 years.
Dennis Gilbert is President and founder of The Gilbert Group, a preeminent resource for serving high-net worth individuals and families across sports, entertainment, and business. He consistently ranks in the top 1% of life insurance professionals nationwide in the United States.
Dennis began his career as a minor league baseball player, after which he pursued a career in life insurance and taught continuing education estate planning to members of the CPA Society in the State of California. These CPAs, who were primarily entertainment business managers, gave Dennis entry into the Hollywood community through which he acquired an A-list, entertainment industry clientele.
Dennis excelled at developing life insurance policies and creating wealth protection, and he knew these skills could help professionals and their families achieve better financial success. As his insurance business continued to thrive, he took on an additional career as a sports agent. Dennis broke contract records and had a big influence in transforming the salary structure of professional baseball forever.
As baseball’s leading agent, Dennis set new standards for creating player contracts. He personally negotiated over 1,000 contracts, broke salary barriers and achieved unprecedented contractual success for players such as Jose Canseco, Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds, George Brett, Ricky Henderson, and Mike Piazza
In 2000, Dennis returned his focus full-time to life insurance and estate planning strategies. Today he leads The Gilbert Group and continues to teach educational workshops to high-end financial, legal and accounting organizations.
Regina is highly skilled in achieving excellent fundraising success for a diverse array of clients, from global charities to innovative start-ups. Regina has advised nonprofit institutions, foundations, and corporations on their development strategies and donor cultivation. Regina has a deep understanding of generating critical revenue sources through creative, strategic partnerships, board development, individual giving campaigns, major gifts initiatives, and events. Always results-oriented, she has conceived, produced, and fully executed event concepts around award-winning TV shows and Films, poker tournaments, conferences, and galas that have generated millions of dollars in revenue for various nonprofit organizations.
Regina served as Chief Development Officer at the Geffen Playhouse, Director of Partnerships of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, and as International Project Director for the Museum of Tolerance. Regina has consulted for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Water.org, Eastern Congo Initiative, Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, amfAR, Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation, The Clippers Foundation, Kershaw’s Challenge, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Kevin Love Fund, Headspace, College Track LA, Universal Music Group, Chris Paul Family Foundation, NBPA, The DEA Educational Foundation, Born This WayFoundation and the Clinton Foundation. She currently proudly serves as Executive Director for Ava DuVernay’s social impact/nonprofit, ARRAY Alliance.
While perhaps not well known to the standard hobbyist, longtime dealers, players, and agents will tell you, Harry Bryant is one of the most respected persons in the sports memorabilia industry.
In his capacity as the lead signing agent for the player relations department of the Score Board Inc. from 1989 to 1997 as well as in his own business ventures, Harry has personally witnessed over 3 million autographs signed in person, which may even be a conservative number The veritable who’s who list includes names such as Muhammad Ali, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Nolan Ryan, Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team, as well 24 members of Baseball’s exclusive 500 Home Run club, 18 Perfect Game pitchers and 21 members of Baseball’s 3,000 hit club.
Starting in late 2014, and ending in January of 2020, Harry helped the owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises launch Graceland Authenticated and Graceland Authenticated Auctions. Working closely with the Graceland archives department enabled the unprecedented authentication of Elvis Presley artifacts from consignors around the world and gave peace of mind to the Elvis collectors purchasing the items.
In 2022, Harry was welcomed to The Memorabilia Network as a consulting Sports and Hollywood Memorabilia expert.
Tim Mead spent over four decades in baseball, 40 years with the Los Angeles Angels, and two years as President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Mead became the seventh President of the Hall on June 24, 2019. Prior to joining the Baseball Hall of Fame, Mead spent his entire baseball career with the Los Angeles Angels organization, including his final 22 years as the team’s Vice President of Communications. In that role, Mead oversaw the team’s media relations, publicity and broadcasting operations. Immediately prior, he served as Angels’ Assistant General Manager from 1994-97. Mead, who began his career as an intern in the Angels’ Public Relations department in 1980, was appointed Director of Media Relations in 1985 and assumed the role of Assistant Vice President of Media Relations in 1991. During his tenure in Media Relations, Mead and his staff were responsible for the handling of media during the Angels’ 1986, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2014 postseason appearances, the 1989 and 2010 All-Star Games at Angel Stadium and the Angels’ 2002 World Series Championship season. Mead was the 2000 recipient of the prestigious Robert O. Fishel Award for Public Relations Excellence, awarded annually by Major League Baseball to an industry executive who excels in promoting the game. He was also honored in 2005 with the first Distinguished Alumnus Award for Athletics by his alma mater, California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. In 2012, Mead was recognized by the American Diabetes Association and the Orange County Father’s Day Council as one of four Father of the Year recipients, an award bestowed to 100 men from across the nation who portray and epitomize family, citizenship, charity, civility and responsibility in their everyday lives. Born in Athens, Greece, Mead is a 1980 graduate of Cal Poly in Pomona, Calif., with a Bachelor of Science degree in communications. A dedicated member of the Southern California community over the past four decades, he has served on the board of directors for the Ronald McDonald House in Orange, Calif., and assisted numerous charitable groups and programs, including Amigos de los Niños, the Sunburst Youth Academy and the Gang Reduction Intervention Program (GRIP). Mead continues to serve on the advisory committee for the sports management program at Long Beach State University. He and his wife Carole have one son, Brandon and two grandchildren, Logan and Lana.
