Hollywood Veteran Jim Berk to Replace Rabbi Marvin Hier as Head of Simon Wiesenthal Center

Veteran Hollywood producer Jim Berk will succeed Rabbi Marvin Hier as CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) beginning January 1, 2024.

“Selecting an individual to follow a leader of international stature who has shepherded the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s mission for nearly half a century has been an extraordinarily challenging task, one we have embraced with care and thoughtful deliberation,” Dawn Arnall Aaron, Chair of SWC’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “After a nearly yearlong global search, we are privileged and delighted to welcome Jim Berk to follow in the footsteps of Rabbi Marvin Hier, leading the Simon Wiesenthal Center into the next generation of its service.”

Berk’s career began in education, with a pivot to entertainment and charity over the years. Berk started as a music teacher at Carson High School. He founded the Hamilton High School Academy of Music in 1986 and became principal in 1989.

Berk was the founding executive director of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Foundation and a former CEO and President of Hard Rock Cafe International. Berk was the CEO of Participant Media from 2006-2015, which during that time span produced acclaimed films “An Inconvenient Truth,” “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “The Help” and “Spotlight.” Berk also was CEO of PodcastOne/Courtside entertainment from 2016-2018, the production distributor behind some of the most downloaded podcasts.

Part of leading the SWC will entail leading Moriah Films, the two-time Academy Award-winning film arm of the SWC—they won Best Documentary for “Genocide” in 1981 and “The Long Way Home” in 1997.

In addition, as CEO of the SWC, Berk will oversee The Museum of Tolerance Los Angeles, which is the educational arm of the SWC, as well as the continued development of the The Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem.

SWC reaffirmed that Berk will continue the organization’s mission of confronting anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism, while standing with Israel and teaching the lessons of the Holocaust for future generations. Berk’s responsibilities will also encompass Canada’s Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, and SWC offices worldwide, from New York to Chicago, to Buenos Aires.

Hier spoke with the Journal earlier this year about handing the SWC reigns to a successor.

“I will train the person —whoever succeeds me, I’ll give them advice on what the history of our institution is about,” Hier told the Journal. “With my experience in this field, I would tell them the best thing is you have to speak to everybody.”

This transition comes at a perilous time for the Jewish community in the wake of the Hamas attacks of October 7 and the sharp rise in antisemitism.

This is a developing story.