Joanna Jordan (talent agent)


Joanna Jordan is a British businesswoman and talent agent. She is the founder and chief executive of Central Talent Booking, a talent agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York City and London.
Jordan's initial jobs were as an au pair and a junior secretary for a stockbroker in London. She began booking guests for The Word TV series and then other Channel 4 shows. Late Show with David Letterman recruited her to move to the United States to serve as the show's booker of celebrities. After working for the show between 1999 and 2005, she founded Central Talent Booking in 1999. CTB has built its business primarily by finding celebrity and human interest talent for television programs, particularly talk shows.

Early life

Born in 1966 or 1967, Jordan grew up in London in a residence near Battersea Bridge. When she was 16, Jordan departed from school after receiving a low score on the GCE Ordinal Level. She studied at the secretarial school Lucie Clayton Charm Academy.

Career

Early career

Jordan's first job was being an au pair, after which she became a junior secretary for a stockbroker in London. She served as a secretary at the Today newspaper and then became a presenter for a short while on a children's television show related to fashion on TV-am. Jordan's next job was to book guests for The Word, a Channel 4 show. Since she did an excellent job in that role, shows hosted by Clive Anderson and Ruby Wax also gave her jobs to do. Jordan also worked for Network 7 and Moviewatch. When Jordan was 27, the Late Show with David Letterman visited London for filming and requested to be put into touch with those who had the strongest networks. Jordan was mentioned, and the show asked her to relocate to the United States. She left the UK to become a talent executive for David Letterman.

Central Talent Booking

Jordan held the booker job at the Late Show with David Letterman between 1999 and 2005, after which she founded her own company, Central Talent Booking, a talent agency based in New York, in 1999. When Jordan told the Late Show with David Letterman executives of her plans to start her own company, the show offered to be CTB's first customer, which Jordan accepted.
Central Talent Booking's office initially was Jordan's Little Italy, Manhattan, apartment at the intersection of Mulberry Street and Canal Street. By 2005, CTB grew to 20 bookers working full-time—16 women and four men—and had expanded to offices in Los Angeles, New York and London. CTB booked guests for O, The Oprah Magazine, The Early Show, Weekends at the D.L., Punk'd, A&E, the Discovery Channel, and XM Satellite Radio. It began booking celebrities for Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2006. Cruise lines enlist the services of CTB to recruit celebrities to send off new ships. In 2003, Central Talent Booking signed a one-year contract with Discovery Networks U.S. where Jordan would contact celebrities she is connected to about whether they were open to taking part in any of the shows on Discovery Channel, Discovery Kids, TLC, Animal Planet, and Travel Channel.
Writing in The Guardian in 2002, journalist Emma Brockes called Jordan "one of New York's most respected talent bookers". Varietys Tatiana Siegel said in 2007 that Jordan "is considered one of the industry's premier bookers". In a 2008 article, TV Guide referred to Jordan as the "force behind" the "I'm F-ing Ben Affleck" video, and in the same article Jimmy Kimmel quipped, "I wish I'd had her in high school when I was looking for a date to the prom."

Personal life

Jordan is married and has two children. Her husband is French and in 2002 worked at Credit Suisse First Boston.