Mary Pender is an agent in the Literary Media Department at WME, based in the agency’s New York office, where she represents authors and other intellectual property for adaptation to film, television, stage and podcasts, and works with writers who want to move into screenwriting and producing.

Her projects include RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE for Amazon MGM Studios and Berlanti-Schechter Films, adapted from Casey McQuiston’s novel; THE HATE U GIVE and ON THE COME UP, from the novels by Angie Thomas; PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION, the first Emily Henry adaptation, released by Netflix in January 2026; NUREMBERG, adapted from Jack El-Hai’s THE NAZI AND THE PSYCHIATRIST, written and directed by James Vanderbilt and starring Rami Malek and Russell Crowe; UNPREGNANT; and OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS.

Pender joined WME in 2024 after nine years as a media rights agent at United Talent Agency, where her clients included Angie Thomas, Dhonielle Clayton and her packaging company Cake Literary, Casey McQuiston and Emily Henry. She began her career as a journalist before spending a decade at Maria B. Campbell Associates as a literary scout for Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Bros. Television, Horizon and several international publishers, and held an earlier role in WME’s Book Department. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

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