Profiles written by J. Clara Chan, Kirsten Chuba, Ashley Cullins, Mia Galuppo, Carolyn  Giardina, Lesley Goldberg, Rebecca Keegan, Borys Kit, Pamela McClintock, Mikey O’Connell, Lacey Rose, Tatiana Siegel and Rebecca Sun

Pamela Abdy

President, MGM Motion Picture Group

On a hot streak with both Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci and Paul Thomas Anderson’s art house hit Licorice Pizza as early awards contenders, Abdy also saw Daniel Craig’s final Bond entry, No Time to Die, roll out (finally!) to solid numbers. More than a year into the job, and ahead of a pending Amazon acquisition, Abdy has helped fortify the studio with a slate featuring top talent and filmmakers like Leonardo DiCaprio, Reese Witherspoon, Darren Aronofsky and Michael B. Jordan.

What I missed about my pre-pandemic commute

“Listening to the Groove station on Sirius radio in the car, while solving work issues in my head.”

Victoria Alonso

President of Production, Marvel Studios

In September, Alonso expanded her purview to become president of physical and postproduction, visual effects and animation production for the entire superhero studio. At the same time, Marvel moved into live-action and animated series with WandaVision, (which earned an Emmy nomination), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki and Hawkeye, as well as What If …?, its first animated series. That’s on top of Alonso, who has emerged as a champion of diversity and inclusion at Marvel and the industry in general, making sure the three Marvel releases — Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings, and Eternals — and the one it co-produced, Spider-Man: No Way Home, safely completed production ahead of release.

I’d like to take a meeting with

“The pope.”

Jennifer Aniston

Actor, Producer

At the top of a long, winding hill, behind an imposing gate and an anxious dog, stands Jennifer Aniston.

“Come on in,” she says, sandaled and smiling as she ushers me into her home.

Before I’ve had time to take in the sweeping views of Los Angeles from her entryway, she’s in the kitchen whipping me up the shake that she enjoys most afternoons — with collagen peptides, antioxidants and a slew of other ingredients that she meticulously measures and pours into her blender. This is Aniston, the host, a role that her friends all say she was born to play.

“I can’t exaggerate how much she loves it, and how good she is at it,” says one of her longest and closest, Kristin Hahn, with whom Aniston and her first husband, Brad Pitt, started Plan B and, later, Echo Films. “You go to her house and everything’s warm and cozy. If it’s wintertime, there’s a fire going, the bar’s open, and dinner at Jen’s house tastes unlike any other dinner. I mean, I’ve been eating in her ‘house restaurant’ for 20 years now and I swear there’s, like, aphrodisiac in that food.”

Read the rest of The Hollywood Reporter’s cover story here.

Sarah Aubrey; Amy Gravitt; Nina Rosenstein; Francesca Orsi

Head of Original Content, HBO Max; Exec VP and Head of Comedy, HBO; Exec VP, HBO Programming; Exec VP and Head of Drama, HBO

Though the walls between HBO and streamer HBO Max seem to be blurring, it was a marquee year for the separate entities. Aubrey wraps HBO Max’s 2021 (Hacks, Made for Love, Gossip Girl) with Sex and the City follow-up And Just Like That. At HBO, Gravitt is ushering in a new comedy era with projects from Bridget Everett, Nathan Fielder, Issa Rae and Adam McKay, while Rosenstein launched Pause With Sam Jay before paving the way for Game Theory With Bomani Jones and its serious lens on the world of sports. Orsi, who picked up six Emmys this year thanks in part to Mare of Easttown, has season two of The White Lotus and Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon on deck.

Favorite book on my shelf 

AUBREY “The Matrix by Lauren Groff.”

GRAVITT “All That Is by James Salter.”

What I’m most dreading about the return to the office

ORSI “The daily COVID clearance ritual I have to go through just to enter the building.”

What I missed about my pre-pandemic commute

ROSENSTEIN “Listening to The Daily while drinking an iced espresso with too much sweet cream and morning check-ins with my kids and sisters.”

Awkwafina

Actor

2021 saw Awkwafina’s film career range from indie to tentpole, as the Crazy Rich Asians and The Farewell actress starred in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Swan Song this calendar year, along with voicework in Raya and the Last Dragon. She also put out the second season of Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens, for which she serves as executive producer. Her feature efforts don’t show any signs of slowing, with Awkwafina voicing Scuttle the seagull in yet another Disney joint — the live-ish action Little Mermaid adaptation. She also just joined Universal monster movie Renfield alongside Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult.

Gina Balian

President of Original Programming, FX Productions, FX and FXX

Overseeing FX’s scripted originals (with Nick Grad), Balian is responsible for delivering breakouts including comedy Reservation Dogs. And though recent big swings Y: The Last Man and Impeachment: American Crime Story failed to post big numbers, Balian’s forthcoming slate is as robust as ever. An update of Shogun is now in production in Vancouver. Limited series Fleishman Is in Trouble is being fronted by Jesse Eisenberg and Lizzy Caplan, while buzzy adaptation Under the Banner of Heaven brings Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones to the cable network (and, of course, Hulu).

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

“Organizations like Color of Change and projects like the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.”

Bela Bajaria

Head of Global TV, Netflix 

With the world as her remit, Bajaria has successfully transformed Netflix into a powerful global TV network. One need only look to Squid Game (Korea), Lupin (France) or Who Killed Sara? (Mexico) to appreciate the scale. Stateside, Bajaria has rolled out prestige (see Maid) and genre (Cowboy Bebop) for the streaming service’s 214 million subscribers.

My alarm goes off at “6 a.m.” and I …

“Look at my phone, get a cup of black coffee, put on my Ugg slippers to start getting kids up.”

Lorrie Bartlett, Toni Howard, Jessica Lacy, Janet Carol Norton

Agents, ICM

As the foursome prepare to be absorbed by CAA, which acquired the agency in September, their recent work has given them ample leverage. Bartlett’s top client, Regina King, signed on for two new directing gigs and one series partnership with David E. Kelley, and Howard saw actress Nathalie Emmanuel go from Fast & Furious supporting player to lead in Netflix’s Army of Thieves. Lacy brokered Apple’s Sundance acquisition of CODA for $25 million, putting the streamer in the awards conversation, while Norton remains integral to keeping below-the-line Hollywood working safely as the pandemic wears on.

Favorite book on my shelf

HOWARD “Powerhouse CAA: The Untold Story of Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency.“

I’d like to take a meeting with

BARTLETT “Angela Davis.”

NORTON “Glennon Doyle — I’m still fired up by her book Untamed.”

My alarm goes off at “5:50 a.m.” and I …

LACY “Drink 16 ounces of water and pee, box 10 rounds, drink 16 more ounces of water and pee again!”

Kristine Belson

President, Sony Pictures Animation

After sending The Mitchells vs the Machines (produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller) and the Lin-Manuel Miranda-led musical Vivo to Netflix, Belson will bow Hotel Transylvania: Transformania on Amazon in January. A return to theatrical releases comes later in 2022; a sequel to the studio’s Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (also from Lord and Miller) has its eyes on October.

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

“Rose Matafeo. If you have not seen Starstruck, please see it immediately.”

Frances Berwick; Susan Rovner

Chair, NBCUniversal Entertainment Networks; Chair of Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming

A year into her new role, Rovner has been busy mining Universal’s roster of IP, reaching out first to Seth MacFarlane for a TV adaptation of Ted and following that up with updates of Pitch Perfect and Field of Dreams while also leading NBC to a first-place finish for the 2020-21 season among total viewers and the demo. Berwick, meanwhile, has focused on leveraging the NBCU portfolio to boost originals including Young Rock, Chucky and Girls5eva.

My New Year’s resolution for Hollywood 

ROVNER “Use less data and more creative instinct.”

What I’m most dreading about the return to the office

BERWICK “That people will find out I’m a hologram.”

Carolyn Blackwood

COO, Warner Bros. Pictures Group

When the calendar turns over to 2022, Blackwood’s studio will again be releasing its big feature films exclusively in cinemas. (Sorry, HBO Max subscribers!) It’s a potentially huge slate, starting with Robert Pattinson-led The Batman in early March, before Aquaman 2 and Baz Luhrmann’s biographical drama Elvis. That’s not to say the year that’s ending didn’t have its highlights. King Richard, starring Will Smith, is considered a major awards player despite its subdued box office.

I’d like to take a meeting with

“Hoda Kotb. She seems incredibly upbeat, kind and very smart. I’d love to know how she stays so positive.”

Michelle Bohan, Esther Chang, Sharon Jackson, Elyse Scherz

Agents, WME

Scherz seems highly likely to get at least one televised awards season thank-you, having booked clients Kristen Stewart (Spencer), Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos), Rebecca Hall (Passing), Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter) on major projects — the latter with Bohan, who got Gal Gadot on Red Notice and Disney’s upcoming Snow White. Chang worked on Charlize Theron’s first-look TV deal at HBO/HBO Max and boasts the breakout music story of the year in client Olivia Rodrigo, whose album Sour minted her as a mainstream force. Jackson put Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky in Ryan Murphy’s latest American Crime Story, Jason Segel in HBO’s Lakers project and Jonah Hill in Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up before her December announcement that she’s departing the agency to manage and produce … like a growing number of agents.

Melissa Breaux, Eryn Brown, Suzan Bymel, Evelyn O’Neill

Managers, Management 360

Breaux has hot Candyman filmmaker Nia DaCosta, whom she booked as the youngest Marvel director to date with Brie Larson starrer The Marvels, while Brown, whose roster boasts Cate Shortland and Pablo Larraín, is doing pioneering work to increase employment and on-camera opportunities for disabled people as part of the intersectional 1IN4 coalition. Bymel (Michelle Pfeiffer, Anne Hathaway) helped set a company-wide agenda to amplify underrepresented voices, and O’Neill has Greta Gerwig writing and directing Barbie after minting Salma Hayek as the first Mexican Lebanese superhero in Eternals.

I’d like to take a meeting with

BYMEL “Ray Kurzweil.”

My New Year’s resolution for Hollywood

O’NEILL “Embrace originality!”

Nicole Brown

President, TriStar Pictures

When Brown took the TriStar reins in 2019, she became the first Black woman to run a live-action label at a major studio. Two years in, her stamp is evident on TriStar’s upcoming slate, including the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Matilda the Musical (co-produced by Netflix), the Viola Davis starrer The Woman King and The Nightingale, starring Dakota and Elle Fanning. Further out, the Women in Film board member is developing a film adaptation of Guys and Dolls, with Bill Condon at the helm.

What I’m most dreading about the return to the office

“Keeping my shoes on.”

Karey Burke

President, 20th Television

Since hopping from network ABC to its sister studio, Burke has seen the fruits of her labors perform in a big way as Only Murders in the Building became Hulu’s most watched original comedy series. Burke also has helped nail down key Marvel creatives for Disney, inking WandaVision’s Jac Schaeffer to an overall deal and teaming with Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton to helm American Born Chinese for Disney+. Next up will be L.A. Law for ABC and two more entries in Ryan Murphy’s American Story franchise for FX.

What I’m most dreading about the return to the office

“My co-dependent dog’s depression.”

Jane Campion

Filmmaker

An entire generation of female directors has grown up with Campion as a possibility model in the nearly 30 years since the New Zealand filmmaker became the first woman to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the second to be nominated for a directing Oscar (1993’s The Piano). With so many more women behind the camera now, Campion finally felt free, in 2021, to make her first film featuring a male protagonist, a cruel cowboy played by Benedict Cumberbatch in Netflix’s The Power of the Dog, which won the Silver Lion at Venice in September and seems poised for Oscar glory. Her next big project: launching a film school in New Zealand.

Nicole Clemens

President, Paramount TV Studios and Paramount+ Original Scripted Series 

In addition to her role as a studio chief, Clemens added Paramount+ scripted originals to her purview in May — solidifying her position as one of David Nevins’ top creative lieutenants at ever-evolving ViacomCBS. She both supplies content to third-party buyers (Amazon’s Jack Ryan, HBO Max’s Made for Love) and takes on oversight of the Star Trek franchise at Paramount+. For the latter, Clemens has been bulking up with green lights, on a TV treatment of Fatal Attraction, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies and true crime drama Happy Face from The Good Fight creators all headed to the streamer.

Favorite book on my shelf

“The Secret History by Donna Tartt.”

Melissa Cobb; Tracey Pakosta

VP, Original Animation; Head of Comedy, Netflix 

Cobb oversees the streamer’s kids’ and family entertainment, with a focus on its growing original animation output — anticipated projects include Avatar: The Last Airbender and Ava DuVernay’s Wings of Fire. Pakosta, meanwhile, leads Netflix’s comedy originals and, yes, its much-discussed stand-up (Bo Burnham’s special Inside was a massive success, as was Dave Chappelle’s controversial The Closer).

Pitch I’m tired of hearing

COBB “[Blank] but with animals.”

What I missed about my pre-pandemic commute

PAKOSTA “Carpooling a group of teenagers to school. Funny how much information you can get by pretending to listen to the radio.”

Michaela Coel

Actor, Writer

After her September Emmy speech encouraged artists to try disappearing for a while, the I May Destroy You auteur seems to be doing just that. Rumors of another BBC series from the Chewing Gum creator have thus far been rumors only, and with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever production on hold while Disney figures out its Letitia Wright situation, co-star Coel is taking a breather. Should that break bear any creative fruits, there’ll be no shortage of suitors in line to produce them with her.

Megan Colligan

President, Imax Entertainment and Executive VP, Imax Corporation 

While many cinema circuits struggle to recover, Imax is thriving thanks to its specific offering (i.e., those very, very large screens). Negotiating with studios and filmmakers competing for a place on the Imax marquee, Colligan also works closely with directors who use Imax digital cameras — as Denis Villeneuve did for Dune and Chloé Zhao did for Eternals. No Time to Die director Cary Fukunaga went a step further and filmed certain three-minute segments with Imax film cameras, lending the film its vintage look.

My alarm goes off at “6:45 a.m. ” and I …

“Make sure my world or the world isn’t melting down. Wake my kids for school. Brush my teeth.”

Kaley Cuoco

Actor, Producer

What makes a post-sitcom success story so great is that it’s so rare. Cuoco, who was TV’s highest-paid actress on The Big Bang Theory, could have easily peaked with the CBS series. But she’s followed it up with a string of shrewd moves — most notably HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, which she produced and stars in. Nine Emmy nominations later, she’s off to Iceland to film season two. That is, of course, after wrapping production on two buzzy movies: The Man From Toronto, with Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, and Meet Cute with Pete Davidson.

My alarm goes off at “5 a.m. (on workdays)” and I …

“Kiss every single pup, shower, eye cream, coffee.”

Maha Dakhil, Rachel Rusch, Tiffany Ward, Ida Ziniti

Agents, CAA

Days after Dune’s auspicious opening, Dakhil got director Denis Villeneuve’s sequel in the works, while client Mindy Kaling is returning to features to pen Legally Blonde 3; Rusch, whose comedy roster includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Hannah Waddingham and Tim Robinson, brokered James Corden’s new series (Amazon’s Mammals) and Michelle Buteau’s gig in Jennifer Lopez vehicle Marry Me. Helping lead TV at the agency, Ward got clients on Netflix’s Sweet Tooth, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building and Amazon’s The Wheel of Time, while Ziniti — who paired Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie as Ken and Barbie, with longtime client Robbie also producing the Mattel/Warner Bros. project — was involved in Scarlett Johansson’s Disney return (Tower of Terror) and put together a slew of major projects for Julia Roberts.

What I missed about my pre-pandemic commute

DAKHIL “Does anyone actually have an answer to this one?”

WARD “How much I took it for granted. I’ll never move so blithely through the world again.”

What I’m most dreading about the return to the office

RUSCH “Being terrible at small talk in the elevator.”

ZINITI “Artificially cold indoor air and the challenge of high heels.”

Julie Darmody & Christie Smith; Theresa Kang-Lowe; Nicole King & Stacy O’Neil

Managers

The ascent of the boutique management firm has been one of the biggest narratives in Hollywood during the past few years — and the women starting major enterprises are in no short supply. Darmody and Smith, who launched Rise Management in 2015, have Chris Pratt, Ego Nwodim and a very busy Lizzy Caplan. Kang-Lowe, who broke from agenting and WME during the pandemic, has A-list clients (Alfonso Cuarón, Lena Waithe, Gillian Flynn) and a producing deal at Apple. King and O’Neil, who also struck out on their own in 2020, have Linden Entertainment building its own deep bench with Margaret Qualley, Vin Diesel, Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams.

Favorite book on my shelf

(O’Neill) “Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen. I was born and raised in New Jersey, after all.”

Tonia Davis, Michelle Obama

Co-Heads, Higher Ground Productions

Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company — led by film and TV head Davis — is making the most of its rich Netflix pact, following up its Oscar-winning doc American Factory with Kevin Hart drama Fatherhood and a pipeline that includes Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci-led Worth, George C. Wolfe’s Bayard Rustin biopic, docuseries Great National Parks and the series adaptation of YA thriller Firekeeper’s Daughter. Higher Ground’s Spotify deal has spawned The Michelle Obama Podcast and Renegades: Born in the USA, with the former president and Bruce Springsteen.

Favorite book on my shelf

DAVIS “I just finished Detransition, Baby. Wish I was in a book club so we could discuss.”

Viola Davis

Actor, Producer

After wrapping up How to Get Away With Murder and landing an Oscar nom (her fourth) earlier this year for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Davis has banked roles in The Suicide Squad and The Unforgivable, alongside Sandra Bullock. She’s also in production on Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King — inspired by true events in a West African kingdom — and Showtime’s The First Lady, where she’s playing Michelle Obama — both of which she’s also producing via her JuVee Productions banner.

Ellen DeGeneres

Host, Producer

As DeGeneres nears the end of her daily TV tenure — Ellen comes to a close in 2022 after 19 seasons, until recently dominating the daytime talk landscape — she’s not slowing down in the unscripted realm, this spring inking a multiyear deal with Discovery to develop a slate of natural history specials, series and docs, starting with Endangered, set for April on Discovery+. DeGeneres also executive produces Family Game Fight!, Tig Notaro’s Drawn comedy special and Little Ellen, an upcoming HBO Max series following her 7-year-old self.

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

“The hundreds of mice that make my clothes and the tiny birds that dress me. … I’m thinking of Snow White.”

Tara Duncan

President, Freeform and Onyx Collective

The rising exec has drawn top talent — see Insecure’s Prentice Penny and Black Panther’s Ryan Coogler — to Disney’s BIPOC-focused Onyx Collective, which she officially took the reins of in May. The label has its first series coming to Hulu in 2022 with the Kerry Washington-produced legal drama Reasonable Doubt and Oprah Winfrey and Tracee Ellis Ross’ Hair Love. Duncan continues to prioritize linear programming with Freeform breakout Cruel Summer now anchoring a slate that includes Grown-ish and the upcoming Single Drunk Female and Phoebe Robinson’s Everything’s Trash.

Pitch I’m tired of hearing

“Stories that are ‘important.'”

Channing Dungey

Chair, Warner Bros. Television Group 

Under Dungey, Warner Bros. Television Group seems well positioned for when its ownership changes hands from AT&T to Discovery in 2022 — selling not just to HBO Max and network The CW but almost every platform in town. A recent feather in her cap included dominating the comedy categories at the Emmys with Ted Lasso. Co-creators on another Emmy darling, Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello of Hacks, recently signed deals at the storied studio, which also made pacts with Issa Rae, Lena Waithe and The Batman director Matt Reeves in recent months.

What I missed about my pre-pandemic commute

“The opportunity to decompress and mentally shift from work mode to mom mode.”

Ava DuVernay

Filmmaker; Founder, Array

She’s an Oscar nominee, activist and all-around industry vanguard, and DuVernay’s most notable label of late has been that of power producer. She’s got a whopping seven active TV series — including her first stab at unscripted (NBC and Peacock’s Home Sweet Home) and her latest prestige play, Netflix’s Colin in Black and White. The streamer will also be home to her first animated series (Wings of Fire) and the narrative adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste, which DuVernay is writing and directing as a feature.

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

“Queen Latifah. She’s had a career unlike any other woman in this industry, is still going strong, and her accomplishments aren’t talked about enough.”

Jessica Elbaum

President, Gloria Sanchez Productions 

Elbaum’s female-focused comedy production company boasts first-look deals with 20th Century Studios (film) and Netflix (TV), and a track record that speaks for itself. See: Emmy-nominated Dead to Me, along with Booksmart, Hustlers and Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Elbaum is also a producer on Apple TV+’s The Shrink Next Door, starring business partner Will Ferrell, and has a dizzying number of high-profile projects coming with Kristen Wiig, Kristen Bell, Awkwafina, Lena Dunham and more. Much like Ferrell, Elbaum is bullish about audiences’ appetite for comedy, offering, “I think people are tired of crying in their showers.”

Pitch I’m tired of hearing

“The female version of …”

Amy Entelis

Executive VP of Talent and Content Development, CNN Worldwide 

Over the past decade, Entelis has built CNN Films into a trailblazing label at the forefront of the documentary boom, commissioning, developing and executive producing more than 55 titles. This year was no exception, with Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain becoming the highest-grossing doc in 2021, earning $5.2 million domestically. (Entelis shared a close bond with the late chef given that she was an executive producer on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.) Other buzzy docs this year shepherded by Entelis include Citizen Ashe, about tennis great Arthur Ashe, and Lady Boss, an ode to best-selling author Jackie Collins.

Favorite book on my shelf

“Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. I have used it so much that many of the pages in my copy are wine-stained and no longer attached to the binding.”

Tina Fey

Actor, Producer, Writer

In 2021, Fey may have only been seen making those Serial-spoofing cameos on Hulu hit Only Murders in the Building, but rest assured she was doing much, much more. Her Little Stranger shingle launched two TV series in NBC’s Mr. Mayor and much-needed Peacock breakout Girls5eva. Coming up are Fey’s first animated series (Mulligan at Netflix), a starring role in John Slattery feature Maggie Moore(s) and, if all goes according to plan, a Mean Girls musical feature based on her 2018 Broadway show … based on her 2004 film of the same name. Perhaps in its third iteration, she’ll finally make “fetch” happen.

Kathleen Finch

Chief Lifestyle Brands Officer, Discovery Inc. 

Future-proofing her cable portfolio (TV’s largest, at 12 networks) against streaming while also populating her parent company’s digital effort (Discovery+ hit 20 million paying subscribers in 2021), Finch locked in flagship talent to new deals — see Guy Fieri’s eight-figure exclusive pact at Food Network — and expanded the most popular franchises at TLC (90 Day Fiancé) and HGTV (Home Town).

Pitch I’m tired of hearing

“‘Fascinating people having a conversation over a great meal.’ I’ve heard it a hundred times. No matter how interesting someone is, no one wants to watch anyone talk while chewing.”

Elaine Frontain Bryant; Amy Winter

Exec VP and Head of Programming, A&E; Exec VP and Head of Programming, Lifetime 

A&E still pulls eyeballs to cable with evergreen offerings like Hoarders and Intervention, but Frontain Bryant’s channel also pushes for education with projects like incarceration exposé 60 Days In. On Lifetime, Winter’s storied slate of telefilms brought biopics of Wendy Williams and Salt-N-Pepa in 2021 and the network’s bolstered documentary efforts include a four-hour piece about Janet Jackson — one that will see the R&B singer finally discuss her career-derailing Super Bowl halftime show at length.

Favorite book on my shelf

FRONTAIN BRYANT “The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs. An incredible book that tells the overlooked stories of how these men were shaped by their mothers.”

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

WINTER “Zoe Saldana.”

Joanna Gaines

Host; Co-founder, Magnolia

From a small-town entrepreneur to a major media mogul in just a few years, Gaines (along with husband Chip) launched her David Zaslav-backed Magnolia Network in July on Discovery+. A hub for lifestyle content, it’s been a major selling point for the upstart streamer — and, with a reboot of the Gaineses’ home renovation hit Fixer Upper (formerly on HGTV) as a calling card, Magnolia launches its linear slate on Jan. 5. That cable network, by the way, shares its name with an empire that includes housewares, a magazine, books, clothing and a retail mecca in their home base of Waco, Texas.

My alarm goes off “whenever my toddler decides it’s time to wake up” and I …

“Turn on the lamp beside my favorite chair in our room, grab my cup of coffee that Chip has made, and spend a few minutes in quiet, journaling and getting all my thoughts out before the day unfolds.”

Liz Garbus

Founder, Story Syndicate

In 2021, Garbus directed Nat Geo’s Becoming Cousteau and backed a bumper crop of hot projects in the nonfiction space through the Brooklyn-based production company she runs with her husband, Dan Cogan, including Netflix’s Britney vs Spears, HBO’s Nuclear Family and Nat Geo’s Fauci. Story Syndicate, which has grown to a staff of 30 since launching in 2019, has 17 projects in production, including topical films on antisemitism, the GameStop stock phenomenon and Black Hollywood.

I’d like to take a meeting with

“Jane Campion. But I’d prefer it to be less a meeting and more of a wine-soaked affair, if you don’t mind?”

Dede Gardner

Partner, Plan B Entertainment

A consummate tastemaker, Gardner’s upcoming slate includes Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde at Netflix, Universal’s New York Times/Harvey Weinstein movie She Said, and the Frances McDormand-led Women Talking at MGM. And that’s just the movies in post. The two-time Oscar winner and six-time nominee (her latest nomination came earlier this year with Minari) has made Plan B an arbiter of awards-bound up-and-coming talent, but also backs commercial fare like the upcoming Latinx-fronted Father of the Bride remake at Warner Bros.

Dana Goldberg

CCO, Skydance Media

Steering the creative course at the independent studio, which saw its valuation climb to $2.3 billion in February, Goldberg delivered two massive performers to streamer Amazon Prime with The Tomorrow War (a sequel looks likely) and Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse (starring Michael B. Jordan). Top Gun: Maverick and the seventh and eighth entries in the Mission: Impossible franchise, on which Goldberg serves as producer, will see Skydance offerings back in theaters. Meanwhile, in TV, Grace and Frankie becomes the longest-running series on Netflix when its seventh and final season concludes in January.

I’d like to take a meeting with

“Nick Saban.”

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Actor, Filmmaker

It’s been almost 20 years since the New Yorker emerged as one of Hollywood’s freshest actresses in Secretary, and in 2021 Gyllenhaal is having another kind of breakthrough, this time as the writer and director of Netflix’s The Lost Daughter — an Elena Ferrante adaptation that she also produced. Gyllenhaal won the best screenplay award at Venice and four Gotham awards including best feature for the drama, a rare big-screen look at ambivalence toward motherhood that sees her poised for a promising filmmaking future.

Pitch I’m tired of hearing

“Divorced detectives.”

Bonnie Hammer

Vice Chair, NBCUniversal

While her role at NBCUniversal has changed dramatically since her “blue skies” days running networks like USA, Hammer remains a valuable voice at the media giant — frequently conferring with CEO Jeff Shell and leading an initiative to fortify the company’s female executive ranks from her New York office.

Pearlena Igbokwe

Chair, Universal Studio Group 

Hitting a year atop Universal Studio Group — Universal Television, Universal Content Productions, Universal Television Alternative and International Studios — in September, Igbokwe raked in a company-best 75 Emmy nominations among the 125 active projects her portfolio has across more than 25 platforms globally. Key series include Never Have I Ever, CBS breakout The Equalizer and, come 2022, the long-awaited second season of Natasha Lyonne’s Russian Doll.

I’d like to take a meeting with

“No one. I’m meeting’d out!”

Scarlett Johansson

Actress, Producer

As the highest-grossing actress of all time and a two-time Oscar nominee, Johansson has clout to burn. In 2021, she displayed it in dramatic fashion, filing an explosive lawsuit against Disney that opened up the debate in Hollywood over how pandemic movie release strategies were upending traditional profit participation deals for talent. By November, the suit had settled and Johansson was back in the Disney fold, with Marvel chief Kevin Feige touting her role as a producer on an upcoming project at the studio.

What I’m most dreading about the return to the office

“Wig glue.”

Mindy Kaling

Actor, Producer, Writer

Since shifting her focus from actress-writer to writer-actress, Kaling has become something of a hit machine. Netflix comedy Never Have I Ever is such a draw that it gave her young cast major leverage during a recent contract renegotiation for the third season. She’s finding a new niche with younger viewers, and November brought her latest series, a collab with Justin Noble, The Sex Lives of College Girls, to HBO Max. The comedy writer, now set with a rich deal at Warner Bros., is also penning Legally Blonde 3 (with Dan Goor) for pal Reese Witherspoon.

Lisa Katz; Beatrice Springborn; Erin Underhill

President of Scripted Programming, NBC Entertainment; President, UCP; President, Universal Television

In her first year overseeing scripted for NBCUniversal’s entertainment portfolio, Katz delivered NBC’s already-renewed La Brea and saw her shift to year-round development, producing The Endgame and a Night Court update on top of that Law & Order revival. Springborn, since departing Hulu to lead UCP, has recruited Elliot Page and Tanya Saracho (Vida) to the studio, among others. Underhill, in her year at the helm of Universal TV, has bolstered a roster of talent with the likes of Jordan Peele, Sierra Teller Ornelas (Rutherford Falls) and Emmy-winning Hacks co-creator Jen Statsky, while also helping Manifest fly from NBC to Netflix.

Favorite book on my shelf

KATZ “Untamed by Glennon Doyle.”

I’d like to take a meeting with

SPRINGBORN “David Sedaris — he never fails to make me laugh/cry and combine humor with heart.”

What I’m most dreading about the return to the office

UNDERHILL “I’m not dreading anything. I’m excited for the return of our Wine Friday gatherings.”

Gloria Calderon Kellett

Showrunner

Heading right from the 2020 end of One Day at a Time into a new overall deal at Amazon, the Norman Lear-anointed showrunner has a busy slate (five projects and counting) with her first “created by” credit dropping in December — With Love, a serialized LGBTQ+ and POC-focused rom-com. Kellett, who moonlights as an actress, is also penning a film at HBO Max with Natasha Rothwell.

What I missed about my pre-pandemic commute

“Murder Podcasts. How am I going to stay sexy and not get murdered?”

Courtney A. Kemp

Showrunner 

Having built an empire at Lionsgate and Starz with Power — a franchise that brought 10 million viewers to its original effort, birthed three series and has three more on the way — Kemp bolted for potentially greener pastures in August, inking a rich overall deal with Netflix. And while she’s interested in regrowing the scope of her business, she’s focused on writing right now. “You get an empire, and it’s not the same anymore,” she recently told THR. “At some point, Mrs. Fields stopped baking the cookies.”

My alarm goes off at “6 a.m.” and I …

“Hug my kid, say the serenity prayer, and check The Shade Room.”

Kathleen Kennedy

President, Lucasfilm

Steering Lucasfilm into perhaps its busiest year since the company was acquired by Disney in 2012, Kennedy is in production on Indiana Jones 5 and a Disney+ series based on the 1988 Ron Howard feature Willow — on top of a slew of Star Wars series. Obi-Wan Kenobi and the third season of Emmy titan The Mandalorian are filming, Rogue One prequel Andor just wrapped, Ahsoka is gearing up to start shooting in the spring and The Book of Boba Fett debuts in December. Disney recently re-upped Kennedy, perhaps the female exec who’s most scrutinized by movie fans in and out of Hollywood, for the second time — but setbacks on Star Wars‘ features front remain cause for concern.

Favorite book on my shelf

“The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow.”

Aleen Keshishian

Founder & CEO, Lighthouse Management & Media

Client Jennifer Aniston (busy as ever) heads to film Murder Mystery 2 in 2022, while Kathryn Hahn is officially getting her own Marvel series in Agatha: House of Harkness — the piece of recent Disney+ news received with the most fan frenzy. Keshishian’s work with Selena Gomez, however, might be the biggest cause for kudos. Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, in which the 29-year-old deftly holds her own with comedy vets Steve Martin and Martin Short, cemented the former Disney kid’s status as a formidable adult actor.

Nicole Kidman

Actor, Producer

Kidman expanded her David E. Kelley partnership this year with Nine Perfect Strangers, their third series (following Big Little Lies and The Undoing) with her both starring and exec producing through her Blossom Films company. She also took a star turn as Lucille Ball in Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos, drumming up Oscar buzz for the transformation, while shooting the Aquaman sequel. Quite the fan of TV these days, she next goes into production on Amazon drama series Expats (again as star and EP) as she develops female-driven Apple anthology series Roar.

My alarm goes off at “6:30 a.m.” and I …

“Stroke my husband’s cheek (because he is still sleeping), splash my face with water and head to the kitchen to get breakfast ready for the kids. I love the buzz in the kitchen in the morning when my girls come downstairs.”

Regina King

Actor, Filmmaker

After directing the feature One Night in Miami, the Oscar winner (If Beale Street Could Talk) and Emmy darling (wins for Watchmen, Seven Seconds, American Crime) turned her attention back to acting with a starring turn in Jeymes Samuel’s The Harder They Fall. Of course, she can’t be kept out of the director’s chair, recently lining up comic book feature Bitter Root and miniseries A Man in Full.

Deborah Klein, Tara Kole, Jeanne Newman, Nina Shaw

Talent Attorneys

Klein clients Will Ferrell, Gloria Sanchez Productions and Paul Rudd teamed up for Apple’s The Shrink Next Door, while Ferrell also inked an acting and producing deal for Christmas musical Spirited. (People’s Sexiest Man Alive, Rudd, will be back in the Marvel universe with Ant Man 3, as will Samuel L. Jackson — who negotiated an unprecedented TV deal with the super studio.) Kole is co-founding a new firm in 2022: Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole, where she’ll continue to rep the likes of Riz Ahmed, Zac Efron and poet Amanda Gorman, who is partnering with Estée Lauder as a brand ambassador in a deal that will launch a multimillion-dollar literacy initiative called Writing Change. Newman closed a significant overall deal extension for Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff at Disney, and client Jordan Cooper launched his first series, Ms. Pat, at BET with Lee Daniels (another client) producing. Shaw is celebrating the success of Reservation Dogs for longtime clients Sterlin Harjo and Sydney Freeland (co-creator and director, respectively), which she says is “long overdue for the Indigenous creative community.”

Favorite book on my shelf

NEWMAN “Skin in the Game by Jane Wurwand.”

I’d like to take a meeting with 

KLEIN “Cesar Millan, as my three dogs may have post-working-remotely separation anxiety.”

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

SHAW “Lauded for his hit programs, Brandon Tartikoff should be credited for his diverse creative executive hires. We might be a very different industry if more had followed his example.”

Kristie Macosko Krieger

Producer and Board Director, Amblin Partners

Krieger is Spielberg’s go-to partner, much as Kathleen Kennedy used to be. She produced the 74-year-old director’s remake of the musical West Side Story, which opens exclusively in theaters Dec. 10 and is earning rapturous reviews. Krieger also recently wrapped the filmmaker’s next project, a semiautobiographical movie starring Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen and Gabriel LaBelle. She isn’t restricted to only Spielberg territory, and is also producing Maestro, Bradley Cooper’s upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic for Netflix.

I’d like to take a meeting with

“Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation.”

Lady Gaga

Actor, Singer

With her critically lauded performance as a woman scorned in House of Gucci, Gaga confirmed to Hollywood that her Oscar nomination for 2018’s A Star Is Born was no fluke. A consummate showwoman, she has touched the culture this year at every turn, from singing the national anthem at President Biden’s inauguration in a bulletproof gown to releasing an album of standards, Love for Sale, with Tony Bennett, to stealing the show at HBO Max’s Friends reunion by performing “Smelly Cat” dressed as Phoebe.

Donna Langley

Chair, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group 

Langley pulled off a coup in convincing Christopher Nolan to make his next film, a J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic, for Universal after the filmmaker broke up with Warner Bros. She also continues to celebrate the box office success of No Time to Die, which Universal is handling overseas. The James Bond pic, produced by MGM and Eon, has earned nearly $600 million internationally for a $756 million global haul. It’s the top-grossing film of the pandemic era, followed in short order by Universal’s homegrown F9 ($726 million).

Favorite book on my shelf

“Stanley Tucci’s Taste.”

Jennifer Lee

Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney Animation Studios

The Oscar-winning writer and director (Frozen) has made diversity and inclusion — both in front and behind the camera — a top priority at the dominant house of animation. This year Disney released Southeast Asia-inspired Raya and the Last Dragon, with a voice cast led by Kelly Marie Tran, and musical Encanto, for which the studio teamed with Lin-Manuel Miranda. Through Disney+, the studio has expanded into series work, including the upcoming Iwájú (a collaboration with African entertainment company Kugali) and series based on existing Disney properties Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Tiana (from The Princess and the Frog) and Moana.

Favorite book on my shelf

“The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. It’s ethereal and haunting while still being visceral.”

Miky Lee

Vice Chair, CJ Group

The most powerful woman in Asian media significantly extended her Hollywood footprint in November, when CJ acquired WME sister studio Endeavor Content for $775 million. That brings IP like Killing Eve and Maggie Gyllenhaal awards season player The Lost Daughter under the same corporate roof as Parasite and popular K-dramas like Vincenzo, the latter produced through an exclusive three-year deal with Netflix. Lee’s big Endeavor pact follows a $275 million investment with RedBird Capital Partners in David Ellison’s Skydance Media (Top Gun: Maverick) in 2020.

Wonya Lucas

President and CEO, Crown Media Family Networks 

Lucas brought a brand refresh to Hallmark Channel’s linear offerings, expanding its slate of more than 100 original movies and series to better reflect its broad audience. Up next in 2022, the CNN and Discovery alum launches Mahogany, a new programming initiative based on the POC-focused Hallmark Card brand of the same name.

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

“[Discovery founder] John Hendricks, who is a visionary and a class act.”

Marlee Matlin

Actor

It’s been 35 years since Matlin won the Oscar for Children of a Lesser God, and she remains the only deaf actor ever to achieve the honor. But in many ways, Hollywood’s increasing inclusion of actors with disabilities is thanks to the actress’ tireless efforts. In 2021, the film CODA, in which she is surrounded by a cast of other deaf actors, set a record at Sundance, where Apple acquired it for $25 million, and has become a major Oscar player.

Favorite book on my shelf

“It’s not a book you’ll find in a bookstore. It was a leather-bound collection of inspirational notes and wishes for my 30th birthday, authored by everyone from my family, some long gone, to friends like Billy Joel, Whoopi Goldberg and Henry Winkler. Each time I pick it up, I find something new.”

Frances McDormand

Actor, Producer

McDormand walked away with two Oscar statuettes this year, one for acting in and the other for producing drama Nomadland — in the process becoming the first actress nominated for acting and producing the same movie. This holiday season, she stars as Lady Macbeth opposite Denzel Washington in husband Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. Seemingly enjoying a full dance card, she appeared in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch in 2021 and just wrapped filming on Sarah Pauley’s Women Talking.

Katie McGrath, Hannah Minghella

Co-CEO, Bad Robot; Head of Motion Pictures, Bad Robot

Bad Robot is expanding its reach beyond the traditional production silos of film and television, launching a podcast division in partnership with Spotify, growing its gaming division with key executive hires and raising more than $40 million in financing. The film side, meanwhile, saw the setting up of Dr. Seuss’ Oh, The Places You’ll Go! with Jon M. Chu directing and a feature built around DC heroine Zatanna (with Promising Young Woman filmmaker Emerald Fennell attached).

Favorite book on my shelf

MINGHELLA “Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. I first read this book standing in my favorite bookshop in London just before the start of the pandemic. I was so entranced I immediately bought 10 copies for friends and family.”

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

MCGRATH “Franklin Leonard. He’s been breaking some of the industry’s best writers and most important scripts for years, all while creating serious access and visibility for overlooked talent across all sectors in Hollywood.”

Courteney Monroe

President, National Geographic Global Television Networks

Blending Nat Geo’s history of prestige documentary content with a steady hand in scripted, Monroe started 2021 with Cynthia Erivo’s Emmy-nominated work in Genius: Aretha and closes with the second installment of the Hot Zone anthology, starring Tony Goldwyn and Daniel Dae Kim. On the unscripted front, the brand remains a go-to for A-list collaborators — such as Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, whose Westbrook Studios inked a deal in August to supply content across Nat Geo platforms (including its hub on Disney+).

My alarm goes off at “6 a.m.” and I …

“Check my email, wake my teenagers, get on the Peloton.”

Lucinda Moorhead, Andrea Nelson Meigs, Carolyn Sivitz, Danie Streisand

Agents and Partners, UTA

Streisand is in the midst of a mitzvah for clients Timothée Chalamet — an indie darling made franchise lead by Dune — and Julia Garner (the Emmy winner has the final season of Ozark and Shonda Rhimes’ buzzy Inventing Anna out in early 2022). Sivitz was key in securing Hacks co-creators Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs’ overall deal with Warner Bros., coinciding with their writing — and, for Aniello, directing — win at the Emmys. Nelson Meigs, Beyoncé’s film rep, has a major Oscar hopeful in Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard), and Moorehead has Lulu Wang directing and producing Amazon’s Nicole Kidman series Expats.

Favorite book on my shelf

SIVITZ “Good Night, Gorilla; Make Way for Ducklings; and Room on the Broom are in heavy rotation at the moment.”

I’d like to take a meeting with

MOORHEAD “Oprah and Adele.”

STREISAND “Hitchcock or Miles Davis.”

My New Year’s resolution for Hollywood

NELSON MEIGS “To flip the script on the thought that Black leads, casts and stories do not travel overseas.”

Ramsey Naito

President of Animation and Development, Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation

With oversight of series and features, the exec is responsible for IP that ranges from Star Trek to SpongeBob. The Naito-overseen PAW Patrol recently debuted on Paramount+, where kids’ and family content is a cornerstone of growth (more than half of the service’s subscriber base watched some Nickelodeon streaming content during the last quarter, according to ViacomCBS) — meaning Naito’s slate (which also includes a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and the Rugrats reboot) is, well, paramount.

My alarm goes off at “5 a.m.” and I …

“Look at the horizon, fill the bird feeder and enjoy a brief moment of quiet.”

Chris Nee

Showrunner

The creator of Disney juggernauts Vampirina and Peabody-winning Doc McStuffins inked a sweeping overall deal at Netflix in 2018. Since then, the most powerful woman in kids’ TV has continued churning out inclusive hits, from Ada Twist, Scientist, with the Obamas’ Higher Ground, to Ridley Jones, about a girl who lives at the natural history museum where the creatures (including a nonbinary bison named Fred) come alive at night.

The pitch I’m tired of hearing

“The mission without the story. I always want my shows to have meaning, but if they don’t work as pure entertainment the justness of the cause doesn’t matter. Doc McStuffins will be remembered for a lot of things, but they aren’t the reasons the show works. The show works because all kids wish they could talk to their stuffed animals and toys and have their stuffed animals and toys talk back. And by ‘all kids,’ I do mean me.”

Lisa Nishimura

VP Independent Film and Documentary Features, Netflix

The Netflix stalwart has given the streamer some of its best shots at this year’s best picture race with Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter. But Nishimura’s purview extends far outside awards season; it includes everything from nonfiction content to young adult fare. So, before any nominations are announced, Nishimura will be entertaining the holiday homebound with lighter Netflix offerings like Love Hard, Princess Switch 3 and Single All the Way.

My New Year’s resolution for Hollywood

“That we just don’t snap back into old habits and are able to take the hard-earned lessons of gratitude learned during COVID forward.”

Dawn Olmstead

CEO and Partner, Anonymous Content

Taking the lead of the management and production company mid-pandemic, Olmstead has been tasked with evolving the outfit known for its buzzy TV efforts (True Detective) and talent relationships (Emma Stone and recent breakout Pauline Chalamet). 2021 brought features Stillwater and Birds of Paradise, while 2022 finally sees the premiere of the Sam Esmail miniseries Angelyne.

I’d like to take a meeting with

“Hayao Miyazaki.”

Dawn Ostroff

CCO, Spotify

Spotify wants to be the king of audio, and Ostroff is moving to make that happen by expanding its exclusive podcast and audiobook offerings. In addition to inking deals with companies (Bad Robot) and talent (Joe Rogan Experience, Call Her Daddy and Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert), Spotify is also in the acquisitions business (see that recent purchase of audiobook company Findaway).

I’d like to take a meeting with

“Satoshi Nakamoto, whoever they may be.”

Bruna Papandrea

Founder, Made Up Stories 

As you read this, Papandrea is probably lurking in a bookstore, or some publishing shop looking at printing galleys for future best-sellers. That’s how uncanny her knack is for finding highly adaptable projects. The power producer, who worked on book-to-TV hits Big Little Lies, The Undoing and Nine Perfect Strangers in recent years, has an ambitious 2022 on deck — with the arrival of miniseries Pieces of Her (Toni Collette), Anatomy of a Scandal (Sienna Miller and Michelle Dockery) and others.

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

“Noma Dumezweni. One of the most talented people I have ever worked with.”

Mary Parent

Vice Chair, Worldwide Production, Legendary Entertainment 

Parent’s pandemic box office haul is nearing the $900 million mark, an impressive number considering her two 2021 titles, Godzilla vs. Kong and Dune, opened day-and-date on HBO Max. Outside of the multiplex, her streaming presence extended to Netflix, where Legendary’s Enola Holmes became one of the platform’s top original films of all time and secured an even rarer feat — a big-budget Netflix sequel. Enola Holmes 2 is now filming in the U.K., with Parent readying for another follow-up in Dune: Part 2.

Favorite book on my shelf

“At the moment, When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut.”

Cynthia Pett

Co-owner and Managing Partner, Brillstein Entertainment

Longtime client Brad Pitt has a big 2022 with features Babylon and Bullet Train having completed filming, and her other heavy hitters are having equally auspicious moments. Nicholas Braun (you know, “Cousin Greg”) remains the de facto Succession breakout, Rami Malek’s villainous turn in Bond flick No Time to Die finally saw its theatrical release, and Elizabeth Olsen’s Emmy-nominated work in WandaVision made her a Marvel all-star. Courteney Cox, it should be noted, reprises her role in the Scream franchise in January for the fifth (and final?) time.

Gina Prince-Bythewood

Filmmaker

An icon for breakout Love & Basketball, Prince-Bythewood has put together one of the most eclectic résumés in Hollywood. She gave Hollywood a rare pandemic tentpole with 2020’s The Old Guard on Netflix (78 million viewers in the first four weeks, per the platform), and while sequel talks remain fast and loose, she’s been busy on Viola Davis’ historical epic The Woman King and ABC’s upcoming miniseries Women of the Movement — which follows the life of Mamie Till-Mobley, who spent her life seeking justice after the infamous slaying of her son Emmett Till in the Jim Crow South.

I’d like to take a meeting with

“I hate generals, but I would love to kick it with Serena and Beyoncé. I’m enamored by those who touch greatness.”

Issa Rae

Actor, Producer

As Insecure prepares to air its series finale in December, it’s hard to believe that when it premiered on HBO just five years ago, the creator and star was just some fresh face most familiar to the YouTube set. Rae leaves the comedy a bona fide star, with a choice overall deal at Warner Media, a growing slate of productions (Sweet Life: Los Angeles; A Black Lady Sketch Show; Rap Sh*t) and impressive résumé of feature films (The Love Birds, The Photograph, Little).

Shari Redstone

Chair, ViacomCBS; President, National Amusements 

In a bid to grow Paramount+, Redstone’s all-in approach left some bodies in its wake: namely Jim Gianopulos, who was ousted from the film studio’s top job and replaced by former Nickelodeon topper Brian Robbins. But is Wall Street impressed with her strategy? ViacomCBS’ stock began the year at $40.06 a share, while as of press time, it’s down to $31.07. But there’s cash coming in. Redstone and Co. reached an agreement to unload CBS’ storied Studio City lot for $1.85 billion at November’s end.

Shonda Rhimes

CEO, Shondaland

Rhimes, the quintessential power showrunner of the 21st century, signed her second overall deal with Netflix in 2021 after the runaway success of Regency drama Bridgerton (82 million accounts reached and 625 million hours streamed, per boss Ted Sarandos). In addition to at least three more seasons of the new flagship, the Grey’s Anatomy creator has her first penned project in several years on deck with Inventing Anna and plans for much more — including potential for virtual reality and gaming at her ever-growing Shondaland.

My alarm goes off at “6 a.m.” and I …

“Hit snooze, ask Alexa to play NPR, and then make sure my kids are up.”

Margot Robbie

Actor, Producer

After reprising her fan-favorite role as Harley Quinn in the James Gunn-directed DC movie The Suicide Squad, Robbie next reteams with Brad Pitt on Damien Chazelle’s Hollywood opus Babylon. She’ll also be part of David O. Russell’s latest ensemble, and part of Wes Anderson’s, both of which shot in 2021. On the producing side, Robbie’s Promising Young Woman (under her busy LuckyChap Entertainment shingle) earned five Oscar nominations, including best picture, with a win for best original screenplay. Next up is the long-gestating Barbie, in which Robbie stars as the iconic blond doll and produces the live-action feature for Warner Bros.

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

“All the assistants covering two desks!”

Jennifer Salke

Head of Amazon Studios 

Long a major player on the festival circuit, Amazon under Salke’s purview targeted commercial acquisitions (see Coming 2 America and Hotel Transylvania) to boost its pandemic offerings. On the episodic front, riding high on the continued success of The Boys, Salke has pushed heavily into genre programming with the recently released Wheel of Time and the now-filming Lord of the Rings series. (The latter will be the most expensive season of television ever produced, with a $465 million budget.)

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

“Lucille Ball. She was really the ultimate multitasking powerhouse and a role model for so many of us.”

Ann Sarnoff

Chair and CEO, WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group

On an earnings call in November, Discovery CEO David Zaslav saluted Sarnoff for the global success of Dune, which has earned $374 million worldwide despite debuting simultaneously on HBO Max — a platform she’s grown considerably. But on the same call, Zaslav announced that he has hired Kevin Mayer to help guide the streaming strategy of a post-merger Discovery-WarnerMedia. This signals that Sarnoff may see her scope diminish at the new combined mega-entity.

My New Year’s resolution for Hollywood

“I’d like to see some patience brought back into the ecosystem. In the drive for debut ratings and opening weekend box office, we’re losing the joy of discovery and building word-of-mouth audiences, and that feels counter to celebrating diversity of voices and storytelling.”

Sarah Schechter

Partner, Berlanti Productions 

Schechter is leading the film charge at Berlanti Productions, having produced Ryan Reynolds feature Free Guy and, more recently, completed work in London on Amazon’s Harry Styles and Emma Corrin vehicle The Policeman. Next up are the Rock Hudson biopic for Universal and a rich film deal with Netflix. Schechter also continues to juggle Netflix megahit You and HBO Max breakout The Flight Attendant, the cornerstones of longtime collaborator Greg Berlanti’s sprawling TV roster.

Favorite book on my shelf

“The More You Watch, The Less You Know by Danny Schechter — my father. He was very ahead of his time in his critique of corporate media and the need for reform.”

Leslie Siebert

Senior Managing Partner, The Gersh Agency

With Hollywood back to work, veteran agent and agency partner Siebert has been busy with a roster that includes leading ladies Catherine Keener, Anna Paquin, Taylor Schilling and This Is Us‘ Mandy Moore. Of late, she inked a stunning, mid-six-figure per-episode deal for client Angela Bassett on Fox’s 9-1-1, negotiated a tentpole pact for awards darling Allison Janney and readied stalwart Kyle Chandler for his Showtime series, Super Pumped, about the rise and fall of former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

What I missed about my pre-pandemic commute

“Six minutes of alone time.”

Jean Smart

Actor

She probably won’t make Time’s Person of the Year, but if any actress came close in 2021, it was Jean Smart. The celebrated performer, a TV fixture since her days on Designing Women, enjoyed a one-two punch of roles that would make even Meryl Streep jealous. Her performance as a boozy grandmother in HBO’s dark Mare of Easttown was followed just weeks later by a career highlight in Hacks. The HBO Max series about an aging comedian struggling to evolve her long-standing Las Vegas act pilloried Hollywood ageism and earned Smart her fourth Emmy.

Michelle Sneed

President of Production and Development, Tyler Perry Studios

One of the hardest-working entertainment execs in 2020, Sneed kept Tyler Perry’s suite of scripted series on track at their Atlanta studio while many in Hollywood were still scrambling to figure out how to get back to work. She continued to make her boss’ prolific output possible in 2021 — producing eight current series, a ninth that just ended and two films (Netflix’s A Jazzman’s Blues and A Madea Homecoming) that will arrive in 2022.

Octavia Spencer

Actor, Producer

Spencer is getting very good at pulling double duty behind and in front of the camera, starring in season two of Apple’s Truth Be Told and Netflix’s Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, while also exec producing both projects through her ORIT banner. Next up: She’s co-starring in sci-fi thriller Encounter alongside Riz Ahmed; Spirited, a reimagining of A Christmas Carol, with Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell; and starring in and producing FX drama The Bobby Love Story.

Pitch I’m tired of hearing

“Projects we’ve already seen in varying iterations. Squid Game, while disturbing, was refreshing because we’d never seen anything like it.”

Sandra Stern

President, Lionsgate TV 

The consummate dealmaker lays claim to a sweeping portfolio of scripted and nonscripted fare, which generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue for Lionsgate. Of her unit’s nearly 70 series, which include Apple TV+’s Mythic Quest, CBS’ Ghosts, Starz’s Blindspotting and HBO Max’s Love Life, 13 of them are new this year.

Pitch I’m tired of hearing

“Dark, negative drama. We all need some fun, kindness and heart right now.”

Kristen Stewart

Actor

Circling the fringes of the Oscar race since pursuing auteur-driven fare in her post-Twilight career, Stewart may finally strike awards season gold as Princess Diana in Pablo Larraín’s Spencer. And after working with acclaimed filmmakers Larraín, Kelly Reichardt and David Cronenberg, who directs Stewart in her next film, Crimes of the Future, the actress will be the one in the director’s chair for her feature debut, an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2010 memoir The Chronology of Water that she also wrote. Oh, and in November, she announced her engagement to longtime girlfriend Dylan Meyer. Mazel tov!

Meryl Streep

Actor

Four decades and three Oscars into her career — with a record-high 21 nominations — Streep keeps churning out high-profile project after high-profile project, in the past year starring in Ryan Murphy’s The Prom and Steven Soderbergh’s Let Them All Talk. This awards season, she’s adding “president” to her roles résumé for the first time, playing a Trump-like politician in Adam McKay’s the-sky-is-literally-falling comedy Don’t Look Up; Streep is also set to appear in the upcoming Apple climate-change anthology series Extrapolations.

Jenno Topping

President of Film and TV, Chernin Entertainment

Topping isn’t stopping loading up projects at one of the more prolific companies in town. After a summer where Netflix released the company’s Fear Street film trilogy over three consecutive weeks, she went into production on a Luther movie starring Idris Elba, supplying dramas See and Truth Be Told to Apple TV+. She also stocked up on talent by signing first looks with producers Julie Oh and Nancy Utley and a partnership with former ESPN exec Connor Schell.

What I’m most dreading about the return to the office

“No ‘Video Off’ button.”

Krista Vernoff

Showrunner

With mentor Shonda Rhimes’ focus at Netflix, Vernoff has been tasked with overseeing ABC’s most lucrative night of programming. On Thursday evenings, the prolific writer-showrunner oversees Grey’s Anatomy, still a ratings giant in its 18th season and the No. 2 drama on broadcast, as well as its resurgent spinoff Station 19. Earlier this year, Vernoff’s production company inked an eight-figure deal with ABC Signature, where she’s beefing up both her staff and development slate.

I’d like to take a meeting with

“Emma Thompson, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ava DuVernay. But it’s not a meeting so much as it’s a dinner party and I get to ask them annoying questions about their creative processes all night long but the wine is so good they don’t mind.”

Lana Wachowski

Filmmaker

Wachowski wrote, directed and produced The Matrix Resurrections, the fourth film in a franchise that is rare for being based not on a preexisting piece of intellectual property, but rather on an original idea, and an idea that became the most influential work of pop culture ever created by a trans person. After making the first three films in the seminal sci-fi series with her sibling, Lily, Lana is going it alone here, in a stunts and visual effects extravaganza that will test Warner Media’s hybrid release strategy and fans’ appetites for the 22-year-old franchise when it opens Dec. 22.

Lena Waithe

Actor, Producer

Waithe is hopping over from Amazon Studios for a rich new deal at Warner Bros. TV Group, where her first order of business is developing a drama series loosely based on famed 1994 documentary Hoop Dreams. Should it go to series, it will join a roster that includes BET’s Twenties and Showtime’s The Chi — both made under her Hillman Grad Productions banner. In addition to her substantial development and mentoring of young voices, acting remains a priority for Waithe. In May, she starred in the third season of Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang’s Master of None at Netflix.

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

“Debra Martin Chase. Her work has been impactful to me and this industry in so many ways. She’s a great mentor and someone I can call no matter what is going on.”

Dana Walden

Chair of Entertainment, Walt  Disney Television

Under her ever-widening purview, the Disney TV boss delivered Hulu its most watched original series premiere of all time (Nine Perfect Strangers) and its most watched comedy series (Only Murders in the Building) over the summer. Walden, who oversees two studios, two networks and a streamer, also added a new content brand in 2021 with the May launch of Onyx Collective. The label, a home for creators of color intended to serve as a pipeline to Hulu, has signed such marquee names as Ryan Coogler, Prentice Penny and Natasha Rothwell.

Somebody who deserves more credit is …

“Miky Lee. She’s incredibly impressive.”

Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Actor, Writer

Waller-Bridge has not shown much work since her wild 2019 of Fleabag recognition, but blame that more on production delays than anything else. No Time to Die, which saw her script doctoring inflect some humor and feminism into the James Bond screenplay, finally arrived as she started tackling some equally familiar IP — albeit onscreen. The playwright is filming Indiana Jones 5 in a hush-hush role that may see her sharing billing with Harrison Ford.

Olivia Wilde

Actor, Filmmaker

After an 18-entity bidding war — which included streamers, studios and major moneyed production companies — New Line landed Wilde’s Booksmart follow-up Don’t Worry Darling, now set for a highly anticipated September 2022 release. The multihyphenate continues to be courted by every major Hollywood player (including Marvel, where she is set to direct an untitled feature for Sony), but has already set her next film, Kerri Strug biopic Perfect, at Searchlight with Thomasin McKenzie set to star.

Serena and Venus Williams

Producers

The titans of tennis have plenty going on off the court this year given that their family journey serves as the basis for Oscar hopeful King Richard. (The sisters served as executive producers on the Will Smith starrer.) In addition, Serena signed a first-look deal with Amazon Studios in April to create scripted and unscripted projects (first up is an as-yet-untitled docuseries that will go behind the scenes in her private and professional life).

I’d like to take a meeting with

VENUS “Kenya Barris or Bozoma Saint John.”

Jana Winograde

President, Showtime Entertainment

Showtime, which has admittedly struggled with buzz since the heyday of Homeland, has had a pretty damn good year. Under Winograde’s leadership, the network launched Bryan Cranston drama Your Honor (a miniseries so successful it’s returning), resurrected former flagship Dexter for a well-received reboot and, most recently, put itself in early Emmy conversation with twisty drama Yellowjackets. On the comedy front, Work in Progress, Black Monday and U.K. acquisition Back to Life continue to woo critics.

I’d like to take a meeting with

“Jon Stewart.”

Oprah Winfrey

CEO, OWN

The media mogul and Favorite Things curator continues to deliver on the front for which she’s always been best known: booking. The past year brought two marquee Oprah interviews, both at CBS News, in royalist-rankling Meghan Markle and Prince Harry tell-all (17.1 million viewers) and the more sedate Adele sit-down (9.9 million viewers). Outside offerings on her own cable network and her Apple deal, her documentary collaboration with Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times on The 1619 Project is heading to Hulu.

Favorite book on my shelf

“Caste by Isabel  Wilkerson.”

Reese Witherspoon

Actor, Producer

In a deal north of $900 million, Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine sold to Kevin Mayer’s Blackstone-backed media company, earning the actress a seat on the yet-to-be-named company’s board. She will continue to oversee day-to-day operations at Hello Sunshine, which is behind the adaptation of several of her book club picks like TriStar’s Where the Crawdads Sing and the Netflix series From Scratch. Outside of M&A news, the Morning Show star will soon reprise her role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde 3.

Susan Wojcicki

CEO, YouTube

Under Wojcicki’s leadership, YouTube has brought in more than $7 billion in revenue in its past two quarters, nipping close at the heels of streaming giant Netflix. Though YouTube might be the entity most associated with building up a generation of creators, the platform has recently focused on its shortform video offering, Shorts, to better compete with growing giants like TikTok. In July, Shorts surpassed 15 billion daily views.

Nina Yang Bongiovi

Producing Partner, Significant Productions

Rebecca Hall struggled for years to secure financing for her directorial debut and passion project, an adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing. It wasn’t until she met with Yang Bongiovi and her producing partner Forest Whitaker that her dreams were realized. In addition to Passing, Yang Bongiovi and Significant have the most recent season of Epix original Godfather of Harlem, a first-look deal with Amazon and horror comedy Shaky Shivers on the way.

Zendaya

Actor, Producer

Her scant screen time in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune sent the internet into a real tizzy, but is there even such a thing as enough Zendaya? The Emmy-winning actress hasn’t tested the theory of late, keeping a low acting profile since the pandemic-born feature Malcolm & Marie (which she also produced). That changes, however, with the December arrival of Spider-Man: No Way Home and the long-awaited return of HBO vehicle Euphoria in January. At some point after that, Zendaya starts filming Dune 2 — where, if Villeneuve ever wants to look at Twitter again, he’ll bring some payoff to her character.

Chloé Zhao

Filmmaker

After becoming the first woman of color to win the directing Oscar in April for Nomadland, Zhao turned to another Hollywood version of climbing Mount Everest: becoming the first woman of color to direct a Marvel movie in November with Eternals. Though critics weren’t fans of her sprawling epic, Eternals has grossed $369 million worldwide so far in the midst of the pandemic and cemented Zhao’s place as an industry groundbreaker.

A version of this story first appeared in the Dec. 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.