From Margot Robbie to Pearlena Igbokwe and Ali Wong: Power of Women in Hollywood 2023

Co-chair & CEO, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group

Greta Gerwig was halfway through shooting “Barbie” when Abdy and Mike DeLuca joined the studio (and share the same title), and while the exec soon saw its potential, she had no idea how big a cultural phenomenon it would become. “Every once in a while, something comes along that just ignites the audience,” says Abdy, who credits the filmmakers and studio’s marketing team for helping to make “Barbie” a monster success. “I remember going into the movie theater opening weekend, and honestly I burst into tears just seeing how many people were dressed in pink, how many people were in line and concessions were sold out.” It was, she says, “incredibly gratifying.”

Head of AVOD Originals & Licensing; Unscripted and Targeted Programming, Amazon MGM Studios

Anderson believed in Freevee’s reality-blurring “Jury Duty” from the start. But even she did not expect it to break through the way it did in April, going on to earn the renamed streamer’s first Emmy noms, including one for star James Marsden, who plays a heightened version of himself in the series. “I don’t think you can ever predict the type of cultural moment it has had,” says the broadcast vet of “Jury Duty.” Her biggest challenge in today’s entertainment environment: hooking viewers quickly amid greater than ever competition for viewer eyeballs. “That’s a huge hurdle,” says the former NBA exec. “That’s what keeps me up at night.”

Actor, “The Little Mermaid,” “The Color Purple”

Disney’s live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid” introduced Bailey, already known for her singing with sister Chloe and acting on “Grown-ish,” to an even bigger worldwide audience. The second Black actor to become a Disney princess, she’s now an icon for young Black girls everywhere. “I want the little girl in me and the little girls just like me who are watching to know that they’re special, and that they should be a princess in every single way,” Bailey told Variety for a Young Hollywood cover story last year. Next up: starring in the upcoming Warner Bros. musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple.”

Chief content officer, Netflix

Formerly global head of TV, Bajaria got an even broader purview in January, when she became Netflix’s chief content officer. Recent hit shows include “Wednesday,” “Beef” and “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”; the streamer racked up 103 Emmy noms this year, and a slew of film contenders are on their way to the service by year’s end. “Netflix has released 12 of our most popular shows and movies in the last 12 months,” says Bajaria, citing “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” and Oscar-winning “All Quiet on the Western Front” as film examples. “These titles demonstrate the quality entertainment we’re committed to delivering to our members year-round.”

Director-producer, “Cocaine Bear”; producer, “Bottoms”

Banks directed and produced “Cocaine Bear,” a comedic thriller about a drug-deranged critter that became an unexpected hit for Universal earlier this year, and produced Emma Seligman’s “Bottoms,” a queer high school romance that debuted at SXSW, under her Brownstone Prods. banner. She recently starred in “The Beanie Bubble,” an Apple TV+ movie about stuffed animal craze of the 1990s, and has a slew of other projects in the works. Beyond that, she serves as chief creative officer for Archer Roose wines. “‘Cocaine Bear’ is a ginormous risk,” she told Variety before it opened. “This could be a career-ender for me.” Luckily for us, it was not. 

President, features & series, Sony Pictures Animation

Belson has overseen the wildly successful, Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “The Mitchells vs. Machines,” the Hotel Transylvania franchise and this year, hit a new artistic and B.O. high with “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” which took in $680 million worldwide. SPA prides itself that it has no house style, allowing artists freedom — and it shows on the slate, which includes “Fixed,” its first R-rated animated feature comedy from director Genndy Tartakovsky, and Matthew Cherry’s Afro-futuristic “Tut.” “When evaluating a pitch, the key element we are looking for is a dedicated storyteller with a clear vision and passion to tell their story,” says Belson.

President, Mattel Films

Not that long ago, Brenner was producing long-gestating indie films such as “Call Jane,” a movie set pre-Roe v. Wade starring Elizabeth Banks. Her career took a blockbuster turn courtesy of “Barbie,” the Greta Gerwig-directed living doll movie that she shepherded for Mattel. “It was beyond my dreams,” says Brenner, an Oscar-nominated producer for “Dallas Buyers Club” who joined the toy company in 2018. So how can she and Mattel possibly top “Barbie” and the “Barbenheimer” summer? “I’m just trying to put one foot in front of the other and focus on these amazing IPs and this opportunity that I have to unlock all this incredible IP.”

Actor-writer-executive producer, “Abbott Elementary”

The star and creator of “Abbott Elementary” earned three more Emmy nominations this year, including one for her guest performance on “Saturday Night Live.” All told, Season 2 of the show about a Philadelphia primary school earned eight nominations, the most of any network comedy series, and one more than its first season. Brunson, who won a writing Emmy for Season 1, received her second consecutive Emmy nomination for acting this year. “Creatively, my favorite part of producing a show is being able to look at the bigger picture and fold everyone else’s talents and incredible ideas into that picture,” Brunson says.

Costume designer, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Carter made Oscar history in March when she became the first Black woman ever to win two Oscars, thanks to her costume design work on “Black Panther” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” It was a big undertaking. “You’re not just painting and creating something,” she says. “It really did need to have an anchor in historical facts, as well as be in the super-hero realm.” Chronicle Books published “The Art of Ruth E. Carter,” which spans her entire career, in May. “I wanted to show people how I did what I did in the movies I have worked on throughout my career.”

Co-president, Motion Picture Group, Paramount Pictures

Known for savvy and scalable taste in features of all budgets, Cercek oversaw four hits that put Paramount back in the game: “Scream VI,” “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One.” She also guided last year’s huge horror film “Smile” She’s midway through production on Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator 2,” and will soon oversee John Krasinski’s “If” starring Ryan Reynolds and revisit the “Sonic the Hedgehog” franchise. “I feel so fortunate that despite the challenges of the business and the world at large, we were able to tell great stories and give our filmmakers space to create and do their very best work,” Cercek says.

Senior exec VP & chief human resources officer, the Walt Disney Co.

Promoted to her role in April, Coleman has worked hard to advance diversity, equity and inclusion at Disney. “We continue to increase our executive level representation along all spectrums of underrepresentation,” Coleman says, mentioning women, racial and ethnic groups and the disability community among others. Aware of her impact as a prominent Black executive at Disney, she wants young women and women of color to understand their own value and potential: “Anybody can be in this chair, any Black girl, no matter where she is in the world, can be in this chair, if that’s what they so choose. And I want them to know that.”

Partner, LaPolt Law

Comer negotiated Cardi B’s brand partnerships with Knorr and Beats by Dre, Tyga and YG’s collaborative album and a publishing deal that brought Alexander “A.E.” Edwards to Sony Music. And the 28-year-old Cornell Law School alum also made partner at her firm. “For someone with my background, being a lawyer is unheard of let alone being a partner,” says Comer, a first-generation college student who is of Black and Latina descent. In her commitment to effecting greater change, she also somehow managed to make time for her roles as mentor and board member at We Are RISE, a nonprofit founded to empower young women of color.

Actor, “The White Lotus”

Already an Emmy-winner for the first season of “The White Lotus,” Coolidge launched a thousand memes with the plaintive line, “these gays, they’re trying to murder me,” in Season 2 of the HBO series and could score another trophy when the winners are revealed in January. Coolidge credits “White Lotus” creator Mike White, a pal, with believing in her abilities. “I have done one thing really right in my life,” she told Variety last year. “I’ve picked great friends.” Even if “White Lotus” was done as a play in a little theater, “it would still be one of the greatest things that ever happened to me.”

Balian: President, FX Entertainment, FX

Burke: President, 20th Television, Disney Television Studios

Ryan: President, marketing, Disney Entertainment Television

20th TV president Burke has found success in placing new and returning series on a wide range of outlets — including Apple TV+’s most-watched limited series ever, “The Last Thing He Told Me,” and FX’s drama hit “The Old Man.” “I’m most proud of having supported the brilliant creator Liz Heldens to her long overdue, first ever series renewal with ABC’s ‘Will Trent,’” Burke says: “She has deserved it many times, but never more so than with this gem.” On the marketing side, Ryan, responsible for driving audiences to more than 200 titles across Disney’s many platforms, credits her team with doing “an incredible job pivoting and remaining flexible, being innovative and scrappy” the past year. Successes include “Abbott Elementary,” “The Golden Bachelor,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “The Kardashians.” FX president Balian oversaw the Emmy-nominated “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” as well as this fall’s “A Murder at the End of the World” and the fifth season of “Fargo.” While impressed by those at the company that rose to the occasion during the past year, she acknowledges that there has been plenty of hardship and strife due to disruption in the industry.  “I truly believe we can come out of this stronger and better positioned to succeed together with our creative partners.”

Exec VP & chief marketing, data & digital officer, City National Bank

Duncombe, who sits on the board of SAG-AFTRA and the Grammy Museum, directed more than $12 million in City National investments to nonprofits and community groups including Habitat for Humanity and Broadway Cares in addition to SAG-AFTRA and the Grammy Museum. She led and expanded CNB’s support of the SAG Awards, as well as work with Grammy in the Schools, which brings music education to K-12 students. Looking ahead to 2024 after this tumultuous past year, she observes that “on an industry basis, there is still high demand for new content across music, movies and television. We saw that with the ‘Barbenheimer’ box office blockbuster this past summer.”

Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. Television Group

Under Dungey’s leadership, the Warner Bros. Television group — which amassed 41 Emmy nominations this year — produces more than 100 titles across scripted (including “Ted Lasso,” “Abbott Elementary” and the upcoming Sebastian Maniscalco comedy “Bookie” for Max), unscripted (such as the wildly successful first season of “The Golden Bachelor” for ABC) and animation (including the upcoming animated action-comedy movie “Merry Little Batman” for Prime Video). “Now more than ever, we remain passionately committed to an independent mindset that allows our brilliant creative partners to pursue the projects that inspire them the most, and then we find the platform that is ideal for each one,” she says.

Actor, “The Bear,” “Bottoms”

Seemingly everywhere all at once, Edebiri scored an Emmy nomination for her captivating performance in FX on Hulu’s “The Bear” and was WGA nominated for her work on FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows.” She voiced April O’Neil in this year’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and Glory Grant in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” Somehow, she also still made time to star in “Bottoms” and “Theater Camp” in addition to a supporting role in “Abbott Elementary.” Filming Season 2 of “The Bear” “felt really cathartic,” Edebiri told Variety this summer. “It’s one of the most pleasant working experiences I’ve ever had.”

Stockmal: Lead director, “Fox NFL Kickoff”

Medina: Director, “Fox NFL Sunday”

Stockmal and Medina, two rare women in sports broadcasting, are entrusted with some of the highest-rating events on TV. Stockmal, who grew up in a sports-loving family, moved to Fox from NFL Network in 2013, working her way up to lead director on “Fox NFL Kickoff” and directing all the men’s and women’s FIFA World Cup pregame and postgame shows. “I’ve never categorized myself as a woman in a man’s industry. I always see myself as a production person who wants to be the best at what I do and prove myself in a sea of other production people,” says Stockmal. Medina, who joined the network in 2003, is one of the first women at Fox Sports to direct pre-and postgame shows for the NFL. “We keep the show fresh by adapting to the latest technology,” says Medina, who touts a last season’s set redesign and XR graphics that “can put our talent in literally any kind of environment.”

Partner, King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano

Latin music revenue hit a peak of $627 million in the first half of 2023 — and “a lot of that growth was thanks to regional Mexican music,” says Garcia, a Mexican Guatemalan American whose firm focuses on representing Latino creative communities. “I am beyond proud to be part of this community.” Over the past year, Garcia found herself taking more younger, developing and independent clients — work that proved more laborious but also deeply inspiring. “This type of client knows how to be heard through tools like social media, but it’s my job to make sure that their voices are not just heard but valued.”

Exec VPs

When Yacoubian began her booking career 15 years ago as a ticketing assistant at Goldenvoice, she met Vee, who had already been there for six years.

“I definitely felt so lucky to have had such mentorship within the company to help me create my own path and my own goals,” Yacoubian tells Variety.

“Jenn and I are yin and yang in a lot of ways,” Vee adds, “We both learn from each other so much, we have different work styles and expertise in different genres, but we come together and are like a whole. We’re able to accomplish so much together and represent so much on behalf of Goldenvoice just because of our broad knowledge base. We’re very strong together.”

In addition to helping to book Coachella, the exec VPs have their hands full, with Vee overseeing Stagecoach, the largest country music festival on the planet, as well as the Just Like Heaven festival in Pasadena, while Yacoubian oversees booking at the Shrine Auditorium and Pasadena’s Cruel World Festival.

“I wake up every day, and Stagecoach is the first thing I think about,” Vee says. “I just don’t stop thinking about it.”

Adds Yacoubian: “We never stop thinking of creative ideas and new concepts.”

Chairman, Universal Studio Group

The first Black woman to head a major U.S. television studio, Igbokwe has spent the last year overseeing more than 100 projects across streamers, broadcast networks and cable. Responsible for all aspects of creative affairs and production for projects like “Never Have I Ever,” “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” and “The Umbrella Academy,” Igbokwe remains focused on positive collaboration. “Amid the industrywide work stoppage and daily headlines predicting the end of the ‘business as we know it,’ my biggest challenge was keeping my team focused on doing the creative work needed to bring compelling stories to television,” she says.

Chair, entertainment labor, Loeb & Loeb

A labor specialist, Kagan Bierman has been especially busy this past year helping clients navigate strike-related issues. “My concern right now is that we’re looking at an industrywide problem,” says the lawyer, who was around for the last WGA strike. “It is so critical for labor relations for there to be trust,” she says. “If you don’t have trust, not only is it hard to get these deals done, but after the deals are actually done, I foresee a lot of disputes over the interpretation of those deals, the implementation of those deals and the enforcement of those deals.”

President, scripted content, NBCUniversal Entertainment

Under the leadership of NBCUniversal’s scripted president, NBC had enough content banked to put up five scripted series this fall despite the concurrent writers and actors strikes that left many broadcasters scratching their heads. Katz also ushered Peacock through a banner year, debuting shows like “Poker Face” and “Mrs. Davis” that garnered solid buzz. Katz credits her success to a thoughtfulness she wasn’t always shown early in her career. “One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is that you can be a great leader through authenticity and empathy,” she says. “In other words, you can be both nice and effective.”

Actor-producer-director

Both in front of and behind the camera, Keough is a force in the business. This year, she led the critically acclaimed TV adaptation of “Daisy Jones & the Six” on Amazon Prime Video, singing the songs in the limited series herself in addition to playing the titular songwriter. Additionally, she co-founded the production company Felix Culpa, and co-directed “War Pony,” which won the Camera d’Or for best first feature at the Cannes Film Festival. “My biggest achievement was getting my directorial debut, ‘War Pony,’ out into the world after seven years in the making and getting to share the story alongside our collaborators,” she tells Variety.

Exec VP & co-head of A&R, Universal Music Publishing Group

In 2022, Knoepfle left Sony Music Publishing after a 13-year tenure (where she signed or developed huge talents including Jack Antonoff, Maggie Rogers and Leon Bridges) to co-lead UMPG A&R alongside co-head David Gray. Knoepfle says understanding that failure is assured has become part of her leadership strategy. “I learned over time that if I was going to fail with a writer, I was going down swinging,” Knoepfle says. “You can’t win if you don’t take shots, I just try to create an environment where people can make the best decisions possible and encourage them to lead with their passion.”

President of distribution, Universal Pictures Intl.

When Kwan Vandenberg ended her 28-year run at Warner Bros. in 2018, she effectively retired. But, two years later, she put her power suit back on to join the team at Universal. “After a while, you think, OK, I still have something in me,” she says. Also, “I have always been an incredible admirer of [NBCU content boss] Donna Langley, and I was very excited to work for her.” This year, she oversaw the largest international release slate in the biz, toplined by Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” which helped the studio amass more than $3 billion in worldwide box office for the first time since 2019.

Chairman, NBCUniversal Studio Group & Chief Content Officer

With her ascension to chief content officer this summer, Langley has become the most powerful autonomous studio head in the industry — across film, linear television and streaming. She was heavily involved in the AMPTP’s strike negotiations; the film division, which she oversaw prior to her elevation, boasts three of the top grossing films of the year in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “Oppenheimer” and “Fast X,” with “Oppenheimer” also expected to be a key awards player. “As the entertainment industry continues to evolve, we need to ensure we’re taking the appropriate steps to futureproof our business,” says Langley. Key to that: “maintaining our focus on partnering with best-in-class filmmakers and showrunners.”

Actor, “Past Lives,” “The Morning Show”

Lee has had a banner year, earning raves for her nuanced performance as an ambitious Korean immigrant in Celine Song’s “Past Lives” and another strong season as equally driven Stella on Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show.” The L.A. native, who moved back to the area with her family during the pandemic, is especially proud of her work in “Past Lives,” a lyrical awards contender set in New York City. “It is a tremendous representation of the kind of movie that I’ve wanted to do for so long,” Lee says, calling Nora Moon a modern woman “who is so full of ambition and a love of her own life.”

Founding partner, Lichter Grossman Nichols Adler Feldman & Clark

When Lichter entered the biz at the tail end of the ’70s, a handful of big studios ruled Hollywood. “Today, the agents are putting packages together and selling it directly to the streamers, and that kind of bypasses the studios,” she says. Her roster includes Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao, on board for “Hamnet” and DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter, who will exec produce Netflix’s “Zero Day” series. She also recently negotiated a renewal of the domestic copyright of “RoboCop,” based on a spec written by her clients Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner that she sold in the mid ’80s.

Goldman: VP, global partnerships

Mattingly: Head of global media partnerships

Cazian: Head of strategic partnerships

When Meta announced it was moving up the launch of its Twitter competitor Threads by a week to July 6, the marketing team sprang into action. Cazian and Mattingly slipped out of Fourth of July parties in Delaware and Malibu, respectively, and Goldman cut short her vacation in Mexico after just one day and hopped on a plane to Los Angeles, where she pitched the platform to a pair of players from the U.S. women’s soccer team seated next to her. “They were like, ‘We’re doing this thing about the World Cup,’ and I said, ‘You’ve got to use Threads,’” Goldman recalls. The team’s efforts paid off, helping helping Threads register 100 million users within a week of its July 5 launch. It’s just the latest in a long list of major launches for the Playa Vista-based trio (following Instagram, Instagram Stories, Reels, Facebook Live and Facebook Video), which works with public figures, creators and media execs at companies ranging from Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery to the NBA to create strategic partnerships across the Meta ecosystem. Recent campaigns include collabs with Universal on “Fast X” and the NFL on the Pro Bowl, and Instagram takeovers for “The Little Mermaid” and “Barbie.”

President, Nickelodeon Animation/ Paramount Animation

In the last year, Naito has overseen the animated features “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie.” She’s also quadrupled the development and production of animated movies and series, such as Paramount+’s “Monster High,” with Mattel, and Nickelodeon’s “Transformers: EarthSpark,” with Hasbro. “Launching two hit animated movies in one year was a challenge,” she concedes, while enthusing about the future animation landscape as it continues to evolve technologies that embrace invention. “Animation is cinema, and a medium that has never been more innovative, and better positioned, to embrace the great changes occurring in our industry.”

Ebong: VP overall deals, original series

Howe: VP drama series

Levy: VP unscripted series

Pakosta: VP comedy series

The TV development teams at most studios still need to feed the broadcast beast, but that’s not the case for this Netflix quartet. “There is freedom to do what’s best for the project versus having to stick to guidelines, whether it be time or even content for particular buyers where there is a very distinctive need or slot to fill,” says Pakosta, whose comedy purview includes both original series and standup specials such as “That ’90s Show,” “Never Have I Ever,” “Survival of the Thickest” and Netflix’s first-ever live event, “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage.” On the unscripted side, it gave Levy the ability to develop “The Ultimatum: Queer Love.” “It was a really great moment for our team and for me personally as a gay woman,” says Levy. As the exec overseeing the streamer’s overall deals, Ebong is able to draw upon the talents of Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland (“Queen Charlotte”), Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps (“All the Light We Cannot See”) and Ryan Murphy (“Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”). Howe, whose team developed some of Netflix’s biggest hits, including “Beef,” “The Diplomat” and “The Night Agent,” sums up their creative criteria thusly: “We are always looking for really a specific point of view, a bold voice.”

CMO, Downtown Music Holdings

Neuman became Downtown Music Holdings’ first CMO last year amid a four-year period of rapid growth, as the company blossomed into a 600-person global network with hubs in Los Angeles, Nashville, London, Amsterdam and Portland, Ore. “If I continue to do my job right, people will continue to have a better understanding of Downtown and our mission to be a true partner to the industry,” says Neuman, who also works with various government agencies to address issues related to copyright, music licensing and the representation of independent artists. Among her goals for 2024? “More representation of women, people of color and our LGBTQ+ communities in our companies and in our charts.”

President, film and television, Hello Sunshine

Neustadter is undeniably proud of “Daisy Jones & the Six,” a nine-time Emmy-nominated project her husband, Scott, suggested would be a good fit for Hello Sunshine and wound up adapting for Amazon Prime Video, with Riley Keough starring as the titular singer. But Neustadter also salutes other Hello Sunshine series, including “Tiny Beautiful Things,” nominated for two acting Emmys, “The Last Thing He Told Me” and “The Morning Show.” “I feel so proud of the work that our team has done on all of these shows, and I feel so proud of the fact that each of these shows has extraordinary female characters,” she says.

Exec VP, HBO programming, head of HBO drama series & film

Under her leadership, HBO continues to present a provocative and prestigious slate of original dramas, including “House of the Dragon” and “The White Lotus.” In 2023 alone, Orsi’s series received 84 Emmy nominations, breaking records within drama categories. Her upcoming slate includes “True Detective: Night Country,” starring Jodie Foster, and the ambitious Robert Downey Jr.-led “The Sympathizer.” “My and my team’s greatest achievement has been discovering a relatively unknown talent in independent, Mexican writer-filmmaker Issa López, and creating the new installment of ‘True Detective,’” she says, calling López “masterful and totally courageous across her storytelling.”

Co-head of global hip-hop/R&B touring group, CAA

Park Adler was central in booking Shania Twain’s sold-out 77-arena date “Queen of Me” tour, the multiyear extension of Jennifer Lopez’s Coach partnership, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ sold-out tour in support of their album “Cool It Down.” Her work was helped transform sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey into multi-hyphenate artists — with Chloe selling out her first solo tour while starring in Peacock’s “Praise This” and Amazon Prime Video’s “Swarm,” and Halle starring as Ariel in Disney’s live action “The Little Mermaid.” One of her biggest discoveries this past year? “Just how much pent-up demand there remains for acts that are going back on tour for the first time” since COVID.

CMO, Tubi

As the VP in charge of marketing in North America for dating app Tinder, Parlapiano seemed like a definite swipe left for Fox’s ad-supported streamer Tubi when it was looking to fill their CMO slot last year, but “they were really set on having someone that didn’t come from entertainment, and so I took the job because it felt like just an exciting brand challenge,” she says. Since then, Parlapiano has helped Tubi stand out amid the Netflixes of the world with campaigns including a series of Super Bowl spots that have won or been shortlisted for more than 15 awards (including the Super Clio).

VP of film, LuckyChap

A movie lover whose first job in her native Australia was working at a Blockbuster Video, Payne joined LuckyChap in 2018, a day after the banner led by Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara got the rights to produce “Barbie” with Robbie to star. “Walking on those sets for the first time was beyond anything I could have imagined,” says Payne, who has also worked on Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” and “Saltburn,” along with “My Old Ass,” an upcoming project directed by Megan Park, whom she met through AFI classmates. “We are a filmmaker-driven company, and it’s our hope to give a platform to female stories and storytellers.”

President, Sony Pictures Television Studios

Pope had just executive produced “The Dropout” for Hulu when she took over as president of Sony Pictures TV in 2022. She oversees more than 40 productions, including the hit HBO drama “The Last of Us,” a collaboration with PlayStation Prods., Netflix’s hit “The Night Agent,” as well as the recent “The Boys” spinoff “Gen V” for Amazon Prime Video. “Even though it has been a challenging year for the entertainment business, I am extremely proud of the work we are doing and the content we are creating,” Pope says. “This year, that effort was marked by our team receiving 36 of SPT’s 53 Emmy nominations, a company record.”

Global head of content and artist marketing, Amazon Music

Building on her 25 years-plus career, Postelle’s current role put her in position to lead programming in multiple formats, while also utilizing Amazon Music’s global Twitch channel. Postelle led the company through the October 2022 launch of its weekly livestreamed concert series on Twitch and Prime Video following “Thursday Night Football.” “Amazon Music Live has become connective tissue for music and sports — two of the most important cultural tentpoles around the world — and a destination for artists looking to showcase their new releases,” she says. “We’re creating a global stage for live music that spans genres, generations and language barriers, and we’re just getting started.”

Partner, scripted TV, WME

“Bad Sisters,” the Apple TV+ series co-created by client Sharon Horgan, received four Emmy noms, including one for her acting and another for writing. Client Dan Levy premiered his unscripted series “The Big Brunch” on Max late last year and will make his directorial debut with “Good Grief” on Netflix later this year. Ally Pankiw’s feature debut “I Used to Be Funny” premiered at SXSW in March and was acquired by Utopia in August. “In periods of uncertainty, a major challenge is convincing buyers that hits, especially those that tend to light the world on fire, come through risk,” Radler says.

Actor-producer, “Barbie”; producer, “Saltburn”

“Barbie” had been languishing in production hell before Robbie and her LuckyChap production banner won the rights to turn Mattel’s popular doll into a movie. Five years later, the Greta Gerwig-directed movie starring Robbie is a monster hit that has grossed more than $1.4 billion worldwide, No. 1 for the year and the most ever for a Warner Bros. film. Not bad for a woman that wasn’t into Barbie growing up in Australia. “This movie is brimming with optimism, and maybe people weren’t expecting that from a Barbie movie,” Robbie told a reporter pre-SAG-AFTRA strike. She also produced Emerald Fennell’s awards hopeful, “Saltburn,” under her LuckyChap banner. Among her upcoming projects: an “Ocean’s Eleven” prequel that will co-star “Barbie’s” Ken, Ryan Gosling.

Exec VP, originals, Boardwalk Pictures

Roma notched her second consecutive Emmy this year, this time for her work on FX’s breakout soccer series “Welcome to Wrexham.” The show, which follows Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney as they take ownership of a U.K. soccer club, received six Emmy noms for its first season; the second season bowed in September. “Mainstream audiences finding and falling in love with the subjects of a doc series is something we’ve believed in for a long time,” says Roma, who last year was nominated for her work on W. Kamau Bell’s Showtime series, “We Need to Talk About Cosby.” “‘Wrexham’ really represents the reach that documentary series can have.”

Actor, “Avatar: The Way of the Water,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”

Saldaña starred in James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” the top-grossing movie worldwide last year, and third top grosser ever. It’s also the Marvel Cinematic Universe star’s fourth film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide. “Doing work that I can be proud of is the most important for me,” she says. “Maybe it’s something that appeals to a large audience, and it gives people joy and entertainment. Sometimes, it’s a story that’s so well written that I can’t say no. Other times, it’s something that will represent being Latinx, or a woman of color, in a way that I find valuable, and needs to be out in the world.”

Head, Amazon MGM Studios

As Amazon Studios head, Salke launched the most expensive TV series in history — “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” — in 2022, and she’s shown no signs of slowing down. With MGM now under her purview, this year the merged company ramped up their movie business, releasing “Air” and “Creed III,” while earning a record 68 Emmy nominations for TV projects. Salke prides herself on choosing her battles: “What you’ll notice is that we’re going to try to not do everything. We’re going to try to do some things really well, as far as acquiring new audiences, and then evolve from there.”  

President of scripted series, Media Res

As a working mom, Springer keeps track of all her business travel, and pre-strikes she spent “at least three months” in New Orleans with Boots Riley on set for Amazon Prime Video’s “I’m a Virgo,” and around 14 weeks in Toronto with “Pachinko” showrunner Soo Hugh during the second season shoot of the Apple TV+ series. A highlight the past year: “Launching a show like Boots Riley’s utterly unique ‘I’m a Virgo’ on Amazon was pretty exciting,” she says. Now that the WGA strike has ended, the writers’ room for Season 4 of “The Morning Show” is underway, with the company’s adaptation of Jonathan Franzen’s “Crossroads” among other projects in the works.

Partner and talent agent, UTA

Streisand is known for identifying new talent — she signed Timothée Chalamet when he was still in high school — and building and sustaining successful careers. Before the actors’ strike, she closed Daisy Edgar-Jones’ deal to star in the upcoming “Twisters” sequel and negotiated Greta Lee’s roles in the A24 hit “Past Lives” and Disney’s upcoming “Tron: Ares.” Additionally, Streisand negotiated Archie Madekwe’s role in Sony’s “Gran Turismo” and signed Dominique Fishback, who landed the leading role in Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.” She represents Taylor Russell, Lili Reinhart (who stars in “Hal and Harper” and Lea Seydoux, who will next be seen in “Dune 2.” “In an environment with a lot of content, the challenge is to connect clients with something meaningful that grabs the audiences’ attention and sparks the shared dialogue,” she says.

Partner, co-chair of film and television practice, Granderson Des Rochers

Legal eagle Surendran reps artists including Mary J. Blige, Taylour Paige, Our Lady J, Jesse Williams, Jabari Banks, Savanah Leaf, Elegance Bratton, Oscar-winner Adele Romanski, Lars Knudsen (“Dream Scenario”), plus a host of female filmmakers and creatives from underrepresented communities. “Being in an advisory position, the biggest challenge for me has been trying to offer concrete solutions based on undefined parameters,” she says of this challenging period of labor strife. “Clients are being pulled in various directions between what the guild dictates and what studios have tried to push through. When also factoring in the reality of them surviving without a paycheck, there’s no clear answer for most of the questions being asked.”

Fishback: actor

Nabers: creator-exec producer

Amazon Prime Video’s limited series starring Fishback as a serial killer who’s also a superfan of a Beyoncé-esque pop star was a hit with audiences and critics, earning Emmy nominations for writing (shared by co-creators Nabers and Donald Glover), costume design and its lead actress. “It’s almost like [Fishback’s] Dre has her own cult fan base now, which is pretty cool,” Nabers says reflecting on the show’s success, which she credits in large part to Fishback’s nuanced portrayal. “As absurd and as crazy as Dre was, you still saw her humanity,” she adds. “I hope it motivates actors to look for those roles that really challenge them, that make them question their own interpretation of a character’s humanity.” With “Swarm” as her first showrunner credit, Nabers also hopes it “motivates Black female writers who are interested in telling stories that are a little bit outside the box.”

Producer, “Oppenheimer”

Christopher Nolan’s closet collaborator both personally and professionally, she has produced all his films, from 1997 short “Doodlebug” to “Oppenheimer,” and co-founded Syncopy, the couple’s production company. “Oppenheimer,” the sprawling historical epic about the man who orchestrated the construction of the atomic bomb, has grossed nearly $950 million despite its R-rating, three-hour runtime and deadly serious subject matter. Now, it’s widely expected to be a major player in awards season. “The great thing is we work together, and we’re married, so we have the same agenda,” Thomas says. “We just want to make the best film possible, so there’s never any gap between us.”

VP, animation film, Netflix

In the year since Toliver joined Netflix, the streamer has acquired Animal Logic, inked a multi-year agreement with Skydance Animation and won the animated film Oscar for Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio.” Coming soon: “Leo,” voiced by Adam Sandler as a 74-year-old lizard, and “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.” “Many of us at Netflix learned ‘standard operating procedures’ at other animation studios,” says Toliver, who previously worked at Sony. “Now coming together to build a new studio, we are uniquely poised to take the best of traditional practices, while iterating and challenging some of the conventions, all in service of finding new ways to delight and surprise audiences.”

CEO, Sundance Institute

Vicente led the first in-person Sundance Film Festival after virtual gatherings the previous two years due to COVID, while also overseeing the Sundance Institute. “Doing both simultaneously granted me an immense sense of gratitude and appreciation for the community we have built and continue to grow, especially coming back in-person and witnessing firsthand the importance of being together, while also offering an online platform that allowed for independent film fans across the country to be a part of celebrating the discovery,” says Vicente, now preparing for the 40th edition of the festival alongside newly appointed festival director Eugene Hernandez.

Co-chairman, Disney Entertainment

Walden gained even more responsibility at the Mouse House in February, becoming co-chairman of Disney Entertainment along with Alan Bergman less than a year after her last promotion. The pair have had the unenviable task of overseeing layoffs and being involved in strike negotiations; on a more upbeat note, Disney brands and channels collectively earned 163 Emmy nominations this year, up from 147 in 2022, during its centennial year. “This has been a year of significant transformation at our company,” says Walden, who praises the leadership team for “continuing to provide audiences with unparalleled storytelling while setting the stage for Disney’s next 100 years.”

President of production, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group

Westerman oversaw the casting and production of “John Wick: Chapter 4,” which grossed more than $440 million worldwide, making it the most successful film in the billion-dollar franchise starring Keanu Reeves. “When you sit inside a studio, you are sober about the reality of most franchises: they don’t always grow from movie to movie,” says the exec, who describes herself as incredibly proud of the way Lionsgate worked with the filmmakers “and gave them the resources to blow the roof off the place with the fourth movie.” Westerman is currently overseeing “Wick” spinoff “Ballerina,” starring Ana de Armas.

Actor-exec producer, “Beef”

Wong took on a major challenge by starring in Netflix’s Emmy-nominated rage-filled “Beef” alongside Steven Yeun. While she’s admittedly more comfortable performing stand-up comedy, she stretched new muscles and proved she has what it takes to lead a series, which she also executive produced. “I’m most proud of the friendships I made from ‘Beef.’ I respect the people I worked with so much, and everyone dresses incredibly well off-camera,” she says. “There’s a lot of all-over-print fleece, billowy cropped pants and oversizing happening. So, it’s been a challenge, planning my outfit every time we get together.”

President, AMPAS

Yang and AMPAS CEO Bill Kramer worked hard to make sure the first Academy Awards ceremony on their watch was scandal-free and succeeded, helping to restore luster to the event post slap-gate, “though that seems like ancient history now.” In October, AMPAS made the tough decision to postpone the Academy Museum fundraising gala 36 hours before the event due to the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict. The SAG-AFTRA strike also added uncertainty to the Oscar season. “We’re still on pins and needles about everything that is going on,” says Yang, who believes the joy of filmmaking should be celebrated even in challenging times. “I think people need this now more than ever.”

Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

The prolific dealmaker led FilmRise in its $125 million credit facility increase, advised Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat expansion after its $100 million capital raise, which she also led. She works hard with Asian American-Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander orgs to raise the community’s visibility. “I’m a big believer of ‘if you can see it, you can be it.’ There’s been a groundswell within the AANHPI entertainment community in supporting each other and highlighting our contributions to the broader community, so the next generation can dream with less restrictions,” she says. “As a mom of two young kids, it’s important that I contribute where I can.”