The all-new Hollywood Reporter offers unprecedented access to the people, studios, networks and agencies that create the magic in Hollywood. Published weekly, the oversized format includes exceptional photography and rich features.
As a young woman in Hollywood, Sherry Lansing was mainly mentored by men. Back then, in the 1970s, most of the mentors around had Y chromosomes; very few women had ascended the heights that Lansing scaled as she climbed her way to becoming, in 1980, president of production at Fox, the first female in history to run a major studio. Four and a half decades later, one could argue that the majority of America’s cultural output is overseen by women. Bela Bajaria at Netflix, Jennifer Salke at Amazon, Dana Walden at Disney and Donna Langley at Universal, along with scores of other powerhouse women — many of them taking bows in THR’s annual Power 100 list (see page 61) — can today claim credit (and, occasionally, blame) for a huge…
In the storied 15-year history of The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program, some mentor/mentee relationships have truly stood the test of time. One of the most noteworthy is the pairing of Paola Franco and Jennifer Salke in the 2013-14 cohort. At the time they were matched, Salke, now boss of Amazon Studios, was president of entertainment at NBC and Franco was a student at City Honors Preparatory High School in Inglewood. “Getting to see Jen in her element was truly life-changing for me,” Franco says of being paired with Salke in the program, which THR administers in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles. “It’s trite but true: In order to dream it, you first have to see it. Shadowing her through the program gave…
THE MENTEES Andrea Theodore Roosevelt High School Elisa John F. Kennedy High School Gloria Roybal High School Jazlene Carson High School Kaylee John F. Kennedy High School Leah John F. Kennedy High School Michelle Birmingham Charter High School Stacy City Honors High School Luna Lawndale High School Angie Animo Inglewood High School Melanie Lawndale High School THE MENTORS Jill Brody NBCU, executive vp global partnership marketing Fanshen Cox California Film Commission, DEIA initiative manager Zoe Fairbourn Candle Media/Hello Sunshine, head of branded entertainment Jordan Jacuzzi EIF, senior vp operations, communications and governance Martine McDonald Practice Wonder LLC/Seed & Spark, film curator Leah Medrano California Film Commission, deputy director, tax incentives Bianca Gervacio Nepales Lionsgate, vp diversity, equity and inclusion Chelsey Summey Warner Bros., corporate PR executive Kinga Vasicsek Lucasfilm Ltd.,…
Sports docs are suddenly everywhere. Feature films, docuseries, access shows — every streaming platform has them, and, as reliable viewership drivers, every TV channel that televises live sports wants more of them. And no one is cashing in more than the NFL, the undisputed king of sports media. One big beneficiary is NFL Films, which was founded in 1962 by Ed Sabol and his son, Steve, and can be credited with helping to create the sports doc format that we know today (not to mention things now taken for granted, like instant replay). But the company — which operates as a league-owned Hollywood-quality production studio — has no qualms about breaking with its own traditions. So with the demand for sports content never higher, NFL Films is changing how it…
Kendrick Lamar The artist’s surprise album GNX bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 379.72 million streams of its 12 songs, according to Luminate data. Stephen King The author shutters his local radio stations in Maine, saying that he covered losses for four decades but now needed to “get his business affairs in better order.” Steve Gersh The grandson of the agency’s founder will lead the firm’s newly launched Gersh Sports division after it makes a notable buy of Madrid-based agency You First. Sam Altman The OpenAI chief botches the rollout of visual tool Sora with artists, then a Wall Street Journal report says a Trumpempowered Elon Musk may look to target the exec. Showbiz Stocks $116.45 (+0.5%) WALT DISNEY CO. (DIS) What can Disney say to the…
TOTAL SUBSCRIBERS Jimmy Donaldson’s channel grew by an estimated 108 million subs thanks to videos of extreme stunts like being buried alive and extravagant giveaways like a private island. Twins Alan and Alex Stokes — whose channel is built on pranks and challenges such as buying banned or discontinued products and testing out dangerous rides at theme parks — saw growth of about 67 million subs. Star power still sells. How else could Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, amass more than 66 million YouTube subscribers after being on the platform for just a few months? It helps that Ronaldo has been savvy with how he uses the channel, teaming up with MrBeast on videos. A former NASA engineer, Rober is the king of science…
