Who really wields power in Hollywood
FORGET about sucking up to Leo or Angelina. These are the powerbrokers who really pull the strings in Hollywood and get movies made.
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LEO DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie may be hot stuff in Hollywood but the ones who make it happen, the real powerbrokers, are less familiar to the average moviegoer.
Meet some of the most powerful people in Hollywood that every director and actor actually want, and need, to rub shoulders with. These are the people who sign the cheques and give the green light to projects they want to back. You may even recognise some of their names in the credit roll.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN
In the last 10 years, Oscar winners were four times more likely to thank Harvey Weinstein than God in their acceptance speeches. Which makes him the uber-dude of the Hollywood elite, the man behind many of the most successful and acclaimed films in recent times including Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook, The Aviator, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and Chicago.
Formerly president of Miramax, Mr Weinstein has been credited with growing the independent film scene. He went toe-to-toe in a bruising battle with Disney’s Michael Eisner in the mid-2000s and lost, but he rebounded with gumption by setting up The Weinstein Company with brother Bob. The bigger-than-life character known for his brash style was the basis for the ‘Harvey Weingard’ character in Entourage.
On the flip side, he’s responsible for Gwyneth Paltrow’s Shakespeare in Love Oscar.
MEGAN ELLISON
She’s only 28-years old but has already backed winners such as American Hustle, Zero Dark Thirty and Her through her production company Annapurna. Megan Ellison may have had a leg up from her father, software tycoon Larry Ellison who’s worth over $40 billion, but she’s made bold decisions to take on risky projects the major studios passed on.
Starting out at 20-years old, Ms Ellison experienced a few bumps with some tepid investments but hit it big time with the Coen brothers’ True Grit. She’s now a highly sought-after producer and financier, especially by ‘auteur’ directors. In just a few years, Ms Ellison’s films have garnered an impressive 35 Oscar nominations and grossed hundreds of millions of dollars.
SCOTT RUDIN
Scott Rudin was the first producer to EGOT — win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award each — an honour only 10 other have achieved.
His frequent collaborators include the likes of Wes Anderson, David Fincher, Aaron Sorkin, Meryl Streep and the Coen brothers while his filmography boasts The Social Network, No Country for Old Men, The Queen, There Will Be Blood, The Hours, Zoolander, The Truman Show and Captain Phillips among dozens of others.
Mr Rudin is also prolific in theatre and was the producer of mega-hit The Book of Mormon.
KATHLEEN KENNEDY
Kathleen Kennedy’s name is synonymous with Hollywood shine. She’s been involved with pretty much every Steven Spielberg movie since Raiders of the Lost Ark but also boasts Back to the Future, The Goonies, ET, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, The Sixth Sense, Munich, Lincoln and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
But her real power lies in the 2012 move to take over George Lucas’ 1,500-person empire which generates $215 million in revenue. Ms Kennedy is now the president of Lucas Films following its sale to Disney. Given the sacred pantheon of the Star Wars oeuvre, Ms Kennedy’s genius stroke recruiting fanboy favourite JJ Abrams was a huge coup.
MICHAEL LOMBARDO
Big screen movies no longer enjoy the exclusive prestige and glamour they used to with its once-second rate cousin television muscling in on the action. And that’s largely thanks to HBO, which has stolen the crown of attracting the best writers, directors and actors with its incredibly well-produced stories and cultural cachet.
Michael Lombardo heads up all of HBO’s programming, responsible for all the original programming HBO has been lauded for over the last 15 years. A 30-year veteran of the company, Mr Lombardo started with the company in the legal department but is now the man that signs off on ambitious and wildly successful programming such as Game of Thrones, Girls and Behind the Candelabra.
REED HASTINGS
While technically not a resident of Los Angeles, as chief executive and co-founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings is disrupting the traditional distribution model with its headline-grabbing content such as House of Cards, which brought together Kevin Spacey and David Fincher for a web-only series.
Mr Hastings, whose background is in technology and software, saw and capitalised on the changing media consumption behaviours of consumers and knew that if he delivered something outstanding, they will come. Netflix is challenging all the traditional TV networks and premium cable providers such as HBO.
Mr Hastings is also on the board of Facebook.
AMY PASCAL
Amy Pascal is one of the most powerful women in Hollywood as the co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment with hundreds of millions of dollars at her disposal. Under her tenure, she’s been responsible for flicks such as Spider-Man, which raked in $404 million, Captain Phillips and Skyfall.
Ms Pascal also oversees Sony TV which is responsible for high-rating The Blacklist and the in-development Breaking Bad spin-off. However, more recently, Ms Pascal has had to find $250 million in savings as the film division struggles.
BRAD GREY
Brad Grey has been the chairman and chief executive of Paramount since 2005 and has bankrolled movies including Transformers, Iron Man, Shutter Island, An Inconvenient Truth and Hugo. Plus, he was also a producer on The Sopranos and The Larry Sanders Show.
Mr Grey previously built his own company, Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, a management and production firm. He also serves on UCLA’s executive board for the Medical Sciences and on boards at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and University of southern California.
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