The Hollywood Reporter - 06.11.2019

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executive team at Funny or Die that

has been helping the comedy com-

pany navigate the turbulent digital

space. Under his watch, they’ve

built out a slate of digital shows like

Under a Rock With Tig Notaro and

Cooking With Jeff Goldblum. While

digital distribution has evolved since

Funny or Die first went live with

shorts like The Landlord, To o m b s

notes, “What hasn’t changed is that

what’s good is good. Good creators,

good writers, good talent still break

through.” The Indiana University

grad, who is expecting his second

child with his wife, Aynsley, also

established an in-house creative

agency, which handles social and

influencer marketing for Funny or

Die-produced shows like American

Vandal and No Activity.

TALENT I’M DYING TO WORK WITH

LeBron James

SADAO TURNER // 34

V P of Social Media,

Westbrook Media

It was Turner who got the call in 2017

when Will Smith’s manager, Miguel

Melendez, wanted to introduce the

actor to YouTube and Instagram.

The Los Angeles native, who grew

up around the industry thanks to

his mother, a model, actress and

hatmaker, had already built his

digital bona fides at Ryan Seacrest

Productions, where he developed

an online and social strategy for the

host’s radio show and other media

properties. The Cal State Northridge

dropout had wanted to be a director

of photography but says he “never

really had the patience for film” and

enjoyed digital’s fast pace. With

Smith, the goal was to create an

online identity driven by his focus on

entertaining, inspiring and instruct-

ing audiences. Today Smith, who

has 39 million Instagram followers

and 7 million YouTube subscribers, is

considered one of the most social-

media-savvy entertainers around.

“Will’s personality was perfect for

social media long before he was ever

on social media,” says Turner, who

through Smith’s Westbrook Media

now also oversees the social strat-

egy for Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red

Table Talk, Jaden Smith’s Just Water

brand and actor John Boyega.

THE PERSON I’D SWITCH JOBS WITH FOR

A DAY “[Twitter CEO] Jack Dorsey, so

I can add an ‘edit tweet’ feature, at

least for a day.”

Kaitlyn Dever^ / 22

The Texas-raised actress
has been working steadily
in Hollywood since she was
11 years old. Dever, who
was born to figure skater
parents (her dad went on to
voice both Barney the dino-
saur and Bob the Builder
later in his career), spent
several years moving fluidly
between roles on the small
screen (Justified, Last Man
Standing) and the big (The
Spectacular Now, Short
Te rm 1 2). But between
back-to-back leading parts
in critical hits Booksmart
and Unbelievable, 2019
was a banner year for her.
Next up for Dever is B.J.
Novak’s FX limited series
Platform opposite Lucas
Hedges and Annapurna-
produced horror anthology
Monsterland for Hulu.
LAST SHOW I BINGED
Euphoria
ONSCREEN CHARACTER I
MOST IDENTIFIED WITH AS
A KID “Anthony Michael Hall
in every John Hughes film.”

“My family is a

big sailing family —

my dad’s a boat

builder, my sister is

an amazing sailor

— and I sucked,”

says Charlie Barnett

(left, with Jacob

Elordi and Kaitlyn

Dever). “I had to find

something to do,

so my mom put me

in opera camp.

And I got the bug.”

Jack Nichhoolsoon

Margaret Qualley

Sarah Paulsoon

Kaitlyn Dever

WinoonaRRyydeer

Barbie Ferreira

Markk Ryllaancce

Jonathan Majors

Jannet MMoockk

Hunter Schafer

WesAndeersoon

Ella Balinska

Amyy Addaamss

Tay l o r R u s s e l l

The person

I’m dying to

work with ...