2019-10-16 The Hollywood Reporter

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 70 OCTOBER 16, 2019

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34 JON FELTHEIMER

CEO

MICHAEL BURNS

Vice chairman

JOE DRAKE

Motion Picture Group chairman

KEVIN BEGGS

Television Group chair

In January, Feltheimer, 68, and

Burns, 61, will mark their 20th

anniversary running the studio,

which has been the subject of

persistent sale rumors. The 2016

acquisition of Starz has shown

positive signs, with subscrib-

ers jumping from 23.5 million to

24.7 million in 2019. But recent

reports of a possible Starz spinoff

or sale sent Lionsgate’s stock to a

nearly eight-year low (though the

company likely would turn a profit

on a Starz sale given that it bought

it for $4.4 billion and already turned

down a $5 billion offer from CBS in

the spring). Buoyed by $323 million

worldwide for John Wick: Chapter 3

— Parabellum (the first greenlight

for Drake, 58), the film slate earned

93 percent more in the first six

months of 2019 than it did in 2018’s

first half, with Rambo: Last Blood

showing that the series still has legs

($81.9 million). Under Beggs, 53, TV

continued the success of its best

development year in the studio’s

history, with more than 70 projects

set up with network partners from

Apple to Quibi.

YOU FIND BOB IGER’S PHONE.

WHICH CONTACT DO YOU CALL?

Feltheimer: Han Solo.

Beggs: “Tim Cook. To ask how to

operate my new Apple Watch.”

35 SEAN BAILEY

President of production

Walt Disney Studios

Motion Picture Production

EMMA WATTS

President

20th Century Fox Film

THE WALT DISNEY CO.

Bailey is having his best year ever.

The Lion King grossed $1.64 billion,

followed by Aladdin with $1.1 billion.

Upcoming titles include Maleficent:

Mistress of Evil, Mulan (March) and

Jungle Cruise (July). On top of his

theatrical slate, Bailey has been

quietly making movies for Disney+

(he’s in production on his eighth).

“We feel like we have been working

in a secret lab,” he says. Watts, 49,

is one of the few top Fox execs to

make the jump to Disney. She saw a

big win with Bohemian Rhapsody’s

$904 million (and four Academy

Awards), but Dark Phoenix and

smaller titles flamed out, prompt-

ing Iger to reassure Wall Street his

team would get Fox on track. Ford

v Ferrari has box office and Oscar

hopes, and The King’s Man rolls out

in February. Watts also is in charge

of James Cameron’s Avatar series.

A TOP TALENT (NOT ON YOUR

PLATFORM) WHOM YOU ADMIRE

Both: Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

UTA

36 JEREMY ZIMMER

CEO

DAVID KRAMER

AND JAY SURES

Co-presidents

In July, the agency added a major

pillar via a partnership with Klutch

Sports Group and also bolstered

its strength in the online talent

space by acquiring Digital Brand

Architects. And it’s one year into

Civic Center Media, a joint venture

with MRC (which shares a parent

company with THR) to develop,

produce and finance premium TV.

Although the move did not endear

the agency to the writers who

exited en masse this year, Sures,

52, who leads alongside Zimmer, 61,

and Kramer, 51, says “solving the

WGA dispute” is a key priority.

GO-TO PODCAST FOR A LONG DRIVE

Zimmer: “I prefer music, but the

Wondery folks tell amazing stories.”

Sures: 10% Happier With Dan

Harris. Kramer: Revisionist History

or Gangster Capitalism.

37 REESE WITHERSPOON

Actor-producer

Growing content company Hello

Sunshine (led by CEO Sarah

Harden), Witherspoon is both her

own industrial complex (TV, films,

podcasts, audio and digital series)

and a brand (19.4 million Instagram

followers and lifestyle label Draper

James). The 43-year-old Oscar win-

ner also is developing a prestige TV

addiction. She toplined and execu-

tive produced a second season of

Big Little Lies in 2019 before doing

the same for Apple TV+ big swing

The Morning Show and Hulu’s Little

Fires Everywhere (2020).

38 TYLER PERRY

Actor-writer-producer

Oprah, Beyoncé and Jay-Z and

the Clintons were just a few of the

A-listers who graced the opening of

Perry’s namesake studio in Atlanta

on Oct. 5, as he became the first

black filmmaker to own a studio with

no corporate backing or partners.

Perry, 50, also has set up his first

project, BET’s The Oval (part of his

megadeal with Viacom), and formed

a production company with former

Lionsgate exec Tim Palen.

GO-TO LISTEN FOR A LONG DRIVE

“Anything by Nina Simone.”

39 BONNIE HAMMER

Chairman

NBCU Content Studios

NBCUNIVERSAL

Hammer has spent 2019 stocking

NBCUniversal’s streamer (Peacock,

arriving in April) with library content

like The Office and originals includ-

ing a new Battlestar Galactica. But on

Oct. 9, CEO Steve Burke announced

that Hammer, 69, would head studios

Universal TV and Universal Content

Productions, making her a key con-

tent supplier for all platforms.

YOU FIND BOB IGER’S PHONE.

WHICH CONTACT DO YOU CALL?

“His personal trainer, nutritionist

and financial adviser ... not neces-

sarily in that order!”

40 STEVEN SPIELBERG

Director-producer

He may have had to retreat on his

battle to exclude Netflix from Oscar

contention, but Spielberg, 72, remains

an industry giant with massive influ-

ence, as he proved earlier this year

when Green Book (Amblin’s co-pro-

duction with Participant) was named

best picture. His ability to capture

the zeitgeist will be tested anew

with Amblin’s 1917 (from American

Beauty helmer Sam Mendes) and

Spielberg’s own much-hyped West

Side Story, set for December 2020.

41 LORNE MICHAELS

Producer

At 74, Michaels still has it — “it”

being the most influential variety

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Steven Spielberg