While everybody loves movies and television (well, almost everybody), not everybody knows how the sausage gets made. It takes millions of dollars and thousands of talented people to bring the entertainment you love to screens big and small, and it’s too much trouble for casual fans to keep track of every single one of them.
But there are some real power players behind the scenes of the movies and television you love the most. These are the people who drive the industry forward, either with huge blockbusters, giant ratings draws or the art house films that rock the Oscars and have an enormous artistic influence all the way across the industry. And while there are a lot more than thirteen major power players in entertainment, the following group of talented producers, executives and filmmakers are the ones that have currently got us excited for the future of the business we call “show.”
Movers and Shakers: 13 Power Players in Entertainment
Photo Credit: WireImage
Movers and Shakers: 13 Power Players in Entertainment
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J.J. Abrams
After an early year writing melodramas (Regarding Henry, Forever Young) and forgettable comedies (Taking Care of Business, Gone Fishin'), J.J. Abrams reinvented himself as an influential TV producer, whose shows Lost, Felicity and Alias captured the public's imagination. In recent years, Abrams and his production company Bad Robot have been taking over some of the biggest franchises in Hollywood, including Star Trek, Mission: Impossible and the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens. There's just no stopping Abrams: he's even cut a deal to produce films based on the critically acclaimed video games from Valve.
Photo Credit: WireImage
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Jason Blum
It took fifteen years for producer Jason Blum to find out his niche in the Hollywood studio system, transitioning from forgettable dramas and comedies (The Tooth Fairy, anyone?) to low-budget blockbuster horror movies. Blum has spearheaded many of the most popular horror franchises of the last decade, including Paranormal Activity, Insidious and The Purge, and continues to release multiple hit genre films per year. But the man they call "The Samuel Z. Arkoff of the 21st Century" isn't all about scare tactics: he just received his first Oscar nomination for last year's critically-acclaimed drama Whiplash.
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Megan Ellison
It may look like Megan Ellison had an easy transition into producing movies - her father, Larry Ellison, is the billionaire chairman of Oracle Corporation - but although acquiring financing for her features may not be an enormous achievement, her impeccable taste certainly is. In just five years, her Annapurna Pictures have produced three Best Picture nominees - Zero Dark Thirty, American Hustle and Her - and several of the most acclaimed films of the decade, including The Master and Spring Breakers. Ellison is getting ready to expand her horizons outside of the art house drama circuit this year with Terminator Genisys, which is expected to jumpstart the popular sci-fi franchise.
Photo Credit: Getty Images North America
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Kevin Feige
Kevin Feige has been with Marvel Studios since nearly the beginning: he was named an associate producer on X-Men, the studio's second film. Since then this producer has risen to the rank of President of Marvel Studios, spearheading a blockbuster revolution that made comic book adaptations a driving force in the entertainment economy. To date, his films have grossed over $8.3 billion worldwide, and with plans already underway to keep Marvel's superhero franchise going through 2019, Kevin Feige shows no signs of stopping.
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David Fenkel (pictured), Daniel Katz and John Hodges
This team of marketing and distribution veterans jumped to the forefront of exciting cinema when they founded A24 Films, a distribution, finance and production company that has already developed a powerful reputation for quality cinema. Since 2013, Fenkel, Katz and Hodges have brought audiences the acclaimed motion pictures Under the Skin, Locke, Obvious Child, A Most Violent Year, Ex Machina and the upcoming Sundance hit The End of the Tour. Amongst those in the know, any film emerging from A24 is being greeted with great anticipation.
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Andrew Kriesberg, Marc Guggenheim and Greg Berlanti
Warner Bros. has been slow to challenge Marvel Studios' dominance at the superhero box office, but thanks to these pioneering TV producers, they are dominating the small screen. The acclaim and dedicated fandom for Arrow has led to another hit spin-off, The Flash, with a third series arriving in 2016 called DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Their faithfulness to source material, whilst still finding bold new approaches to superhero storytelling, has turned them into a cottage industry that the CW Channel is actively nurturing. For once, Marvel is being forced to play catch up, with their upcoming street level superhero shows on Netflix clearly taking a cue from Kriesberg, Guggenheim and Berlanti's approach.
Photo Credit: FilmMagic
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Shonda Rhimes
After a successful career as a screenwriter for films like Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and The Princess Diaries 2, Shonda Rhimes made an impressive jump to television, creating the breakout success Grey's Anatomy in 2005. Since then, Rhimes has become one of the most dominant voices on the small screen, shaking up storytelling conventions with Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder: original, unlikely dramas starring fascinating women. All eyes are now on Rhimes to see what new ground she'll break next.
Photo Credit: FilmMagic
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D.B. Weiss and David Benioff
Although David Benioff had a successful screenwriting career with films like Troy and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, nobody could have predicted that he and relatively obscure screenwrite/novelist D.B. Weiss would go on to produce the most talked about series on television. Seeing the potential for an ambitious, game-changing TV drama in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, they convinced HBO to take a chance on the expensive, violent, sex-filled saga, and convinced Martin himself to help spearhead the production. The resulting series, Game of Thrones, has put Weiss and Benioff on the map, and if the ratings are any indication, they're going to be there for a long time. When every scribble you write has the whole world talking, you are definitely one of the power players in entertainment.
Photo Credit: Getty Images North America
