Donna Langley

"Last year saw yet another promotion for Donna Langley. Sixteen months after she was named NBCUniversal chief content officer, a role that she occupied alongside her responsibilities as chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group and studio group chair (which she still holds), Langley became chairman of ­NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios. This expanded role, part of a broader corporate restructure, gives Langley oversight of all entertainment programming and marketing across Peacock, Bravo, and NBC. The only woman to lead a legacy Hollywood studio, Langley has overseen a particularly successful two years. In 2023, the huge success of Christopher Nolan’s ­Oppenheimer helped Universal become the highest-grossing studio for the year, toppling Disney for the first time in eight years. The company’s 2024 slate boasted the blockbuster Wicked—a significant contributor to the $3.76 billion total that NBCUniversal made at the global box office last year. Langley’s influence is felt throughout the industry. During the 2023 writer and actor strikes, she was one of four studio heads to lead talks that got Hollywood back to work. A fierce advocate of NBCUniversal having a diverse slate, the Brit has reinvigorated franchises such as Jurassic World and Fast & Furious for new audiences. She has also been known to champion creatives: It was Langley who bet on Oppenheimer when others doubted the commercial appeal of a three-hour World War II drama. "