THR: Studio Executive Roundtable

One of the benefits of this time of the year is that the Hollywood Reporter conducts a series of roundtable interviews with a variety of players in the movie business. The first one to hit this year: Studio Execs.

As busy as it is for talent during awards season, they’ve got nothing on the top executives running the major studios and independent companies. More often than not, these execs have multiple movies to shepherd through the dizzying process and parade of events. To kick off our annual Awards Season Roundtable Series, THR invited six of them — Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker, 58, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-chairman Rob Friedman, 62, Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos, 60, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, 61, Universal co-chairman Donna Langley, 44, and Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore, 50 — to engage in a candid discussion about why Paramount passed on Moneyball, the big gambles behind Life of Pi and Les Miserables and how much awards, for better or worse, mean to them.

As far as screenwriters are concerned, it’s important to learn as much as possible about the studio executive mindset. They are the Buyers. Here is an hour-long interview with six top execs. You should watch it.

For more of the Hollywood Reporter article, go here.

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