With new sexual harassment stories breaking every day, many have suggested that having more women in power would result in less toxic, sexist workplace environments in Hollywood and everywhere else. We don’t consider that a radical idea so much as common sense, but it seems like a mark of progress simply to be having these sorts of conversations. A number of the trailblazers leading that dialogue are featured in The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Power 100, including actress Ashley Judd and New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey.
The trio played an instrumental role in taking down disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein. Judd went on the record with the Times to discuss her harrowing experience with Weinstein, and Kantor and Twohey helped tell her story. The reverberations of the October 5 article detailing Weinstein’s years of alleged abuse are still being felt in the industry and across the world.
Other women on the list include TV titan Shonda Rhimes and “Queen Sugar” creator Ava DuVernay. The former said that the best thing to come out of the Weinstein scandal is that “not one single man has put his hands anywhere near [her] in any work-related situation since. Also, when sexual harassment is reported, it’s now taken seriously. But there’s way more work to be done,” she added. The latter’s busy schedule includes the upcoming release of “A Wrinkle in Time,” the first film helmed by a woman of color with a budget exceeding $100 million. “I don’t have children — these projects are my children,” the “13th” helmer explained. “These are what I leave behind, this is what I dream about, what I love to do, what I always wanted to do, to have that voice. If I’m at the mic, I’m gonna sing, I’m going to do my thing.”
“Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot made the cut. The critically acclaimed super hero film has earned over $821 million worldwide, and is the highest-grossing live-action film ever directed by a woman. Jenkins is signed on to helm the highly anticipated sequel, and her contract makes her the highest-paid woman director ever.
Also featured on the list are industry vets like Jennifer Salke, President of NBC Entertainment, and Stacey Snider, Chairman and CEO of 20th Century Fox Film.
Check out the complete Women in Entertainment Power 100 over at THR.
