In her new role as chief content officer, Donna Langley won’t just be overseeing Universal’s slate of films. She will also take ownership of its TV and streaming creative strategy. It’s an elevation that many industry players saw as inevitable – after all, how much longer could the company keep the in-demand executive without expanding her portfolio?.

Over more than a decade, she has routinely pushed Universal to the top of the film studio heap, and done so without controlling intellectual property like Star Wars or the Avengers. She’s managed to deliver and develop homegrown franchises – much credit goes to Langley for returning to the park with the rebooted "Jurassic World" and for keeping Vin Diesel behind the wheel of the "Fast and Furious" series well beyond the point where most competitors would have stalled.

Plus, Langley has earned the respect of the industry for her willingness to back edgier fare and emerging talent. She threw down for Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, "Get Out", and has made Universal the home of his follow-ups "Us" and "Nope", Langley also made a bet that Elizabeth Banks could move beyond acting into producing and directing, giving her the "Pitch Perfect" series and the recent gonzo box office hit, "Cocaine Bear". In 2023 alone, with an unparalleled focus on building a diverse slate portfolio, Langley led the motion picture group through the birth of new franchises, including M3GAN, Violent Night, Illumination's Super Mario Bros.

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