Donna Langley wants you to look on the bright side. NBCUniversal’s chief content officer underscored the need for optimism in this troubled time in Hollywood – where austerity reigns, jobs are scarce and creatives are vexed by the approaching AI revolution. “Everybody is talking about the doom and gloom of our industry, but we have to be believers,” Langley told legal legend Ken Ziffren on Friday, keynoting UCLA’s annual entertainment symposium. The pair were specifically discussing the urgent dilemma in...
NBCUniversal
Donna
Langley
Chairman, Studio Group / Chief Content Officer
Longtime Universal film chief Langley was given the top content job at NBCUniversal this year, becoming head of a new unified strategy across brands that combined the company’s film and TV studios under one leader. Along with her existing oversight of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation), she added the TV-focused Universal Studio Group (Universal Television, Universal Content Productions, Universal Television Alternative Studios, Universal International Studios). Her purview had been expanded in a larger reshuffle at NBCUniversal under new Comcast president Mike Cavanagh, who consolidated power to four key execs: Langley (TV, film and streaming content), Mark Lazarus (TV and streaming business ops, advertising and distribution), Cesar Conde (news) and Mark Woodbury (theme parks). Langley’s first big task was shaping a companywide content release plan amid Hollywood’s writers and actors strikes.
