THE FIGHTER: FRAN DRESCHER

The outspoken SAG-AFTRA president ruffled feathers and made headlines on her crusade to fight for the actors branch, burnishing an unlikely second act for America’s nanny. “I just got back from Europe and everywhere I went workers thanked me. I spoke the truth and it was like the emperor’s new clothes. All of a sudden everybody woke up and realized that they are important!”

THE TRAILBLAZER: AVA DuVERNAY

“The disruption that we’re seeing in the traditional structures and systems of Hollywood is a good thing,” says DuVernay, a former movie publicist who’s now one of the most significant forces in the industry. “And I am thrilled to step into that space of vulnerability because that is where great things happen and brave things happen.” Her work as a director and an advocate continues to shed light on the underrepresented, both onscreen and off.

THE HITMAKER: MARK RONSON

At 18, Ronson began his career DJ’ing in New York City and later collaborated with Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars, Miley Cyrus, and Lady Gaga. Last year, he wrangled Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, and more on Barbie’s hit soundtrack. Throw in Meryl Streep as his mother-in-law, and Ronson just might be Hollywood’s official bandleader.

THE MATRIARCH: KRIS JENNER

Murder trials and sex tapes are not the typical stepping stones on the path to mogul status, but Jenner has defied all expectations, both for herself and her five fashion-and-fame-loving daughters. Reality television, it turns out, was just the launching pad for the family’s now multibillion-dollar lifestyle empire. If you’re still asking what their talent is, you haven’t been paying attention.

THE GODMOTHER: MIKY LEE

From Parasite to Snowpiercer, Lee is the secret weapon behind the Korean wave that’s hit Hollywood. An heiress to the Samsung fortune and the vice chairwoman of CJ, she has one goal: to support and foster cultural connections for a richer, more diverse world. This year she brought her prowess as a producer to Celine Song’s gorgeous, ruminative best picture nominee, Past Lives.

THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES: CASEY WASSERMAN

Chairman and CEO of his namesake sports, music, and entertainment group, Wasserman and his team oversee the careers of superstars of all kinds, and with his civic hat on, he’s running the 2028 Olympic Games in LA. The opening ceremony will be at SoFi Stadium, he says, and the Games will be an enormous boon for the city that his grandfather helped build. “When you’re raised by Lew Wasserman, giving back was not a choice,” he says. “It was an obligation.”

THE DIRECTOR AND HER MUSES: KIRSTEN DUNST, ELLE FANNING, SOFIA COPPOLA, CAILEE SPAENY

From the Palace of Versailles to the grounds of Graceland, Coppola has explored coming of age with a keen ear and a poet’s eye, inspiring a generation of female filmmakers as well as adding an unexpected new chapter to a legendary family business. Now, after directing movies for 25 years, she sits for the first time with her trio of heroines: Dunst (The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, The Beguiled), Fanning (Somewhere, The Beguiled), and Spaeny (Priscilla).

THE ADVOCATE: JANE FONDA

“Hollywood is actually cozy if you have a car, know how to drive, and have friends,” says the actor, producer, activist, and humanitarian, who stepped up again during the actors and writers strikes last year. “It can also seem huge, empty, and lonely if you don’t have a car, don’t drive, and don’t have friends. I’ve lived a whole lot of places in my life, and I think that LA is where I want to die.”

THE CHAMPION: DAME DONNA LANGLEY

With 261 films under her belt as chairman of Universal Pictures, Langley may be the most powerful woman in Hollywood. A favorite of people in front of and behind the camera, she drove the studio’s most Oscar nominations of all time this year, thanks in part to her gamble on Oppenheimer. “The biggest films of 2023 weren’t sequels but firsts, and Universal has always believed in this philosophy,” she says. “Singular storytelling from a collection of brilliant filmmakers reminded us in so many ways why we love what we do.”

THE POWER DINERS: EVAN FUNKE, GABÉ DOPPELT, DIMITRI DIMITROV, JEFF KLEIN, MICHAEL CHOW

Power dining in Hollywood is an art, and these proprietors, chefs, and gatekeepers still run the show. Funke’s restaurants include Felix Trattoria, Mother Wolf, and Funke, which draw regulars like Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Michelle Obama, and Justin and Hailey Bieber. Klein, seen here with front-of-house favorites Dimitrov and Doppelt, owns the Tower Bar and San Vicente Bungalows and counts Tom Ford, Rihanna, Jennifer Aniston, and Steven Spielberg as happy customers. Chow’s legendary Beverly Hills outpost draws the likes of Lady Gaga, Drake, Stevie Wonder, and Al Pacino.

THE MVP: RICH PAUL

The world at large may know him best as Adele’s partner, but Paul’s journey with longtime friend LeBron James has helped make him arguably the most influential agent in sports, and he has an appetite for more. His Klutch Sports Group is backed by United Talent Agency, his memoir Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds was a bestseller, and he is taking real shots at film, TV, music, and beyond: “I may have started in sports, but it definitely won’t end there.”

THE VOICES: THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA

Apparently, it’s not enough that they write the shows that power pop culture. Last year, the WGA had to choose between a strike that few of them could afford and watching their profession go extinct thanks to corporations and AI. The people here (and their 20,000 fellow members) picketed, negotiated, orated, and provided for the most vulnerable among them. It’s more than a guild: It’s a movement.

THE AMBASSADOR: NICOLE AVANT

Born in LA and raised by music executive Clarence Avant and philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, Nicole grew up with legends in her living room. After tragedy struck her family, the former ambassador to the Bahamas—a world-class connector and the wife of Netflix’s Ted Sarandos—channeled grief into a book, Think You’ll Be Happy. Avant’s father always said that what matters is what you achieve between the dates on your tombstone: “What are you going to do with your dash?”

THE MAESTRO: JON BATISTE

The Louisiana-born musician was winning Grammys, composing music, advocating for social justice, and leading Stephen Colbert’s band when his wife Suleika Jaouad’s cancer returned. With Matthew Heineman already underway on a documentary about Batiste’s music, the couple opted to truly let him into their lives. The result? American Symphony, a brilliant examination of fame and family, with, of course, an Oscar-nominated song.

Jenner: Hair, Léa Journo; makeup, Etienne Ortega; tailor, Zoya Milentyeva. Produced on location by Portfolio One. Sculpture: © Yoshitomo Nara. DuVernay: Hair, Fesa Nu; makeup, Adam Burrell; tailor, Zoya Milentyeva. Produced on location by Portfolio One. Ronson: Grooming, Vaughn; tailor, Olga Dudnik; set design, Michael Sturgeon. Produced on location by Madi Overstreet. Lee: Produced on location by Madi Overstreet. Wasserman: Grooming, Clay Nielsen. Produced on location by Madi Overstreet. Dunst, Fanning, Coppola, and Spainey: Hair, Orlando Pita (Coppola, Dunst), Marki Shkreli (Fanning, Spaeny); makeup, Tyron Machhausen (Fanning, Spaeny), Gucci Westman (Coppola, Dunst); manicures, Maria Salandra; tailor, Marius Ahiale; set design, Viki Rutsch. Produced on location by Portfolio One. Fonda: Hair, Jonathan Hanousek; makeup, David DeLeon; tailor, Zoya Milentyeva. Produced on location by Portfolio One. Langley: Hair, Beatrice Valenzuela; makeup, Katelin Gan; tailor, Zoya Milentyeva. Produced on location by Portfolio One. Funke, Doppelt, Dimitrov, Klein, and Chow: Hair, Juanita Lyon; makeup and grooming, Leibi Carias; set design, Anthony A. Altomare. Produced on location by Bauie+Rad. Paul: Grooming, Slick Castellanos; tailor, Zoya Milentyeva. Produced on location by Portfolio One. Writers Guild of America: Hair, makeup, and grooming, Destiny Venice; set design, Thomas Thurnauer. Produced on location by Madi Overstreet. Avant: Hair and makeup, Amy Oresman. Produced on location by Madi Overstreet. Batiste: Hair, Jenna Robinson; grooming, Jesse Lindholm; tailor, Olga Dudnik; set design, Michael Sturgeon. Produced on location by Madi Overstreet. Drescher: Hair, Jon Lieckfelt; makeup, Gregory Arlt; manicure, Chantalynn; set design, Thomas Thurnauer. Produced on location by Madi Overstreet. For details, go to VF.com/ credits.