Top Hollywood producers Mary Parent (“Dune: Part 2”), Lucy Fisher (“Gladiator II”) and Sue Naegle (“Nightbitch”) join TheGrill 2024 for an exclusive Powerhouse Producers panel presented by Wrapbook Payroll, moderated by award-winning journalist Laura Holson.
The panel promises to deliver unparalleled insights into the ever-evolving landscape of film and television production.
Mary Parent is the chairman of Worldwide Production at Legendary Entertainment, overseeing all aspects of film for the company. While at Legendary, she has produced the Academy Award-winning film “Dune” and its follow up “Dune: Part Two,” as well as “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” “Enola Holmes,” “Detective Pikachu,” and Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s virtual reality piece, “CARNE y ARENA,” which received a rare Special Achievement Oscar® for its groundbreaking exploration of fully immersive storytelling.
Upcoming highlights in 2025 include the live-action/animation hybrid comedy “Animal Friends,” starring Ryan Reynolds, as well as “Minecraft,” based on the world’s bestselling game, starring Jason Momoa and Jack Black.
Prior to joining Legendary in 2016, Parent was founder and CEO of Disruption Entertainment, where she produced a prolific slate of films including Oscar winner “The Revenant.”
Parent has been actively involved in films amassing over $22 billion at the global box office.
Lucy Fisher is an award-winning motion picture producer and co-chair of Red Wagon Entertainment. Her iconic films include the upcoming “Gladiator II,” directed by Ridley Scott and starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington — as well as international blockbusters “The Great Gatsby,” which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and earned two Academy Awards; “Memoirs of a Geisha,” which garnered three Academy Awards, and “The Divergent Series.”
Fisher’s past roles include vice chairman of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group at Sony and key leadership positions at Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox and Zoetrope Studios.
Sue Naegle is the producer of the highly anticipated film “Nightbitch,” which recently premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and stars Amy Adams.
Prior to forming Dinner Party Productions and inking her deal with UCP, Naegle was CCO at Annapurna Pictures, overseeing TV, Film and Theatre. Naegle executive produced the 10-time Emmy-nominated Hulu series “Pam & Tommy,” starring Sebastian Stan and Lily James; the two-time Emmy-nominated HBO Max series, “The Staircase,” starring Colin Firth and Toni Collette; Showtime’s “I Love That for You,” created by and starring Vanessa Bayer; HBO’s “The Plot Against America;” Amazon’s “Dead Ringers,” starring Rachel Weisz and Apple TV+’s “The Changeling,” starring LaKeith Stanfield.
Laura Holson, a veteran of The New York Times, is an award-winning journalist and founder of The Box Sessions creativity conference. Holson reported for the Times for two decades about the intersection of money, power and influence in Silicon Valley, New York and Hollywood.
Holson approaches her work as a cultural anthropologist and has been widely published, including in Vanity Fair, Fast Company, Town & Country, Marie Claire and Businessweek. She won a National Magazine Award for public service and is a frequent podcast guest and moderator, and writes a newsletter about creativity. As founder of The Box Sessions, she is responsible for program design and strategy and teaches workshops and classes on writing and the importance of a creative culture.
The Powerhouse Producers panel will explore how Producers are adapting to the changing landscape of entertainment, the emerging opportunities, the challenges and the impact of AI. Additionally, they will discuss their approaches to developing original content, collaborating with directors and writers and assembling talented teams.
Additional speakers at this year’s event include: Peter Guber (Owner, Los Angeles Dodgers & Co-Owner, Golden State Warriors), Jeff Sagansky (CEO & President, Double Eagle Acquisition), Sue Bird (WNBA Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist & Co-Founder of A Touch More and Togethxr), Megan Rapinoe (Soccer Legend, Activist, New York Times’ Best-Selling Author & Co-Founder of A Touch More), Melody Hildebrandt (CTO, Fox Corporation), Shalini Govil-Pai (GM & VP, TV, Google), Justine Bateman (Filmmaker & Founder, CREDO23), Lolo Spencer (Disability Advocate & Actress, “Sex Lives of College Girls”), Jeremie Harris (CEO, Gladstone AI), Edouard Harris (CTO, Gladstone AI) and many more.
Click here to view the full program and to buy tickets.
For more than a decade, TheWrap’s Grill event series has led the conversation on the convergence of entertainment, media and technology, bringing together newsmakers to debate the challenges of and opportunities for making content in the digital age. TheGrill delivers a unique series of curated discussions, industry panels and virtual networking activations that explore the ever-changing media landscape. For more information visit: thewrap.com/thegrill
TheGrill 2024 sponsors include Easterseals Southern California, City National Bank, Wrapbook Payroll, Veritone, Inc., SAG-AFTRA, Sony Pictures, New York Festivals, Warner Bros. Discovery and The Los Angeles Film School.
TheGrill 2023 Speaker Portraits (Photos)