Matéria publicada no Celluloid Junkie  em 17 de novembro de 2022

Since 2016 Celluloid Junkie has published an annual list of women leading the cinema industry in various capacities. This list has become so popular and eagerly anticipated that we now get inquiries and nominations throughout the year. Yet because we focus on both the motion picture exhibition and distribution industries, we always felt as if we were neglecting one side of the business. With that in mind we are happy to be presenting our inaugural Top Women In Global Distribution list.

One reservation we had when compiling this list was that we might overlook important executives, and we very well may have. It was for this reason that we suggested listing nominees in alphabetical order, though were advised by many to maintain a ranked order. As well, we struggled to find entrants from certain territories such as Asia, Africa and India.

We consulted with key members of the cinema community and are grateful to all the input we received, from all over the world, including our friends at Comscore, Aya Umezu of GEM Partners in Japan and Marcelo Lima of Tonks in Brazil, to name just a few.

The only criteria we had when putting the list together was that the nominees work specifically in distribution. There were countless amazing professionals from studios, distributors, content service providers and sales companies working in marketing or legal or senior management that we debated including. For instance, Donna Langley, the Chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group was frequently suggested, though runs the entire studio, rather than working solely in distribution.

As such, we expect our top nominee this year, Anna Marsh, will likely not be eligible next year since she has been promoted to Deputy CEO of the entire Canal+ Group. We suspect many of this year’s other nominees will follow suit as they make their way into senior management positions within the industry extending beyond distribution. We truly look forward to cheering them on in the process and highlighting the achievements of those who will inevitably follow in their footsteps.