Donna Langley Gives Thanks for Kering’s Women in Motion Award

It’s something out of a movie, the way a young Donna Langley first discovered the magic of film. The chairman of NBCU studio group and chief content officer was in her late teens, broadening her horizons in Paris away from her upbringing on the tiny Isle of Wight off the English Channel.

 It was there she saw films like Jean-Jacques Beineix’s “Diva,” Luc Besson’s “Le Grand Bleu” and retrospectives on the works of auteurs like Jean-Luc Godard.

 “God, it all sounds horribly pretentious, but it was a very formative time I spent in Paris and, of course, the Everyman movie theater in Hampstead in London,” she recalls. Those memories make it all the more exceptional that on May 19, Langley will accept Kering’s Women in Motion honor at this year’s Cannes Film Festival — an event many consider to be the epicenter of the commercial and arthouse film worlds. The prize will be presented by Kering chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault, Cannes president Iris Knobloch and festival director Thierry Frémaux.

Langley’s honor is part of Kering’s pioneering Women in Motion program, which was launched in 2015 and highlights the creativity and contribution made by women in the world of culture and the arts. During the gala dinner, Langley will be celebrated alongside Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu, who will receive the 2024 Women in Motion Emerging Talent Award.

Honors are something Langley has gotten a lot of lately. Last year, she was elevated to chief content officer — introducing oversight of television and streaming series to her duties as guardian of
the film studio. She was also named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2024, and is the most powerful autonomous female studio head in industry history.

 “I view France as being the home of the auteur, and they do take such good care of artisans and artists. The medium is held in high esteem, so it’s a very meaningful honor for me,” Langley says. “This [Kering award] very specifically honors women across multiple disciplines. So, when you talk about my role now across film and television, it does feel like it comes at the right time. It’s important to continue to lift up women. I’ve watched what Kering has done with this award and it’s impressive. It’s global. It shines a light.”

Universal achieved the pinnacle of Hollywood success this year with best picture Oscar-winner “Oppenheimer,” the Christopher Nolan opus that grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide. On top of consistent franchise earners such as “Fast and Furious,” Illumination’s “Despicable Me” series, a prolific output deal with genre studio Blumhouse and the prestige operations Focus Features and Working Title, Langley has built what is perhaps the most stable and consistent film portfolio in a business rattled by drastic changes in consumer habits. She’s humbled by Kering’s recognition, as well as the work the luxury goods company does to elevate other women.

 “I’m not one to rest on my laurels. But let’s have an appropriate amount of pride in what we do, you know? It’s very important to keep things in perspective: You’re only as good as your most recent hit,” she says. “I am driven to see what’s next. Who is the next great storyteller? What’s the next great story to be told?”

 What’s next for the studio arrives this Thanksgiving, when Langley and her team will roll out Universal’s long-anticipated film adaptation of the smash musical “Wicked” with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. The origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West hopes to be, quite literally, movie magic.