Amy Pascal

Early life and education

Pascal was born on March 25, 1958, in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Anthony H. Pascal, was an economic researcher at the RAND Corporation who wrote about African American social inequality and the cost of AIDS. Her mother, Barbara Pascal, was a librarian and owner of an art bookstore, Artworks. Her family is Jewish. Pascal attended Crossroads School in Santa Monica,

Career

Pascal started her career as a secretary working for producer Tony Garnett at the independent production company Kestrel Films. From 1986 to 1987, she served as Vice President of Production at 20th Century Fox.

Sony Pictures

Pascal joined Columbia Pictures in 1988, where she was responsible for the development of films including: Groundhog Day, Little Women, Awakenings, and A League of Their Own. She left Columbia in 1994 and served for two years as the President of Production for Turner Pictures while Scott Sassa was president of Turner Entertainment. During her time at Turner, Pascal hired Damon Lee as a development director.

Pascal rejoined Columbia in 1996 as the studio's president after Turner Pictures merged with Warner Bros. In 1999, Pascal became Chair of Columbia Pictures.

Pascal was named Co-Chairperson of Sony Pictures Entertainment in September 2006. She also served as Chairman of SPE's Motion Picture Group from December 2003 to February 2015. Pascal and SPE's Chairman and CEO Michael Lynton led all of SPE's lines of business, including: motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies.

Pascal has overseen the production and distribution of many films, including the Spider-Man franchise; the James Bond films Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, the first Bond film to gross over $1 billion at the worldwide box office; The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons; Sony Pictures Animation's The Smurfs, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Hotel Transylvania; and Best Picture Oscar nominees American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Zero Dark Thirty, Moneyball and The Social Network.

Pascal, along with Lynton, also oversaw Sony Pictures Television, which produces and distributes television programming for multiple platforms in the U.S. and internationally.

In 2013, Pascal was elected to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

She clashed with investor Daniel S. Loeb, who accused both Pascal and Lynton of "poor financial controls." According to the Financial Times, "she employed an assistant who earned more than $250,000 a year, and had use of a private jet and other perks in keeping with Hollywood's golden era rather than an age of austerity." At the end of 2014, Pascal was the only woman at Sony to earn over $1 million per annum, having earned US$3 million a year.

Pascal's contract with Sony was scheduled to expire in March 2015. On February 5, 2015, Pascal announced she would step down in May 2015. Pascal stated during a Women in the World discussion on February 11, 2015, that she had been "fired" by Sony.

Pascal Pictures

Pascal started her own production company, with a four-year contract for funding and distribution via Sony Pictures Entertainment. The company, called Pascal Pictures, hired Rachel O'Connor as production chief and Ian Dalrymple to open and run a New York branch. Pascal Pictures was expected to continue Amy Pascal's "book-friendly" focus, and Dalrymple's office was expected to facilitate this. The company's first production was the reboot Ghostbusters (2016). She subsequently produced Spider-Man: Homecoming with Marvel Studios, in addition to theatre and television work. TriStar President Hannah Minghella obtained rights to Maestra by L. S. Hilton with the intent for Pascal to produce the film. Pascal Pictures made a winning bid for a memoir by Zoë Quinn about "Gamergate" called Crash Override: How to Save the Internet from Itself, which was sold to Touchstone/Simon & Schuster for publication in September 2016. Pascal and Elizabeth Cantillon optioned rights for a TriStar TV series based on books by Eve Babitz set in 1960s-1970s Los Angeles. For a sum in the "mid-six to seven figures", Pascal made a deal for Michael Diliberti's Athena, about a descendant of the goddess Athena who is recruited to a secret organization. Together with Sony, Pascal obtained rights for the TV crime drama Darktown, which she plans to executive produce with Jamie Foxx.

In May 2019, it was announced that Pascal and her production company Pascal Pictures is leaving Sony and moving to Universal Pictures for a first-look deal after 30 years at Sony Pictures.

In March 2025, Amazon MGM Studios announced that Pascal and David Heyman would oversee the Bond film franchise moving forward and produce future installments in the series through their Pascal Pictures and Heyday Films banners, respectively. Shortly afterwards, she had moved from Universal to MGM for a first-look deal.

Activities and awards

In 2001, Pascal was honored with the Women in Film's Crystal Award, which recognizes those whose work has helped to expand the role of women in the entertainment industry. Pascal has been included in The Hollywood Reporters annual Women in Entertainment Power 100 list and Forbes ranking of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. , she was ranked as the 28th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes, up from 36th in 2013.

In March 2024, Pascal was one of 1000 Jewish figures in Hollywood who signed an open letter denouncing Jonathan Glazer's acceptance speech at the 96th Academy Awards, in which Glazer condemned the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories and new comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany.

Philanthropy

Pascal serves on the Honorary Committee of the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles. She has made charitable contributions to Teen Line.

She was awarded the 2008 Humanitarian Award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles which combats antisemitism and promotes human rights and tolerance. She received the award at the 2008 National Tribute Dinner, an annual fundraiser which raised US$2 million for the center. In her acceptance speech, she said, "I believe in what the museum is committed to: not just the literal event of the Holocaust but not letting anything like that happen again."

Sony Pictures hack

Main article: Sony Pictures hack

On December 9, 2014, a group called "Guardians of Peace" hacked into Sony's computer system, which led to the theft of internal company documents. The fallout became a major international diplomatic incident in North Korea–United States relations. In subsequent news coverage Pascal and producer Scott Rudin were noted to have had an exchange in these documents about Pascal's upcoming encounter with President Barack Obama. Pascal joked that the president, who is black, would possibly enjoy Django Unchained and The Butler (films which deal with slavery in the United States and the pre-civil rights era) or the comedy Think Like a Man which features an ensemble cast of black comedians. Rudin responded, "Ride Along, I bet he likes Kevin Hart."

Racist comments

News reports branded the exchange as "racially insensitive," while others called it "racist." Pascal responded by saying "the content of my emails were insensitive and inappropriate but are not an accurate reflection of who I am."

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton suggested the apology was not sufficient, compared her to Donald Sterling, and called for more diversity in Sony's hiring pool. The screenwriter and producer Aaron Sorkin denounced the media's focus on Pascal's communications and many other emails released by the hack in an opinion piece for The New York Times, characterizing the coverage as "giving material aid to criminals" and writing "at least the hackers are doing it for a cause. The press is doing it for a nickel." In the popular press, coverage of the story was extended with actress and producer Lisa Kudrow suggesting Pascal should have known better, adding, "Don't write anything you don't want broadcast". At the Writers Guild of America Awards 2014 on January 7, 2015, Kudrow, who was the presenter, mentioned the Sony hack again, arguing that it was disturbing "because Scott Rudin and Amy Pascal thought that was witty banter."

Color of Change, a civil rights organization, launched a petition in December 2014 calling upon Sony to fire Pascal from her role, arguing, "Pascal's comments are confirmation of the manipulative, exploitative relationship corporations like Sony have with Black folks." They added, "We must hold Pascal accountable here; not just for her horrendous comments, but also for her role at the helm of a corporate agenda that views Black America as one big, lucrative joke."

In a 2020 interview with Vulture, Thandiwe Newton accused Pascal of making racially insensitive and demeaning demands of her for the film remake of Charlie's Angels, a film Newton ended up declining to star in due to Pascal's alleged behavior. Pascal responded by stating she was "horrified" by the story and had no recollection of it.

Gender pay gap

After Pascal left Sony, she was interviewed about Sony Entertainment's gender pay gap that had been exposed by the leaks. Tina Brown asked Pascal to explain why actresses did not realize they were being paid less than male actors. Pascal said, "People want to work for less money. I'll pay them less money. I don't call them up and go, 'Can I give you some more?' ... what women have to do is not work for less money.... People should know what they're worth and say no."

Women making less than their male counterparts and male co-stars learned of the difference from the hack. The difference between what men and women made was pervasive at Sony Pictures under Pascal, with only one female out of the seventeen studio executives earning more than $1 million per year according to the unconfirmed emails, and Columbia Pictures co-presidents of production Michael De Luca and Hannah Minghella serving in identical jobs but with a million dollar difference in pay.

Personal life

Pascal married Bernard Weinraub, a former foreign correspondent for The New York Times and playwright, in 1997. They reside in Brentwood, Los Angeles, with their son Anthony Weinraub.

Producer filmography

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

References

1. (December 11, 2014). "Sony's Amy Pascal Apologizes for Obama Emails".
2. "Sony's Amy Pascal under fire for racist remarks".
3. Bertet, Elsa. (September 6, 2007). "Amy Pascal timeline". [[Variety (magazine).
4. "Anthony H. Pascal". RAND Corporation Website.
5. (August 10, 1997). "Amy B. Pascal, Bernard Weinraub". The New York Times.
6. Garrahan, Matthew. (December 19, 2014). "Amy Pascal: A studio boss caught in real-life thriller". [[Financial Times]].
7. "Amy Pascal". Jewish Women's Archive.
8. (February 6, 2015). "Amy Pascal Ousted at Sony Pictures".
9. Cohen, Sandy. (December 14, 2014). "Can Amy Pascal's career survive Sony cyberattack?". [[The Times of Israel]].
10. Miller, Daniel. (January 15, 2014). "Sony Pictures' awards season takes pressure off Amy Pascal". Los Angeles Times.
11. Arango, Tim. (October 24, 2009). "Sony's Version of Tracy and Hepburn". [[The New York Times]].
12. Finke, Nikki. (December 7, 2010). "Sony Reups Amy Pascal For 5 More Years".
13. (December 7, 2010). "Amy Pascal Extends Long-Term Employment Agreement With Sony Pictures". [[Sony Pictures]].
14. Citron, Alan. (August 25, 1994). "Pascal Named President of Production at Turner". [[Los Angeles Times]].
15. Singleton, John. (December 17, 2014). "John Singleton on Sony Hack: Jokes by Amy Pascal, Scott Rudin Aren't "Racist"". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
16. Bertet, Elsa. (September 6, 2007). "Amy Pascal timeline". [[Variety (magazine).
17. Eller, Claudia. (December 16, 1999). "Columbia Pictures President Promoted to Chairwoman". Los Angeles Times.
18. White, Michael. (September 6, 2006). "Sony Names Pascal Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Unit (Update1)". [[Bloomberg L.P..
19. "Amy Pascal". [[Sony Pictures]].
20. Finke, Nikki. (March 4, 2007). "Sony's Amy Pascal To Be Honored at Opening Night Gala". Films News and Views.
21. Gilmore, James. (October 7, 2009). "PGA Honors Michael Lynton and Amy Pascal with Milestone Award". [[Producers Guild of America]].
22. McClintock, Pamela. (December 30, 2012). "Box Office Milestone: Daniel Craig's 'Skyfall' Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
23. Sehgal, Ujala. (February 26, 2011). "OSCARS 2011: Here Are The Best Picture Nominees!". [[Business Insider]].
24. (January 24, 2012). "Oscar nominations 2012: Is 'Moneyball' the best sports movie ever?". Los Angeles Times.
25. (February 25, 2013). "Oscars winners and nominees 2013: Complete list". Los Angeles Times.
26. Orr, Bernard. (December 7, 2010). "Sony extends contract of studio head Amy Pascal". [[Reuters]].
27. Kilday, Gregg. (July 15, 2013). "Film Academy's New Board of Governors Includes Sony's Amy Pascal and Filmmaker Alex Gibney". The Hollywood Reporter.
28. Frizell, Sam. (December 7, 2014). "The 7 Most Outrageous Things We Learned From the Sony Hack".
29. (December 5, 2014). "Sony Pictures Hack Reveals Stark Gender Pay Gap". Slate.
30. Berrin, Danielle. (February 5, 2015). "Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal gets a graceful exit". [[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles]].
31. Faughdner, Ryan. (February 5, 2015). "Sony co-chair Amy Pascal steps down after hacking scandal". Los Angeles Times.
32. Fritz, Ben. (February 5, 2015). "Amy Pascal Steps Down as Head of Sony Pictures' Film Business: Long-Time Executive to Start Film-Production Company in May". The Wall Street Journal.
33. Rushe, Dominic. (February 5, 2015). "Amy Pascal steps down from Sony Pictures in wake of damaging email hack". The Guardian.
34. (February 5, 2015). "Amy Pascal Leaving as Sony Studio Chief". The New York Times.
35. Michael Cieply, [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/business/media/amy-pascal-says-sony-pushed-her-out.html Amy Pascal Says Sony Pushed Her Out of Studio Post] {{Webarchive. link. (November 12, 2020 , ''The New York Times'', February 12, 2015)
36. Dave McNary, [https://variety.com/2015/film/news/amy-pascal-sony-angelina-jolie-obama-hack-the-interview-1201431167/ Amy Pascal Talks Getting 'Fired,' Sony Hack and Angelina Jolie Emails in Candid Interview] {{Webarchive. link. (June 28, 2021 , ''Variety'', February 11, 2015)
37. (2015-07-07). "Amy Pascal Hires Ian Dalrymple To Run Gotham Office For Pascal Pictures".
38. Siegel, Tatiana. (February 5, 2015). "Amy Pascal to Step Down From Top Sony Post". The Hollywood Reporter.
39. (2015-12-25). "Sony Nearing Amy Pascal's First Major Deal: S.L. Knight Novel 'M".
40. (2015-11-06). "Amy Pascal Wins Zoe Quinn's Gamergate Memoir 'Crash Override'".
41. (2015-11-20). "Amy Pascal & Elizabeth Cantillon Option Eve Babitz Memoirs For TriStar TV Series".
42. (2015-11-06). "Amy Pascal Lands Pitch For 'Athena' Movie From Michael Diliberti".
43. (2016-01-14). "Amy Pascal & Jamie Foxx Team For 1940s TV Crime Drama About Race 'Darktown'".
44. (2019-05-01). "Amy Pascal Ends 30-Year Sony Run With Universal First Look Deal".
45. Ritman, Alex. (25 March 2025). "Amazon's James Bond Franchise Officially Sets Amy Pascal, David Heyman as Producers of New Film".
46. Fleming, Mike Jr.. (2025-04-02). "James Bond & 'Project Hail Mary' Producer Amy Pascal Moves First-Look Deal To Amazon MGM".
47. "Past Recipients Crystal Award". [[Women in Film Los Angeles.
48. (December 7, 2011). "THR's Women in Entertainment 2011: Power 100". The Hollywood Reporter.
49. (August 19, 2009). "The 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes.
50. "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". [[Forbes (magazine).
51. Siegel, Tatiana. (2024-03-18). "Over 1,000 Jewish Creatives and Professionals Have Now Denounced Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Zone of Interest’ Oscars Speech in Open Letter (EXCLUSIVE)".
52. "Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles: Honorary Committee".
53. Abrams, Rachel. (October 1, 2013). "Power of Women: Amy Pascal Supports Teenagers in Crisis With Teen Line". Variety.
54. (May 2, 2008). "Simon Wiesenthal Center to Honor Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group with its 2008 Humanitarian Award". Simon Wiesenthal Center website.
55. "SWC 2008 National Tribute Dinner". Simon Wiesenthal Center website.
56. Bill Higgins, [https://variety.com/2008/scene/markets-festivals/no-laughing-matter-3-1117985268/ No laughing matter] {{Webarchive. link. (November 16, 2018 , ''Variety'', May 7, 2008)
57. Fleming, Mike Jr.. (December 11, 2014). "Scott Rudin Apologizes After Leak Of Sony's Hacked Racially Insensitive E-Mails On Barack Obama".
58. (December 11, 2014). "Sony's Amy Pascal Apologizes for Obama Emails". [[Variety (magazine).
59. Rosen, Christopher. (December 11, 2014). "Scott Rudin & Amy Pascal Apologize After Racially Insensitive Emails About Obama Leak". [[The Huffington Post]].
60. Matthew Zeitlin. (December 10, 2014). "Scott Rudin On Obama's Favorite Movies: "I Bet He Likes Kevin Hart"". [[BuzzFeed]].
61. Hayley Tsukayama. (December 11, 2014). "A Sony exec cracks jokes about Obama's race, and eight more bruising revelations from the Sony leak". The Washington Post.
62. "Seth Rogen Thanks Sony Chief for Making The Interview". Times Magazine.
63. Cohen, Sandy. (December 12, 2014). "Sony's Amy Pascal under fire for racist remarks". Detroit News.
64. (December 11, 2014). "Sony Film Executives Apologize for Racially Tinged Emails About Obama". [[The New York Times]].
65. Campbell, Colin. (December 11, 2014). "Al Sharpton Compares Sony Exec To Racist Ex-NBA Owner". [[Business Insider]].
66. Aaron Sorkin. (December 14, 2014). "The Sony Hack and the Yellow Press". The New York Times.
67. Khatchatourian, Maane. (December 13, 2014). "Lisa Kudrow on Sony Emails: 'Don't Write Anything You Don't Want Broadcast'". Variety.
68. [https://www.thewrap.com/lisa-kudrow-rips-sony-execs-over-leaked-emails-dont-write-anything-you-dont-want-broadcast-video/ Lisa Kudrow Rips Sony Execs Over Leaked Emails: 'Don't Write Anything You Don't Want Broadcast' (Video)] {{Webarchive. link. (December 5, 2019 , ''[[TheWrap]]'', December 13, 2014)
69. Ryan Gajewsk, [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/lisa-kudrow-sony-emails-execs-757499/ Lisa Kudrow on Sony Emails: Execs Need "Boundaries and Accountability"] {{Webarchive. link. (April 22, 2022 , ''The Hollywood Reporter'', December 13, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2022)
70. [https://deadline.com/2015/02/wga-awards-live-blog-2015-writers-guild-awards-1201373023/] {{Webarchive. link. (November 8, 2020 ''Deadline Hollywood'')
71. Couch, Aaron. (December 18, 2014). "Civil Rights Group Asks Sony to Fire Amy Pascal Over Leaked Emails". The Hollywood Reporter.
72. Molloy, Antonia. (December 18, 2014). "Sony hacking: Civil rights group calls for Amy Pascal to be fired over 'racially-charged' leaked email exchange about Barack Obama". [[The Independent]].
73. "ColorOfChange: Tell Sony: Fire Amy Pascal!".
74. (July 7, 2020). "In Conversation: Thandie Newton After decades onscreen, nothing surprises the Westworld actress, though what she's ready to share will surprise you".
75. Nichols, Mackenzie. (July 7, 2020). "Thandie Newton Left 'Charlie's Angels' After Disturbing Encounter With Amy Pascal".
76. (February 11, 2015). "Sony's Pascal Defends Paying Women Like J-Law Less". Bloomberg L.P..
77. "Ghostbusters (2016)". [[IMDb]].
78. (July 15, 2016). "Ghostbusters (2016)". [[Fandango Media]].
79. "Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)". [[IMDb]].
80. (July 7, 2017). "Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)".
81. "Molly's Game (2017)". [[IMDb]].
82. (January 5, 2018). "Molly's Game (2017)". [[Fandango Media]].
83. "The Post (2017)". [[IMDb]].
84. (January 12, 2018). "The Post (2017)". [[Fandango Media.
85. "Venom (2018)". [[IMDb]].
86. (October 5, 2018). "Venom (2018)".
87. "The Girl in the Spider's Web: A New Dragon Tattoo Story (2018)". [[IMDb]].
88. (November 9, 2018). "The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
89. McNary, Dave. (November 21, 2018). "'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Tracking for $30 Million Launch". [[Variety (magazine).
90. "Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)". [[IMDb]].
91. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)". [[Fandango Media.
92. "Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)". [[IMDb]].
93. (July 2, 2019). "Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)". [[Fandango Media.
94. Donnelly, Matt. (November 26, 2019). "Saoirse Ronan Knows 'Little Women' Is the Performance of Her Career".
95. "Little Women (2019)".
96. "Little Women (2019)". [[Fandango Media.
97. (September 29, 2021). "Box Office: 'Venom' Sequel Aims for $50 Million-Plus Opening Weekend".
98. "Venom: Let There Be Carnage".
99. (December 17, 2021). "Spider-Man: No Way Home".
100. Couch, Aaron. (May 25, 2023). "The Widening Web of Phil Lord and Chris Miller". The Hollywood Reporter.
101. (June 2, 2023). "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse".
102. Rubin, Rebecca. (April 24, 2024). "Zendaya's Tennis Drama 'Challengers' Aims to Lead Sluggish Box Office With $15 Million Debut".
103. (April 26, 2024). "Challengers".
104. (October 22, 2024). "'Venom: The Last Dance' Hopes To Boogie To $150 Million Global Opening – Box Office Preview".
105. "Venom: The Last Dance".
106. (December 14, 2023). "George Clooney And Adam Sandler To Star In Noah Baumbach's Next Movie At Netflix".
107. D'Alessandro, Anthony. (April 18, 2024). "Ryan Gosling, Lord & Miller Amazon MGM Studios Space Adventure 'Project Hail Mary' Sets Launch For Spring 2026".
108. Kroll, Justin. (May 15, 2020). "Phil Lord and Chris Miller to Direct Ryan Gosling Astronaut Film (EXCLUSIVE)".
109. (May 10, 2021). "Phil Lord & Chris Miller to Direct 'The Premonition: A Pandemic Story,' Producing with Amy Pascal".
110. "Amy Pascal - Awards".
111. "''Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse''". [[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]].
112. "Golden Globe Awards Eligibility Descriptions". [[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]].
113. "''Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse''". [[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]].
114. "Film in 2024 {{pipe}} BAFTA Awards". [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]].