Abdy ’95, Bario ’89 Recognized Among Hollywood Reporter’s 100 Most Powerful Women

Pamela Abdy ’95 and Holly Bario ’89 have been named to The Hollywood Reporter’s 2025 100 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment list, cementing their statuses among the industry’s leading executives.

As Co-Chair & CEO of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Abdy was responsible for more than $4 billion in global ticket sales in 2025.

From originals like Weapons ($268 million) and Sinners ($367 million) to IP plays like A  Minecraft Movie ($957 million), her studio currently leads the pack…

Before joining Warner Bros., Abdy served as President of MGM’s Motion Picture Group, overseeing development, production, and post-production for all MGM and Orion films. Prior to that, she was Partner and Head of Film at Makeready, President of Production at New Regency, President of Scott Stuber’s Bluegrass Films, and Executive Vice President at Paramount Pictures.

Abdy got her start in Hollywood thanks to an internship during her semester at Emerson Los Angeles. That role with Danny DeVito’s Jersey Films launched a 30-year career overseeing development, production, and post-production for some of the biggest studios in Hollywood. 

A member of the Producers Guild of America, she also serves as a Governor on the Executive Board of the Executive Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and participates in The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program.

“I’m trying to pay it back to the next generation. It’s very important to me to support and hire young women and teach them and mentor people,” Abdy said in a 2018 Expression magazine article. “I’ve had some really great people support and champion me, and I feel it’s my duty to give back to other people.”

In 2023, she spoke at Emerson’s Commencement and received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

During her remarks, Abdy encouraged graduating students to follow their dreams.

“Dreams are there to keep us striving, to keep pushing ourselves to our limits, but they don’t have to stay trapped in amber,” Abdy said. “Dreams are dynamic, they can change. As long as you pursue them with intention, passion, and without fear, you will find your way.”

Bario, a former member of Emerson’s Board of Advisors and a 2009 recipient of the College’s Distinguished Alumni Award, is president of production at Amblin, where she oversees films released under the Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures banners.

She joined the company, formerly known as DreamWorks Studios, in 2008 as an executive vice president of production. Under her leadership, the company has produced such films as The Help, The Girl on the Train, A Dog’s Purpose, and The House with a Clock in Its Walls, starring Jack Black and Cate Blanchett. Prior to DreamWorks, Bario was executive vice president of production at Universal Pictures. She had been at the studio for more than a decade as a production executive, rising through the ranks as director of development, vice president, and senior vice president of production. While at Universal, she was responsible for shepherding some of their most successful comedies, including Bruce Almighty, Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Mamma Mia!

The Hollywood Reporter noted Bario’s work on two recent Netflix smash hits: the December 2024 action thriller Carry On and The Thursday Murder Club, which was released this past summer.

Read more on The Hollywood Reporter.