Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Acquires SKR Productions, Sara Rea to Head Unscripted TV
Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine has acquired Sara Rea’s SKR Productions, the company behind Amazon Studio’s “Making the Cut,” and is installing Rea as its head of unscripted television, marking an expansion into the unscripted space.
Rea is most recently known for her work as showrunner on the Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn-hosted “Making the Cut,” which incorporated an e-commerce element that allowed viewers to buy designers’ creations on Amazon Fashion after the premiere of each episode; their series with Amazon Studios followed a major migration from the trio’s nearly decade of work on “Project Runway.” SKR, which was launched in 2014, has also produced “Project Runway Threads,” “Project Runway Junior,” and “The Naked Truth,” among other series.
“Sara has led an incredibly talented team whose values and goals reflect everything we believe in at Hello Sunshine and I’m inspired by all they have accomplished,” said Witherspoon. “With shows like ‘Making the Cut,’ SKR has bridged television and the consumer experience in such an innovative way, opening up new possibilities for what content can do. I am beyond thrilled to welcome them to our team as we continue to grow and expand our mission to put women and underrepresented voices at the center.”
Rea’s team will be joining her at Hello Sunshine, including Sue Kinkead and Danielle Ghilardi Birckhead. Kinkead will become senior vice president of development, while Birckhead will step into the role of senior vice president of physical production & operations and work alongside Hello Sunshine CFO Liz Jenkins, who has been working to expand the company’s range of in-house physical production services. Tyler O’Neill and Elizabeth Sandroff will join Hello Sunshine as senior directors of development.
“I am inspired by what Reese and the Hello Sunshine team are creating,” said Rea. “That, in conjunction with us having such perfectly aligned goals, has all of us at SKR excited to join Hello Sunshine and grow the unscripted division. This is truly one of those rare one plus one equals ten opportunities, and we can’t wait to get to work.”
The past few months has been such a dynamic time for this industry that it has been a challenge keeping up with all the realignments while putting together this year’s report. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has accelerated change, disrupting business models and personal lives. Still, the L.A.- based women on this list have found ways to innovate, and many are hopeful for the future.
(The women of) Hello Sunshine Sarah Harden, CEO Lauren Neustadter, head of film & TV Reese Witherspoon, founder
Any lingering doubts about Hello Sunshine’s producing acumen have surely faded with the streamer launches of “The Morning Show” on Apple TV Plus and “Little Fires Everywhere” on Hulu, which garnered 13 Emmy nominations between them. The second season of HBO’s “Big Little Lies” also received five noms, bringing Hello Sunshine’s nomination haul to 18 this year. “Morning Show” co-star Billy Crudup ultimately snagged a supporting actor Emmy, the first Emmy win for the fledgling Apple TV Plus service, while Jennifer Aniston won a SAG trophy for her performance. A second season of “The Morning Show” is in the works, with key talent returning.
Witherspoon, who co-starred in all three, founded Hello Sunshine four years ago to focus on female-led stories. And it turns out having a woman propel a narrative — be it a novel, a television show or a film — isn’t such a bad idea from a financial or creative standpoint. Hello Sunshine has projects in the works at Amazon, Apple, Hulu, Netflix HBO, MGM, Starz and HBO Max. Books — some of which are selected for Witherspoon’s affiliated book club — are often the basis of television projects or movies produced by the company.
“When we set out to build the company, we knew we had a worthy mission that was important,” says CEO Harden. “But we also knew it was good business.”
“When I started Hello Sunshine, I often found myself talking to people about female representation and saw blank faces staring back at me,” Witherspoon says. “That doesn’t happen as much now, and there’s definitely momentum in Hollywood to diversify storytelling.”
The company has doubled down on optimistic storytelling in the wake of the pandemic. “As quarantine has made clear, people want to be entertained and sometimes need a reprieve from bad news,” Witherspoon says. “We want to give them uplifting and hopeful TV shows and films.” Adds Neustadter: “Hope is an essential ingredient. The character can go through really challenging stuff, but we always want to show our audience that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
Reese joined Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman & Will Arnett for the October 26th episode of their podcast ‘Smartless’ earlier this week. They talked about their experiences and process on set as actors/directors/producers, Reese’s childhood, her book club and the changing nature of media, Kamala Harris, Reese’s political aspirations, parenting/mental health during the global pandemic, and her retirement plan. It’s a good interview – listen below:
Advertising and marketing company AdWeek have honoured Reese in their 2020 Hot List and she is on the cover of their October 26th 2020 magazine cover to mark this! The magazine used additional photos from the Emmy magazine photoshoot that was published earlier in the year, and features a new interview in which Reese talked about growing her business and working to be taken seriously as a producer. Read the article below, and find the scans in our Gallery. Congratulations to Reese on being recognised for her fantastic work again!
The 2020 Hot List: Honoring the Year’s Best in TV, Publishing, Digital and Brands
When the pandemic forced us all to begin sheltering in place in March, we leaned on TV, publishing and digital brands more than ever before to connect us with the outside world. So it’s no surprise that Adweek’s annual Hot List, which always honors the best in those three categories, is full of people and brands who were at their best when so many things seemed at their worst.
Take Adweek’s Media Visionary Reese Witherspoon, who has turned Hollywood on its head by creating a successful media company, Hello Sunshine, focused on female-centric stories—for a variety of platforms.
Our TV Creator of the Year, Jon Favreau, helped get Disney+ off to a hot start with The Mandalorian, while TV Executive of the Year, TLC president Howard Lee, showed that linear networks still have plenty of fight in them.
Digital Creator of the Year Sarah Cooper turned her popular President Trump lip-syncs on TikTok and Twitter into a Netflix comedy special, and Digital Executive of the Year, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is helping lead the charge against lies and hate speech on social media.
Reese appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show last week, and the two chatted about women supporting women, how Drew was Reese’s “childhood acting idol”, becoming mothers together, and friendship. Reese’s yellow dress is Draper James. Watch the interview below and find screencaptures in our Gallery:
The Emmy nominations were announced yesterday, and Reese’s 3 shows received multiple nominations – congratulations to all the Little Fires Everywhere, Big Little Lies, and The Morning Show cast & crews!
Disappointingly (to say the least) Reese did not receive any individual nominations for acting. However, her shows received a total of 18 nominations this year which is exceptional!! The Morning Show received 8, and Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere had 5 each. Reese has taken over TV and is a true powerhouse!
The Emmy Awards will be held (in some format) on September 20th.
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman (“Ozark”)
Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”)
Steve Carell (“The Morning Show”)
Brian Cox (“Succession”)
Billy Porter (“Pose”)
Jeremy Strong (“Succession”)
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”)
Olivia Colman (“The Crown”)
Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”)
Laura Linney (“Ozark”)
Sandra Oh (“Killing Eve”)
Zendaya (“Euphoria”)
Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Cate Blanchett (“Mrs. America”)
Shira Haas (“Unorthodox”)
Regina King (“Watchmen”)
Octavia Spencer (“Self Made”)
Kerry Washington (“Little Fires Everywhere”)
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Giancarlo Esposito (“Better Call Saul”)
Bradley Whitford (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)
Billy Crudup (“The Morning Show”)
Mark Duplass (“The Morning Show”)
Nicholas Braun (“Succession”)
Kieran Culkin (“Succession”)
Matthew Macfadyen (“Succession”)
Jeffrey Wright (“Westworld”)
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Laura Dern (“Big Little Lies”)
Meryl Streep (“Big Little Lies”)
Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”)
Samira Wiley (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)
Fiona Shaw (“Killing Eve”)
Julia Garner (“Ozark”)
Sarah Snook (“Succession”)
Thandie Newton (“Westworld”)
AppleTV+ conducted a virtual panel discussion for The Morning Show recently, presumably as part of the promotion prior to Emmy nominations (to be announced July 28th):
The cast, crew, and creators of The Morning Show sit down (virtually) for a thought-provoking conversation taking viewers behind-the-scenes and reflecting on the relevance of the series today. Watch The Morning Show now on the Apple TV app: https://apple.co/_themorningshow
What happens when the people you trust to tell the truth prove themselves to be dishonest? The Morning Show follows the free fall of an early morning newscast in the wake of a scandal, and its struggle to survive in an era when news arrives in the palm of your hand.
The Morning Show stars Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon, Emmy winner Jennifer Aniston and Golden Globe winner Steve Carell in a high-stakes drama that pulls back the curtain on the morning news.
00:00 Chapter 1 | Inside The Morning Show with Jennifer Aniston, Billy Crudup, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Desean Terry
21:28 Chapter 2 | Inside The Morning Show with Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Ehrin, Karen Pittman, Mark Duplass
37:33 Chapter 3 | Inside The Morning Show with Mimi Leder, Michael Ellenberg, Nestor Carbonell, Brian Stelter
Reese and Kerry Washington recently spoke to Elaine Welteroth at 92nd Street Y about Little Fires Everywhere. “92Y is a world-class nonprofit community + cultural center that connects people to the worlds of education, arts, health + wellness, and Jewish life.”
The Morning Show (2019) Seasons 1 & 2 available now on AppleTV+
Season 3 coming in 2023 Role: Bradley Jackson Genre: Apple TV+ Series - Drama News / Info / Photos / Official Site
Your Place Or Mine (2023) On Netflix now Role: Debbie Genre: Romantic comedy News / Info / Photos / Official Site
Legally Blonde 3 (202?) In production Role: Elle Woods Genre: Comedy News / Info / Photos / Official Site
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The Morning Show (2019)
