Emma Watts

Emma Watts served as the president of production at film studio 20th Century Fox from 2009 until January 2020, at which point she stepped down. From February of 2017 until her resignation, she was also a vice chairman at 20th Century Fox. In July 2020, she became president of Paramount Pictures.

Watts was born in England and emigrated to Vancouver, Canada, when she was five. She moved to the U.S. to study English literature at UCLA. After college, she got her first job as a production assistant at Herb Ritts' photography studio, followed by a gig at Def Pictures, the production company of hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons.

Major studios need franchises, and Watts' successes have included the rekindling of the Planet of the Apes and X-Men series, as well as Ridley Scott's Mars drama The Martian, David Fincher's Gone Girl, Bohemian Rhapsody, Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express, and the Hugh Jackman musical The Greatest Showman.

Her biggest accomplishment, she says, is juggling her family and her career. Watts said having kids makes her better at her job. "This division is supposed to make 12 movies a year, and I think you can get burnt out and jaded and your work suffers," she said. "But you need to stay connected emotionally, and my family demands that. They won't tolerate anything less than that."

Her work and family take up most of her time, but she says she likes to clear her head and keep healthy with morning runs and occasional yoga sessions. She and her husband sometimes take mountain biking trips and go hiking with their children.