Four of the entertainment industry’s top executives joined forces Tuesday at TheWrap’s Power Women Summit 2025 to speak candidly about leading a team through turbulent times in the entertainment industry. And the key to that leadership is radical candor.
“People say we are a product of waiting for change,” said Tana Nugent Jamieson, executive vice president and co-head of A+E Studios. “We live in change. It’s not going away.”
Jamieson was joined by 3 Arts Entertainment’s Olivia Metzger, AMC’s Amy Leasca and Sony Pictures’ Spring Aspers for the “Exec Corner: Dealmakers, Deciders, Disruptors” panel at TheWrap’s Power Women Summit 2025, presented by STARZ #TakeTheLead.
The breakout session was standing room only as women flocked to learn the Executive Women’s Handbook from tenured professionals in a conversation moderated by TheWrap Founder and Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman.
As the industry faces consolidation and layoffs, female executives said the key to success in business is adaptability. The A+E Studios exec said earlier in her career that adapting meant pivotal roles, but she now believes it’s about telling the truth.
“Be very direct with your team,” she said. “And honestly, be honest about your talent too…I used to pretend, but now I’m like, ‘There’s potentially two places.’ You just have to be honest. »
After decades of experience at NBC and CAA, Metzger took a risk and struck out on her own with her own management company. She said her ability to adapt would carry her through retirement.
“All I’ve done in the last seven months, since I moved to 3 Arts, is walk into rooms with people half my age and say, I don’t understand, explain to me,” Metzger added.
One participant asked the panel how they have the confidence to say they don’t know without appearing behind or like a “dinosaur.” Jamieson said the key is trust.
“I think we have an opportunity in 2025, we should be mentoring young men,” Metzger said. “We have an obligation if we see young men, especially with the crisis that young men are going through right now…I think it’s up to us to not only mentor the young women under us, but also take the opportunity to take young men and show them what it means to be a good leader.
The women on the panel also reflected on the mentors who pushed them to get to where they are now. For the majority of panelists, none of their mentors were women. Today, as serving leaders, they want to change this narrative.
“Maybe the generation before us saw mediocrity and trying to counteract that by surrounding yourself with people who are better and smarter than you is so important,” AMC’s Leasca said. “This current generation of women leaders has done a really good job of surrounding themselves with people who challenge them.”
“Growing up in this TV industry, you couldn’t be a voice of dissent,” she added. “Now I’m happy about it.”
The executive then pointed to her team sitting in the front row, joking that they know more than anyone that she encourages pushback.
For Metzger, who began her career at NBC at age 19 after dropping out of college, none of her male superiors impressed her. “I literally thought, I don’t want to become one of those people,” she said.
Decades later, as a founder and leader, she seeks mentees and colleagues who are smarter than her, but who also lead with kindness.
“This job is so difficult. I need colleagues and clients that the gym supports,” she said. “I don’t care how good you are, you’re going to stumble and fall. You want people who are willing to pick you up…I surround myself with everyone who is 100 times smarter than me, and I’m not afraid of that.”
Jamieson said she never had a female mentor in the company and wanted to show her team members something different: to be kind, decisive and approachable.
For Sony Music’s Aspers, she doesn’t want to leave young men out of the mentoring conversation simply because young women from the previous generation weren’t as included in the conversation.
“It’s up to us as women not to exclude men. It’s not good,” Spring Aspers said. “For me, as a leader, I want everyone to be at the table. It’s really important for us to create the next path, the way we want to be there.”
Metzger added, “It’s up to us to not only mentor the young women under us, but also take the opportunity to take young men and show them what it means to be a good leader.” »
TheWrap’s Power Women Summit presented by STARZ #TakeTheLead is the essential gathering of the most influential women in entertainment and media. The event aims to inspire and empower women in the landscape of their professional careers and personal lives. PWS offers a day of lectures, panels, workshops and networking. For more information, visit: thewrap.com/pws.
For all coverage of the Power Women Summit 2025, click here.
