on TBS in June.
Another ground-breaking deal Johnson negotiated gives English actor Sacha Baron Cohen extensive creative control and a significant financial interest in the follow-up to his hit movie, Borat. Johnson also helped renew Tyra Bank’s TV talk show through the end of the 2008-09 broadcast year. He’s currently negotiating Banks’ return for the ninth and tenth cycles of America’s Next Top Model. His other clients include actors Michael Ealy, Derek Luke, Ice Cube, Brittany Murphy and Felicity Huffman; and directors Shawn Levy, Tim Story, and Matthew Vaughn. — Cliff Hocker
Eddie MurphyActor-Producer Age: 45 Why he’s powerful: With a career spanning more than 25 years, Murphy remains one of the industry’s box-office kings. He has produced gross receipts of roughly $3 billion in the 3l films in which he’s starred — his average gross per film is about $97 million and average opening gross is more than $20 million. That’s why he’s one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors and can influence the green-lighting of his own star vehicles. Further adding to Murphy’s cache is the Golden Globe he received for his performance as James “Thunder” Early in Dreamgirls, which was produced, in part, due to his involvement. In addition to voicing Donkey in the third installment of the highly successful Shrek series, Murphy will be featured this year in Norbit, a concept he created with his brother, Charlie.
Richard D. Parsons Chairman & CEO,Time Warner Inc. Age: 58 Why he’s powerful: Parsons oversees one of the world’s most powerful media companies, and his decisions affect what billions worldwide will watch in movie theaters, on television, on the Internet, and on other digital media. His $43 billion entity includes filmed entertainment (Warner Bros., New Line Cinema); television networks (The CW); cable television networks (HBO, TBS, TNT, Cinemax); interactive services (AOL); cable systems (Time Warner Cable); and publishing (People, Sports Illustrated). Since taking on the position in May 2002, he is credited with leading Time Warner’s turnaround.
Tyler Perry/Rueben Cannon President & CEO, The Tyler Perry Co. / Producer,Tyler Perry Studios Ages: 37/61 Why they’re powerful: Perry and Cannon have become a major force in the film and television industry. Their motion pictures, Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea’s Family Reunion, had combined domestic gross box-office receipts of more than $113 million, and both opened at No. 1. This June, the two will launch a new first-run syndicated sitcom, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. With an unprecedented 100 episodes already completed, Perry and Cannon have structured a $200 million distribution deal with TBS, Fox, and Lions Gate. With a newly built, 60,000-square-foot production and editing facility in Atlanta, Perry has effectively created his own studio and controls the development of his media properties.
Nina L. Shaw Founder & Partner, Del, Shaw,Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein & Lezcano Age: 52 Why she’s powerful: As a founding partner of an entertainment law firm, Shaw reviews contracts for her roster of high-powered clients, including Jamie Foxx, James Earl Jones, Laurence Fishburne, and director F. Gary Gray, and her keen eye for