Nov 8, 2017

Next Gen 2017: Hollywood's Up-and-Coming Execs 35 and Under featuring Ashley Zalta

Meet Hollywood's future leaders, whose résumés already include $100 million movies, Emmy-winning TV shows and, in at least a few cases, a CEO title. And now, at age 35 or younger, these 35 standouts — a mix of agents, managers, publicists, lawyers, digital, film and TV executives — add to their collective pedigree a spot on The Hollywood Reporter's 24th annual Next Gen list, which in generations past has recognized, among others, Fox's Stacey Snider, Showtime's David Nevins, NBCUniversal's Jeff Shell and Endeavor's Ari Emanuel long before they were who they are today.

Ashley Zalta, Head of Production at Sugar23, has been so deep in the throes of production on Netflix's Emma Stone-Jonah Hill series Maniac that she could find only three days earlier this fall to return to her native Ohio and get married in her parents' backyard. She's hopeful that she and her college sweetheart — both graduated from Harvard, where Zalta was a member of Hasty Pudding — will be able to carve out more time for a honeymoon, though finding it won't come easy. The former Bain consultant, who worked for Team Downey and Emma Watts at 20th Century Fox before segueing to an exec role at Anonymous Content four-plus years ago, jumped to mentor (and Next Gen alum) Michael Sugar's new Anonymous-based shingle in November. Among her forthcoming projects, many of which share a common through line of female empowerment: the comic adaptation Princeless for the big screen and a Sleeping Beauties project for the small one.

BIG BREAK "Producing the Hasty Pudding show. Yes, I wouldn't be here without a musical comedy drag show."

WHEN I WANT TO DISCONNECT "I get my nails done and lie about where I am."

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