UCLA Anderson to Honor Donna Langley with 2023 Game Changer Award

UCLA Anderson School of Management to Honor Donna Langley DBE, Chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, with 2023 Game Changer Award in Media, Entertainment and Sports

Los Angeles (March 28, 2023) — The UCLA Anderson School of Management announced today that it will honor Donna Langley DBE, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, with the 2023 Game Changer Award. The annual award recognizes the most innovative and influential business leaders in media, entertainment and sports. Langley will receive the award at school’s annual Pulse conference to be held Friday, April 14, 2023, on the UCLA Anderson campus.

“Through Donna Langley’s vision and leadership, Universal has expanded our sense of what stories can be told in Hollywood,” said Jay Tucker (’09), executive managing director of the Center for Media, Entertainment & Sports at UCLA Anderson. Universal Filmed Entertainment Group is known for franchises such as Jurassic World and Fast & Furious, and titles that include Mamma Mia and Straight Outta Compton. “This wide range of successful films comes from taking risks and making space for projects that feature women and people from underrepresented backgrounds in situations that we all can relate to,” said Tucker. “Our Pulse conference theme in 2023 is Inventing the Future, and Donna Langley continues to do just that at Universal. We are thrilled to present her with the award.”

As chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Langley is responsible for the global creative strategy and business operations for the motion picture group. Under her strategic vision, Universal has been a consistent leader in the theatrical marketplace and successfully expanded and reinvigorated the studio’s core franchises, which include Fast & Furious, DWA’s Puss in Boots and How to Train Your Dragon, Jurassic World, the Bourne series, Pitch Perfect, Illumination’s Despicable Me, and Fifty Shades, Nope, The Black Phone, M3GAN and more. Langley has also distinguished the studio as a creative home to a generation of emerging filmmakers and content creators who champion original and inclusive storytelling.

The Game Changer Award will be formally presented by UCLA Anderson’s Center for Media, Entertainment & Sports at its annual Pulse conference at UCLA on April 14. The award recognizes an industry executive who has pushed the frontiers of innovation in the entertainment industry. Recipients of the award have distinguished themselves by radically improving the customer experience, forging powerful partnerships, developing technology platforms and building businesses models that embrace the ongoing evolution of the industry. To be eligible, a nominee must demonstrate both exceptional leadership and industry impact.

Previous awardees include:

Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jerry Bruckheimer
Ice Cube
The WNBPA (the WNBA Players Association)
Maverick Carter

More information and a registration form for the 2023 Pulse conference may be found at the conference website.

About the UCLA Anderson Center for Media, Entertainment & Sports

Located at UCLA Anderson School of Management, the Center for Media, Entertainment & Sports is the leading center for business thought leadership in media, entertainment and sports. The center offers MBA courses, instructional programs for undergraduates, conferences and industry partnerships designed to showcase innovation and business leadership.

About UCLA Anderson School of Management

UCLA Anderson School of Management is among the leading business schools in the world, with faculty members globally renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Located in Los Angeles, gateway to the growing economies of Latin American and Asia and a city that personifies innovation in a diverse range of endeavors, UCLA Anderson’s MBA, Fully Employed MBA, Executive MBA, UCLA-NUS Executive MBA, Master of Financial Engineering, Master of Science in Business Analytics, doctoral and executive education programs embody the school’s Think in the Next ethos. Annually, some 1,800 students are trained to be global leaders seeking the business models and community solutions of tomorrow.

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