Sophie Watts


Sophie Watts is a British-born film and media executive. Alongside Robert Simonds, she was one of two original members of the global media company STX Entertainment, which owns and controls assets including a movie studio, television studio, virtual reality studio, and a digital content studio. The company is fully capitalized by private equity giant TPG Growth, Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital, Chinese streaming giant Tencent, Hong Kong-based information and communications technology company PCCW, the world's largest international cable company Liberty Global, and a number of high net-worth individuals including philanthropist and filmmaker Gigi Pritzker and businessman William Wrigley, Jr. II. Watts is notable for being the only female media executive in history to have built a Hollywood film studio from the ground up.
Watts was President of STX Entertainment from inception until January 16, 2018, when she announced her resignation from the company, citing a desire to focus on aggressive new business and turnaround opportunities. During her 7-year tenure, STX Entertainment grew from inception into a media conglomerate which, based on preliminary paperwork for its planned initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, valued the company at over US$2.5 billion. Watts remains a significant shareholder and strategic advisor to STX.

Personal life

Watts was born in London, England, the daughter of music video and music film producer Tessa Watts - one of the pioneers of the music video industry at Virgin Records - and rock journalist and newspaper editor Michael Watts. She has publicly protested the publication of her relationship to the prominent Whitney family, of which she is a direct heir, including to the New York Times, citing misrepresentation and security issues. She grew up in London and Bedfordshire and attended Gonville and Caius College at the University of Cambridge. She graduated with First-Class Honours in Economic History, and was awarded recognition as a Senior Scholar of her college, where she wrote a thesis on the economic rise and might of Asia, notably in China and India. She is in a relationship with American television producer and writer Allison Adler, who has two children with her former partner Sara Gilbert.

Early career

Early in her career, Watts worked in music film, videos and programming with artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, U2, Beyoncé, Madonna, and Mariah Carey. She moved to Los Angeles in 2007, where she was a producer and financier on film projects including the 2011 documentary Bully. The film was awarded the Producers Guild of America Stanley Kramer award in 2013, honoring productions and individuals that “illuminate and raise public awareness of important social issues.” By 2014, the film had been viewed by over 3.5 million secondary students across the United States.

STX Entertainment

Origins

In 2011, Watts started working with Robert "Bob" Simonds as they began to build a next-generation film, television and multimedia company. The goal of the company was to “make, market and distribute star-driven, commercial" content. Incubated by the private equity firm TPG Growth, the company grew to secure investments from Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital, and others including philanthropist and filmmaker Gigi Pritzker and businessman William “Beau" Wrigley. In 2014, the company announced that it had secured over $1 billion in financing. Other core executives of the STX team included former Viacom Entertainment Chief Operating Officer Tom McGrath, who functions as the company's COO, and former Crest Animation CEO Noah Fogelson as General Counsel.

STXfilms

Rather than pursuing the traditional distribution process, STXfilms, the film studio division of STX Entertainment, secured direct distribution agreements with North American theater chains AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Goodrich, Marcus Theatres and Carmike Cinemas. Later on in 2014, STXfilms hired a series of film and media executives, including former Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson and former Disney production and marketing chief Oren Aviv.
In January 2015, STXfilms signed a multiyear television output agreement to release its films exclusively to Showtime Networks during the premium television window, beginning in 2015 and covering the studio’s theatrical releases through 2019. In April 2015, STXfilms entered into a multiyear partnership with Universal Studios Home Entertainment, with Universal handling marketing, sales and distribution services for Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms of STX’s theatrical titles in North America.
The studio subsequently closed a three-year film slate deal with Huayi Brothers, one of China's largest film companies, which will enable STX to co-produce and co-distribute 12 to 15 films annually. The studio announced that it would make at least 10 “commercial” movies a year and that it would function as a next-generation, fully integrated film studio.
STXfilms projects include Bad Moms, Molly's Game, Jackie Chan-starrer The Foreigner, and The Gift. In 2016, STXfilms became the fastest studio that year to hit $100-million at the domestic box office with Bad Moms, earned a People's Choice award winner for best comedy for the film, garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Hailee Steinfeld in The Edge of Seventeen and procured DGA Best New Director nominations for The Gift and The Edge of Seventeen. In October 2017, STXfilms' The Foreigner, a co-production with Jackie Chan's Sparkle Roll Media, crossed $100 million in box office globally. The film was termed "a clear winner given that it cost just $35 million to produce" and "a fine example of how a Chinese co-production can work." Later on in 2017, the studio secured two Golden Globe nominations for writer Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut Molly's Game.

Further Growth

In April 2016, Watts announced the opening of STXinternational, headquartered in London and led by former Film4 head David Kosse. Four months later, STX Entertainment announced that it had closed its Series C of financing, led by investors including Hong Kong telecommunications company PCCW Ltd., which is controlled by Richard Li, and Tencent Holdings Ltd. As part of the funding, STX also received new investments from East West Bancorp’s Dominic Ng, as well as existing investors TPG, Hony Capital, business interests of Gigi Pritzker, Michael Pucker and their immediate family, and William Wrigley Jr. The deal valued STX at almost $1.5 billion. On announcement of the deal, the company announced that funds from this round of financing would be used to build its TV division, expand internationally and acquire digital media start-ups.
In August 2016, Watts announced that she had acquired for STX the Virtual Reality creator and distributor Surreal, which was founded in 2015 and in its first year produced over 70 immersive VR experiences. In November 2016, STXtv's Reality division launched under Watts' purview the variety show Number One Surprise, the first television show created by a US-based company specifically for broadcast in China. Its premiere on Hunan TV and digital platforms was viewed nearly 300 million times, and by March 2017 it was the #1 show in China with over 1 billion total views.
In January 2017, it was announced that STX Entertainment had signed a three-year marketing and distribution agreement with EuropaCorp's American division. Under the deal, STXfilms released Their Finest, The Circle and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
In November 2017, STXtv announced its first scripted show, entitled "Valley of the Boom," a drama/documentary hybrid limited series about the ’90s tech boom from showrunner and director Matthew Carnahan and executive producer Arianna Huffington. The show is set to air on NatGeo.

IPO

In September 2017, it was reported that STX may be close to an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange starting in early 2018. While based in the US, the company has numerous corporate and business relationships with China, and it has been reported that a listing on the SEHK could make it easier for Chinese companies to invest in Hollywood films. STX was valued at $1.5 billion in 2016. In September 2017, the Wall Street Journal stated that the company could be valued at $3.5 billion after raising an additional $500 million following the IPO. At the end of November 2017, John Malone's Liberty Global invested an undisclosed amount of money in the company, with an executive having a seat on STX's board. In April 2018, STX filed preliminary paperwork for its planned initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Resignation from STX

In January 2018, Watts prompted surprise across the media industry by resigning from her role as President at STX Entertainment, where she directly oversaw businesses including television, digital media, and virtual reality. She credited her departure to a desire to focus on "new and more aggressive opportunities" in the media space. In a mutual press release, STX Co-Founder Robert Simonds praised Watts as "a force of nature... incredibly talented, versatile executive who has been central to every aspect of growing the company, both domestically and internationally, from inception to the multi-billion-dollar endeavor it is today.". Watts and Simonds had been working together on the idea for STX since 2011.

Panels and Accolades

In 2014, Watts was listed as one of Hollywood's top dealmakers in Variety magazine's "Dealmakers Impact Report" for her work at STX. In September 2016, Watts was named one of Fortune's 40 under 40, the magazine's annual ranking of the most influential people in business as chosen by "power, influence and success." She was also featured on the Women's Impact Report in 2015, 2016 and 2017, Variety magazine's annual list of women who make a significant impact on the entertainment industry, the National Diversity Council's 2016 list of the "Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment," and The Hollywood Reporter's 2016 Women in Entertainment Power 100, the outlet's annual roster of the most influential women in entertainment. Elle magazine's November 2016 edition named Watts one of Hollywood's "next-to-know...heavy hitters." In 2017, Watts was listed on the Variety500, an "index of the 500 most influential business leaders shaping the global $2 trillion entertainment industry."
Watts serves as a judge for the Business Innovation Awards sponsored by the UK Department of Trade and Investment, and for BAFTA LA's US Student Film Awards. She is on the Board of Directors for BAFTA LA and for the American non-profit organization The Trevor Project, which is focused on suicide prevention efforts for the LGBTQ community.
Sophie Watts is credited as an Executive Producer on STX's NBC Primetime television show State of Affairs, which stars Katherine Heigl and Academy Award nominee Alfre Woodard. The show premiered on November 17, 2014, debuting to a rating of 2.2 in the key demo with an average 8.6 million viewers.