Who links the Minions, Tom Cruise, Christopher Nolan, Fifty Shades of Grey, the gangster rap collective N.W.A., and the Isle of Wight? The answer is the greatest – and unlikeliest – British Hollywood success story in modern times.
A little over three decades ago, Donna Langley relocated from the UK to Los Angeles with neither connections nor career plan. What followed was a rags-to-riches story worthy of the movie business’s golden age. Methodically and unfussily – though with no little drama along the way – Langley worked her way up from an assistant’s post to the chairwoman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, the oldest and currently most thriving studio on earth. (Last year, Universal took in more than $4 billion at the global box office – more than any of its rivals – breaking Disney’s seven-year streak at the top.)
