Sony Pictures announced on Thursday that TriStar president Hannah Minghella will expand her role at the studio to assume oversight of TriStar Television.
The studio hopes the role expansion, which takes effect immediately, will strengthen its synergistic efforts between all lines of business. On the film side, Minghella will continue to report to Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures chairman, and on the TV side to Chris Parnell and Jason Clodfelter, co-presidents of Sony Pictures TV.
Minghella assumes the TriStar TV role from the late Suzanne Patmore Gibbs who passed away last March.
“Bringing the film and television arms of TriStar together is an exciting opportunity to put content first,” Minghella said in a statement. “It allows us to be more dynamic in our approach to storytelling and meet the audience where they are. I’m thrilled to be joining my new television colleagues and hope to make Suzanne proud.”
“We are excited to be working with Hannah in her new role with SPT,” said Jeff Frost, Sony Pictures TV president, and co-presidents Jason Clodfelter and Chris Parnell in a statement. “With her deep experience on the film side, she is the perfect person to bring new and exciting ideas, content and talent to TriStar Television, and to honor the legacy and vision that Suzanne initiated.”
Prior to her appointment at TriStar Pictures in 2015, Minghella served as president of production for Columbia Pictures. In that role, Minghella oversaw all aspects of development and production at the motion picture label, including such films as “Sausage Party,” “American Hustle,” “Captain Phillips,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “The Equalizer,” “21 Jump Street” and “22 Jump Street” and “Skyfall” — the most successful James Bond film of all time.
Minghella joined the company in 2005 as a director of creative affairs working in the office of the chairman of the Motion Picture Group under Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chair Amy Pascal. In that role, she collaborated on several projects, including the production of the highly successful James Bond film “Casino Royale.” In 2008, Minghella was named president of production of Sony Pictures Animation, and held that role for three years. During her tenure at SPA, Minghella launched three new franchises, with “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “Hotel Transylvania,” and “The Smurfs.”
“Hannah has a superb instinct for material and storytelling,” said Rothman in a statement. “I have no doubt she will do big things in television, which will be of great benefit to Sony at large, all while continuing to produce an exceptional slate of films. Rock on.”
Prior to joining Sony, Minghella spent four years at Miramax Films in New York, where she served as a creative executive.
TriStar Pictures has been an active buyer of acclaimed literary properties and filmmaker-driven projects, making itself a home for many female filmmakers, talent and stories. Some of the label’s titles include the upcoming “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” directed by Marielle Heller slated for a November 2019 release date; “Happiest Season,” directed by Clea DuVall; “The Woman King,” starring Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong’o; Alex Garland and Paloma Baeza’s “Toymaker’s Secret;” and “A White Lie,” produced by Reese Witherspoon.
Minghella has acquired literary material such as Paulo Coehlo’s legendary book “The Alchemist,” and is currently overseeing development of Norton Juster’s “The Phantom Tollbooth,” Kristin Hannah’s “The Nightingale” and Graeme Simsion’s “The Rosie Project.”
TriStar Television, the prestige IP and female-centric driven arm of Sony Pictures TV, has produced acclaimed series such as “Good Girls Revolt” and “The Last Tycoon” starring Matt Bomer. The division focuses on projects designed to further cultural conversations regarding gender, diversity, politics and beyond.
TriStar Television has a slate of projects in development, including the marital thriller “A Reliable Wife,” based on the New York Times bestselling book; “Rage for Fame,” based on the biographies of Clare Boothe Luce; and “Sunshine Cleaning,” based on the acclaimed 2008 film. TriStar Television is currently in production on “On Becoming a God in Central Florida,” starring and executive-produced by Kirsten Dunst.