Donna Gigliotti is one of only nine women to win an Academy Award for Best Picture and her career has traversed a rich and masterful scope of productions. Starting out as an assistant to Martin Scorsese on Raging Bull, her trajectory has been bold and unstoppable with her most recent triumph in the Oscar nominated film, Hidden Figures. The hallmark of Gigliotti’s career has been her rare and innate ability to retrieve stories that have resonance and cultural impact punctuated by commercial and artistic success.

Securing the 1998 best-picture Oscar for Shakespeare in Love, the film also earned the 1999 Golden Globe for Best Picture/Comedy and the 1999 British Academy Award (BAFTA). In 2009, Gigliotti was nominated again for Best Picture for producing The Reader which was nominated for a total of five Academy Awards. In 2013, she received a Best Picture/Academy Award nomination for Silver Linings Playbook.

Gigliotti’s career began as an executive in 1982 as vice president/acquisitions at United Artists Classics. Throughout her career, she has held various executive positions including President of Production for Barry Diller’s USA Films and Executive Vice President at Miramax Films. Since 2001 Gigliotti has worked principally as an independent producer for her own production company Tempesta Films, based in New York.

Moderator:

Sandy George – Journalist

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