Sophie Watts

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 Michael Watts, and is a member of the prominent Whitney family through birth. She grew up in London and Bedfordshire and attended Gonville and Caius College at the University of Cambridge. She graduated with First-Class Honours (summa cum laude) in History (Master's), and was awarded recognition as a Senior Scholar of her college.

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 (PGA) 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

In 2011, Watts started working with Robert "Bob" Simonds as they began to build a new 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 to make 10 “commercial” movies a year and that it would function as a next-generation, fully integrated film studio. 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. In 2014, the film studio division of STX hired a series of film and media executives, including former Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson and former Disney production and marketing chief Oren Aviv. Other core executives of the STX team include former Viacom Entertainment Chief Operating Officer Tom McGrath (media executive), who functions as the studio’s COO, and former Crest Animation CEO Noah Fogelson.

In August 2016, 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. Later on in August 2016, Watts announced that STX had acquired Virtual Reality creator and distributor Surreal.

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 both 2015 and 2016, 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." Watts serves as a judge for the Business Innovation Awards sponsored by the UK Department of Trade and Investment, and for BAFTA LA's Student Film Awards. She is on the Board of Directors for BAFTA LA.

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.