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HOLLYWOOD’S
N E W L E A D E R S
Z, will.i.am). She also
fronts band Lolawolf
and is the face of
Vera Wang’s Princess
perfume. “I want to
keep doing music and
movies — and I’d love
to produce projects
and eventually direct.”
LIN-MANUEL
MIRANDA, 35
ACTOR, COMPOSER,
WRITER
Though he already
earned a Tony Award
in 2008 for “In the
Heights,” Miranda
is the hottest thing
on Broadway for his
creation “Hamilton.”
He not only stars in,
but also wrote the
music, lyrics and
book to the musical
that tells the story of
the founding father
through numbers
with a rap and hiphop
blend. Countless
raves include
Variety’s Marilyn
Stasio: “Miranda’s
impassioned narrative
of one man’s story
becomes the
collective narrative of
a nation, a nation built
by immigrants who
occasionally need to
be reminded where
they came from.”
JORDAN
PEELE, 36
ACTOR, COMEDIAN,
WRITER
The co-star/co-creator
(with comedy partner
Keegan-Michael Key)
of Comedy Central’s
hit series “Key & Peele”
had another excellent
year. The edgy show’s
run scored a 2014
Peabody Award, 12
Emmy noms and
over 900 million
online hits. Peele
had multi-episode
arcs on “Fargo” and
“Bob’s Burgers,” and
just shot New Line’s
“Keanu” with Key.
In development:
Paramount’s
“Substitute Teacher,”
New Line’s “Police
Academy” and a Fox
comedy starring Vine
star Andrew Bachelor.
Peele wrote and
will direct his debut
feature “Get Out,”
with Blumhouse and
QC Entertainment
producing. “It’s a
social thriller. My
dream job is to write
and direct movies.”
KRISTEN
SCHAAL, 37
ACTRESS, COMEDIAN,
WRITER
The versatile talent
who stars in Fox’s “The
Last Man on Earth”
began in standup,
played a stalkerfan
in HBO’s “Flight
of the Conchords”
and has appeared in
dozens of films (“A
Walk in the Woods,”
upcoming comedies
“The Boss” and “The
Runaround”), and
TV shows (“30 Rock,”
“Mad Men,” “The
Daily Show”) . Schaal
continues to host
weekly stand-up show
“Hot Tub” alongside
comedy partner Kurt
Braunohler, and coauthored
“The Sexy
Book of Sexy Sex”
with husband Rich
Blomquist. “I’d love
to give you a quote
about why I’m a
leader, but I should
probably run it by
several people first.”
ED
SHEERAN, 24
SINGER,
SONGWRITER
At the 57th
annual Grammy
Awards , Sheeran’s
performance of
“Thinking Out Loud”
appeared to cement
the notion that even
in the rough-andtumble
music biz,
nice guys can finish
first. The 24-yearold
U.K. singersongwriter
sensation
told Variety that
“the most successful
artists I know have
three things: they’re
talented, they work
very hard at their
craft, and they’re
nice.” Sheeran’s wellscrubbed
persona
certainly hasn’t
hurt business, with
“Thinking Out Loud”
having reached more
than 5 million sales
in the U.S. alone, and
become the first
single to surpass
more than 500 million
streams on Spotify.
SAM
SMITH, 23
SINGER,
SONGWRITER
Smith was first
noticed for his vocals
on Disclosure’s
breakthrough single
“Latch” in 2012. He
has since won over
music lovers across
the globe with his
emotional ballads.
His “Stay With Me”
and debut album
“Lay Me Down”
helped him nab four
Grammys , including
for new artist. The Brit
recently lent his sultry
falsetto to 007 with
the “Spectre” theme
song “Writing’s on the
Wall.” Smith’s highly
anticipated second
album is expected to
come out next year.
JESSICA
WILLIAMS, 26
ACTRESS, WRITER,
COMEDIAN
The Upright Citizens
Brigade performer
made her TV debut as
a teen in Nickelodeon’s
“Just for Kicks.”
Then she landed as
a correspondent on
Comedy Central’s “The
Daily Show With Jon
Stewart,” making her
the first black woman
in the role. Williams
also recurred in the
third season of HBO’s
“Girls,” appeared in
the Sundance comedy
“People Places Things”
and continued on
“The Daily Show
With Trevor Noah.”
With comedian
Phoebe Robinson she
performs as 2 Dope
Queens and hosts a
standup/storytelling
show in New York.
“I’d love to write and
direct movies, have
my own television
show, and see more
funny women of color
represented in all
artistic media,” she
says.
DANIEL
MARTINEZ, 37
EXEC VP,
ENTERTAINMENT AND
BRAND MARKETING,
PMK*BNC
Since joining 15
years ago, Martinez
has become a key
player in the agency’s
brand/entertainment
marketing business.
He developed,
MARTINEZ
B R A N D
M A R K E T I N G
negotiated and
executed Samsung’s
music festival strategy;
led the growth of
Samsung Mobile’s
experiential, influencer
marketing and content
business (more than
doubling growth in
that division in three
years); and brought
Samsung Gear VR to
a consumer audience,
sourcing entertainment
partnerships, artists
and consumer/
influencer events.
Among the initiatives:
creating the VR
Experience at
SXSW and debuting
live streaming of
performances at
Lollapalooza via
Gear VR. “Whether
it’s pushing the
boundaries of VR
technology at music
events, or negotiating
partnerships with
iconic entertainment
properties, I’m
excited to continue
working with clients
like Samsung to
create cultural
moments that impact
consumers’ lives,”
he says.
72 Features