The Smart 50: Entertainment Weekly Declares That There Are At Least 50 Intelligent People In Hollywood

We've made no secret of our love for Hollywood power lists, as hierarchical inventories of which players are currently swinging the biggest dicks (and that doesn't exclude the ladies who occasionally creep into the rankings!) in the entertainment industry briefly bring order to an otherwise confusing show-business world. In a twist that threatens to redefine everything we thought we knew about putting numbers next to famous names, the iconoclasts at EW have decided to substitute "smart" for the vanilla, outdated notion of "power," a decision that has catapulted burgeoning comedy monopolist Judd Apatow from an already-impressive #13 on Premiere's old-timey 2007 index to the top spot in Hollywood's New Smart Order.

Above, we've spotlighted the entry for underappreciated Imagine superproducer Brian Grazer, who relentlessly publicizes the fact the he's a knowledge-vampire consumed by a smartlust so crippling that it can only be sated by luring unsuspecting geniuses to his office, where he quickly drains their quivering gray matter of all delicious ideas, then has his trusty cultural attaché bury their useless, thought-depleted husks in a quiet corner of Ron Howard's backyard; being pushed out of the top ten by two mere actors (Will Smith and Meryl Streep) must really be a disappointment for the town's foremost nerd-collector. [Also: Someone will be made to pay dearly for the magazine's choice to use an unauthorized cartoon image in lieu of Grazer's officially sanctioned headshot.] Below is EW's list of 50 (full profiles are here), for those who'd like to spend the day debating whether Ben Stiller is actually "smarter" than Brad Bird:

1. Judd Apatow, director/writer/producer 2. Steven Spielberg, director/producer 3. James Cameron, director/producer 4. Ari Emanuel, partner of the Endeavor Agency 5. Will Smith, actor/producer 6. Meryl Streep, actor 7. Peter Rice, president of Fox Searchlight 8. Tyler Perry, actor/director/writer/producer 9. David Heyman, producer 10. John Knoll, visual-effects supervisor of Industrial Light & Magic 11. Brian Grazer, producer 12. Dick Cook, chairman of the Walt Disney Studios 13. George Clooney, actor/director/producer 14. Jerry Bruckheimer, producer 15. Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment 16. Peter Jackson, director/producer 17. Will Ferrell, actor/producer 18. Robert Zemeckis, director 19. Tom Rothman, co-chair of Fox Filmed Entertainment 20. Ben Stiller, actor/director/producer 21. Johnny Depp, actor/producer 22. Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation 23. Brad Bird, writer/director 24. Emmanuel Lubezki, cinematographer 25. Zack Snyder, director 26. Stacey Snider, CEO of DreamWorks SKG 27. Michael Moore, documentarian 28. Paul Greengrass, director 29. J.J. Abrams, producer/director 30. Jodie Foster, actor/director 31. Kathleen Kennedy, producer 32. Thelma Schoonmaker, editor 33. Angelina Jolie, actor 34. Sacha Baron Cohen, actor/writer/producer 35. Tim Palen, co-president of film marketing for Lionsgate 36. Modi Wiczyk, co-CEO of Media Rights Capital 37. Guillermo del Toro, writer/producer/director 38. Diablo Cody, screenwriter 39. Mary Zophres, costume designer 40. Jeff Skoll, founder of Participant Productions 41. Stefan Sonnenfeld, president of Company 3 42. Daniel Battsek, president of Miramax Films 43. Beth Swofford, agent at CAA 44. Roderick Jaynes, editor 45. Cate Blanchett, actor 46. Jeff Walker, Comic-Con impresario 47. Amy Powell, senior vice president of interactive marketing at Paramount 48. Gustavo Santaolalla, composer 49. Sarah Polley, actor/writer/director 50. Ben Affleck, actor/director/writer/producer

• The 50 Smartest People In Hollywood [EW.com]
• Previously: Premiere Releases Power List; Fox Chief Asses To Receive Slightly Increased Pampering Immediately [Defamer]

Contact information for this author is not available.

Upload an image | Add an image URL ×

Image URL: ×

Youtube URL: ×

Choose a file to upload:

×

Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

Loading comments ...

Earlier discussions | Other discussions | Show all discussions | Show featured discussions only | Start a new discussion