Sony Pictures Entertainment has promoted Nicole Brown, an African American woman, as President of TriStar Pictures, extending her contract with the studio to continue oversight of the specialty label. Last year, Brown was appointed to head TriStar Pictures as Executive Vice President. She will continue to report to Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, and oversee all of TriStar’s film development and production.
Most recently, Brown has been instrumental in securing several major projects for the studio -- often in the face of heavy competition -- including the musical biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, based on the life and music of iconic singer Whitney Houston; The Woman King, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Viola Davis; The Nightingale, starring Dakota and Elle Fanning based on Kristin Hannah’s New York Times bestselling novel; Matilda the Musical, a co-production with Netflix based on the Tony Award-winning musical; Scott Derrickson’s sequel to Labyrinth; and Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Last Human.During her TriStar tenure, Brown has worked on movies such as Marielle Heller’s highly acclaimed A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks; Edgar Wright’s breakout hit Baby Driver; Danny Boyle’s sequel to Trainspotting; Jodie Foster’s Money Monster starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts; and Jonathan Demme’s Ricki and The Flash starring Meryl Streep.
Before TriStar, Brown was executive vice president at Good Universe (originally formed as Mandate Pictures) where she oversaw the development of the company’s slate of films. Some of the films that she shepherded and produced were Neighbors, This is the End, Last Vegas, Evil Dead, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, The Possession, Whip It, Seeking A Friend For The End of World, the Harold & Kumar franchise and the Independent Spirit award-winning film, 50/50.
The Los Angeles native got her start as an intern at Miramax while attending Columbia University. After graduating from Columbia in two and a half years and Phi Beta Kappa, she was accepted into The Peter Stark Producing Program at USC. She instead took a position at Marc Platt Productions and worked on the Legally Blonde franchise and Honey.
Brown is on the board of Women in Film, is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and is a mentor for ReFrame Rise.