Along with co-head Rebecca Glashow, Zimmerman has escalated Awesomeness to a top entertainment destination for Gen Z. An important piece of the equation is making sure Awesomeness—and its programs including “Trinkets” and “Light as a Feather”—can be found wherever young audiences seek entertainment. “Audiences crave seeing women in complex roles and women’s issues front and center, so it’s great seeing the industry begin to embrace and support more female-led projects,” she says. At Awesomeness, women have consistently held leadership roles, which Zimmerman says is an essential part of the company’s brand identity. “We pride ourselves in helping cultivate the careers of our female hires and creating a work environment where they can truly thrive—we believe the entertainment industry as a whole can do the same,” she says.
How can the industry do a better job of recruiting women and ensuring they have a path to senior positions?
All people have to do is follow our lead and trust the talent that women have and put them in positions to learn, grow and succeed. Here at Awesomeness, women have consistently held leadership roles and having a strong female leadership team has been an essential part of our brand and identity. We pride ourselves in helping cultivate the careers of our female hires and creating a work environment where they can truly thrive – we believe the entertainment industry as a whole can do the same. For example, Brin Lukens was one of the first employees at Awesomeness, joining the company 6.5 years ago and is now the Senior Vice President of Scripted Series & Content. Emily Hecht started as an intern 7 years ago and is now the VP of Programming and Development for all of AwesomenessTV’s social platforms. This type of career longevity is rare in Hollywood but even more rare since they have climbed the ladder at the same company. It’s a testament to our culture and wanting our teams to thrive.
Which current shows best reflect the kind of women’s roles you like to see and why?
Similar to our AwesomenessTV produced show, “Trinkets,” we love seeing diverse women in roles in front of and behind the camera. It was particularly thrilling to see Phoebe Waller-Bridge win lead actress in a comedy series at the Emmys this year, as “Fleabag” is such a wonderful show and the fact that she created, wrote, and also stars, who plays such as in such a unique and different lead female role, is astounding. Also, “Big Little Lies,” which stars a strong female-led cast who all play unique characters and also has plenty of women behind the camera, with Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon serving as executive producers, certainly reflects the type of amazing content that women can create. Audiences crave seeing women in complex roles and women’s issues front and center, so it’s great seeing the industry begin to embrace and support more female-led projects.
