Amy Baer

How Adaptation Got Amy Baer from Assistant to company President

Amy Baer currently serves as President of Landline Pictures, a label within MRC Film that makes feature films about and for the 50+ audience. Launched in 2020, their first movie, Jerry and Marge Go Large, directed by David Frankel, is streaming now on Paramount+. 

Starring Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening, the film is based on the true story of a married couple who used a loophole in the Massachusetts State Lottery to win $27 million. I watched it with my dad a few weeks ago, and it’s incredibly fun and heartwarming.

While Amy grew up in a showbiz family, she still had to carve her own path. One thing was certain: she did not want to be an actor.

During her stint at CAA in 1988 as an assistant to the late Jay Moloney, she discovered the studio executive route.

She eventually became President & CEO of CBS Films. She also spent 17 years at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where she oversaw impressive films such as My Best Friend’s Wedding, Adaptation., S.W.A.T., Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday, and Moneyball.

Amy’s entrepreneurial spirit led her to raise a seven-figure development fund and launch Gidden Media, one of the industry’s only female-led, independently financed content incubation companies. 

Her first film as a producer was the 2013 hit Last Vegas, starring Michael Douglas, Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline, which grossed $136 million worldwide. 

A devoted wife and mother of two, Amy has also found time to be the Board President of Women in Film since June 2018.

A few takeaways from our chat include how to soak up as much as you can at a job you dislike, how leaving the studio system forced Amy to develop an entrepreneurial muscle, and how not to take things personally.

Tune in!

xx cg

“Authenticity is key. I have been in this business long enough to know that the people who tend to flame out fast are the ones pretending to be something that they’re not.”

- Amy Baer

Episode Transcript