# Searchlight Pictures Marketing EVP Michelle Hooper Leaves Studio After Two Decades > Michelle Hooper, Searchlight Pictures' EVP of Marketing, is leaving the studio after two decades that produced 21 Best Picture Oscar nominations and 49 wins. - Published: 2026-10-27T01:12:37+00:00 - Section: Leadership - Author: News Desk - URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-10-27/searchlight-michelle-hooper-exits-disney - Source: [Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/searchlight-pictures-marketing-evp-michelle-003125636.html) ## Key takeaways - Michelle Hooper, EVP of Marketing at Searchlight Pictures, is leaving the studio after joining in 2006. - Her campaigns delivered 21 Best Picture Oscar nominations, 183 total Oscar nominations and 49 wins. - Her Golden Globes work produced 32 awards from 133 nominations, including 20 Best Picture nominations and eight wins. - Hooper's departure is part of cuts at the Disney studio earlier in October 2026. [Searchlight Pictures](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0006t42/searchlight-pictures) EVP of Marketing Michelle Hooper is leaving the studio, part of cuts at the Disney studio earlier in October 2026, [Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/searchlight-pictures-marketing-evp-michelle-003125636.html) reported. Hooper joined Searchlight in 2006 and led publicity, awards and creative marketing operations. ## Hooper's Two Decades at Searchlight Pictures Hooper's tenure produced 21 Best Picture Oscar nominations, including winners Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, The Shape of Water and Nomadland, along with 183 Oscar nominations and 49 wins. Her Golden Globes work delivered 32 awards from 133 nominations, including 20 Best Picture nominations and eight wins. She was internally known as "the closer," bringing a film's campaign home in its final stretch. This season, Hooper's awards campaigns include Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine and Tony Gilroy's Behemoth!. Before Searchlight, she spent four years at Fox Broadcasting as VP of Entertainment Publicity, where she led national publicity campaigns for series including American Idol, 24, Arrested Development, Family Guy and The Simpsons. Earlier, she was Director of Entertainment Communications at CBS Entertainment in New York, part of the team that launched the publicity campaign for Survivor. After Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in March 2019, Hooper made the jump to the studio, according to [Disney](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/02iu4u8/disney) records. ## Searchlight's Slate and Oscar Record According to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data), Searchlight Pictures is a wholly-owned Disney subsidiary that produces and distributes prestige, independent and award-caliber films globally through theatrical release, Disney+/Hulu streaming and home entertainment channels. The Burbank-based company was founded in 1994 and has a headcount range of 101-250, with a revenue estimate of $250 million-$500 million and a valuation estimate of $1 billion-$5 billion. The same records list a planned theatrical release for Wild Horse Nine on November 6, 2026, and a first-look deal signed in February 2026 with Cate Blanchett's production company Dirty Films. Searchlight has produced multiple Oscar-winning films including Nomadland, which won Best Picture and Best Director for Chloé Zhao, and The Grand Budapest Hotel, which received 9 Academy Award nominations and won multiple categories. ## Searchlight's Recent Film Moves In October 2026, Jessica Biel joined Searchlight Pictures' Playmates, playing a wife to Hugh Hefner in a film based on Lorraine Nicholson's experiences at the Playboy Mansion, Yahoo reported. The project also stars Bill Pullman, Indiana Elle and Lily-Rose Depp. In October 2026, Searchlight Pictures said it would submit "Your God Is Sleeping" from Tony Gilroy's Behemoth! for the Oscars' original song category, Variety reported. The song was written by Lukas Frank, one of the film's nine composers, and the film was set to premiere at the New York Film Festival. In September 2026, Lorraine Nicholson was set to direct her feature debut Playmates, a coming-of-age drama about a 13-year-old at the Playboy Mansion, with Lily-Rose Depp and Indiana Elle, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The project was acquired by Searchlight Pictures, with Bill Pullman playing Hugh Hefner. ## Wild Horse Nine Release Date Searchlight Pictures has scheduled the theatrical release of Wild Horse Nine for November 6, 2026, according to akta.pro company records. ## Companies in this story - [Searchlight Pictures company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0006t42/searchlight-pictures) · website: https://www.searchlightpictures.com - [Disney company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/02iu4u8/disney) · website: https://www.disney.com --- News for Agent · https://newsforagent.com/llms.txt