6 Ways Reese Witherspoon Is Changing the Film and TV Industry

In this week’s cover story, Reese Witherspoon—Adweek’s Media Visionary—talks about how she turned Hollywood on its head by becoming a producer to make the female-centric stories the industry had long ignored. “If you want systems to change, you have to rethink how you want the system to work,” she told Adweek. The Oscar-winning actress, and founder of the Hello Sunshine media company, had so much to share about her journey, we couldn't fit all the details into our cover story. Here are highlights from the rest of my discussion with her, including the most meaningful changes she's brought to the Hollywood system. Bypass the usual development process One of Witherspoon’s first producing projects was her 2014 film Wild. The film was based on Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 memoir about her 1,100-mile hike across the Pacific Crest Trail as she reflects on her life, including her struggle with heroin addiction. Strayed wanted Witherspoon to play her in the film adaptation. When the author first reached out to the actress/producer about turning the book into a movie, Witherspoon offered a few caveats about the process. “I said to her, ‘I'm not going to sell it to a studio because I don't think they'll want me to be a drug user. I think they might want to water it down a little bit to make it more palatable for more people—but I think it's going to lose its potency, if we don't tell the truth of your story,” Witherspoon recalled. Instead, Witherspoon opted to bypass the usual film development process to ensure that she could make the film she wanted: “We independently financed the development through a great company. Then we just took it to market and I was like, ‘This is it, I'm starring in it, I'm going to shoot it in September.’ I took it out more of as an auction to [Hollywood], instead of a long-term development project, which is what the studios have been doing: they buy books, and then they develop them anywhere from two years to 10 years. Sometimes they got made, and sometimes not.” Not only did Witherspoon’s unconventional approach get Wild made, but the film was an indie hit (grossing $37.9 million in the U.S.). It also received two Oscar nominations: Witherspoon for best actress, and Laura Dern for best supporting actress. Play the field While many creatives are signing exclusive deals with one outlet, Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine have opted to play the field. The production company has worked with most of Hollywood’s biggest networks and streamers, including Amazon, Apple, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix and Starz. She didn’t want to follow the footsteps of colleagues who signed deals and only to end up “getting their projects stalled and stuck in development. I really wanted to get movies and television shows made,” she explained. And because her team does all the development ahead of time, “we were bringing projects that were fully baked to the table. They weren't having to spend the development money. And we would say, we have a star and we have a writer and we're ready to go, we have the option. So it made it easy. And then, after Big Little Lies, we had a seal of approval—it was like the Good Housekeeping Seal on our work.” Adapt to the shifting media landscape One of the reasons that Witherspoon founded Hello Sunshine, was to make projects not just for TV and film but also podcasts, audio storytelling and digital series. The goal was to adapt to the many ways that consumer habits have changed. "Everything is shifting, and you can either lament the change or get on the bus.” There’s even more evolution on the horizon: “Long-form media is going to go through a whole shift,” said Witherspoon, who brings up her 21-year-old daughter, Ava. “She's like, ‘Mom, my attention span is not two hours long.’ It's hard for her to sit through a movie. Even if you look at the way books are published now, the [character development is] much shorter than it was 10 years ago. Chapters are now two or three pages; they used to be 10 or 11. Everything is shifting, and you can either lament the change or get on the bus.” ‘You can’t sit on old ideas’ After selling The Morning Show to Apple TV+, Witherspoon scrapped the original Season 1 plan following the #MeToo movement in 2017, redeveloping the show to incorporate a storyline in which the fictional show’s anchor (Steve Carell) is fired for sexual misconduct, similar to Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose. This year, the show had been filming Season 2 when production was shut down in March due to the pandemic.Now, Witherspoon confirmed that the new season will also be reconceived to incorporate Covid-19 and this year’s other major events. “I can't say too much, but yes, we definitely redirected,” she said. “[Showrunner] Kerry Ehrin is so energized about new storylines, and when you're doing a show that's about contemporary news and modern media, you can't sit on old ideas. You've got to really dive in. I've only read half the scripts, but they are so good. I think people who are fans of The Morning Show are gonna be really happy with Season 2.” How Adweek Media Visionary Reese Witherspoon Turned Hollywood on Its Head Know when to say no—and yes Witherspoon has maintained a full acting schedule even as she’s become one of Hollywood’s most prolific producers. She works with her Hello Sunshine execs to juggle her acting and producing duties. “I have an incredible producing team. They know when to ask me questions, and they know when I'm in character, and we're just very honest with each other,” said Witherspoon. “I'll say to them, ‘Guys, today I have heavy scenes. I can't get on the phone, and I can't do the board meeting today.’ And then there's the days that I can, when things are lighter on set.” Even so, she isn’t always able to keep all the plates spinning. “I'll just be honest with you: sometimes it's hard. We don't always get it right. They'll be a day where they ask me a bunch of questions [and] I just feel like my brain is mashed potatoes; but the next day is usually better,” she said. “It helps that when you have a company where you're so personally invested in the mission—it doesn't feel like work. None of it feels like work when they say to me, 'Oh, we're going to go for Season 2 of Octavia Spencer's new show, [Apple TV+’s Truth Be Told].' You're like, that's exciting to get on the phone, and call actresses and say, ‘Do you want to co-star with Octavia, who's awesome and amazing?’” Embrace Instagram—and use your voice When Witherspoon first joined Instagram eight years ago, “I was a little shy of it,” she said. “Because we were always told as we came up in the movie business, don't tell anybody anything. And that's just the complete opposite. Now, it's like, tell everybody everything! But I found some balance between those two worlds. I do think it's an opportunity for me to have a deeper relationship with people.” Witherspoon has grown her audience to 24.5 million followers, sharing personal details with fans while also helping promote her various projects, including her Draper James clothing line. Before social media, “I never had that immediacy with an audience, [though] I'm very much a people person. Connecting felt very natural to me. Now, I always think, 'How does this make people feel?' before I post anything. This isn't just me needing to throw anything out there. I'm very thoughtful about what I say," she said. But that also means speaking out: “I stand up for causes and issues that are close to me, [where] 15 years ago, people would say, ‘Please don't do these things.’ But I think the world is changing. I really am so moved by my daughter and her friends, my son, their passion for the world they live in, and standing up for what they believe in. It has really inspired me.”