Interview
Alumni Q&A: Robbie Brenner ’89
President of Mattel Studios and Chief Content Officer
HOW DO YOU DEFINE CHARACTER?
I think character is your defining attributes and qualities that make you authentically who you are as a human being.
HOW DID RIVERDALE SHAPE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS AND COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS?
I have very fond memories of Riverdale, of the community, Homecoming, and those crisp days. It’s a beautiful environment, and it was nice to be able to get out of the city and go somewhere that felt very special. I keep up with a lot of people, and those bonds that you create when you’re younger are what you take with you through your whole life.
It’s also an incredible networking system. It’s like a little secret society of the people who went to Riverdale. Meryl Poster ’82 is my mentor in my life and a good friend. She scooped me up and took me under her wing. I think that she saw herself in me.
The Riverdale connection was the decisive factor in hiring my assistant, Elie Sokoloff ’13. Aside from the fact that I liked her and she was qualified, there was a common language, a common understanding.
HOW HAS YOUR LEADERSHIP/ ADVOCACY EVOLVED IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY?
I like to lean into the unexpected. What excites me is doing things that feel like a defining moment or telling stories that need to be told. I don’t really believe in hierarchical management. A good idea can come from anywhere, and I give the people that work for me a lot of flexibility and latitude to create, dream, and chase what inspires them. I like to inspire them to think outside of the box to chase singularity, authenticity, and the unexpected and different in a time in the world where there is so much noise and divisiveness. Ultimately, if you can succeed, that’s great. If you can’t, then you’re responsible for what doesn’t work.
WHAT ASPECTS OF CHARACTER MATTER MOST IN YOUR FIELD?
Movies are a communal experience. You could be the person who identifies what the story is and chooses the creative voices that are going to be involved, whether it’s the production designer, the writer, or the director. However, when you’re making a movie, it’s a collective. So many things can go wrong, and you have to kind of thread the needle perfectly. You need to really have a knack for politicking and personalities and be able to make people feel good and special.
Being a producer is a lot of navigation and tenacity. You’re the person who’s putting all the pieces together and pushing the rock up the hill. It’s amazing that any good movie gets made. There are so many obstacles: the amount of time that the door sort of closes on the financing; an actor falls out; the story isn’t relevant or people are afraid of it. It took me 20 years to make the Dallas Buyers Club.
It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. If you believe in something, you just have to have the tenacity to stay with something and push it through. You have to will it into existence.
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE IN YOUR FIELD?
I think that the more successful you become, unless you work for yourself, the more you become a little farther away from what you love to do because you’re managing people. People have a lot to say and a lot of feelings. It’s interesting being a creative and navigating the concerns of upsetting someone else. Hopefully, we can get back to a more analog life where people talk to each other and communicate and distance themselves from their devices.