Mattel’s Transformation to an IP-Powerhouse: A Conversation with Chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz
Reception 5:00 to 5:30 pm
Conversation and Q&A 5:30 – 6:15 pm
The Beverly Wilshire, 9500 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA
The visionary Chairman and CEO of Mattel has transformed the nearly eighty-year-old company from a toy manufacturer making items to an IP-driven toy and family entertainment company managing franchises. Following the success of the Barbie movie, Kreiz and team are leaning in, capitalizing on the demand for known, trusted brands with built-in fan bases that are a hallmark of the iconic Mattel portfolio. In this exclusive conversation, Kreiz will share his strategy for growing the company’s IP-driven toy business and expanding its entertainment offering in content, consumer products, digital, and live experiences.
In Person:
Ynon Kreiz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mattel
Moderator: Stacey Wilson Hunt, Contributing Editor, The Hollywood Reporter
Events and participants are subject to change.
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This event is exclusive to Media Council Members. To find out more about Media Council Membership, contact mediacouncil@paleycenter.org.
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Ynon Kreiz
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mattel
Ynon Kreiz is Chairman and CEO of Mattel, a leading global toy and family entertainment company and owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world. He joined the company as CEO in April 2018 and was appointed Chairman of the Board in May 2018.
Mr. Kreiz led a multi-year transformation strategy that established Mattel as an IP-driven, high-performing toy company. Under his leadership, Mattel has achieved significant improvements across multiple key financial metrics. The company ended 2023 with an investment grade rating and its strongest balance sheet in years. In 2023 Mattel was the #1 toy company in the U.S. for the 30th consecutive year, achieving its largest annual share gain in the U.S. on record.
Under Mr. Kreiz’s leadership, Mattel Films has announced 15 motion pictures in active development with major studio partners. The company’s first movie, “Barbie,” became a cultural phenomenon, achieving the largest global box-office in 2023 and the industry’s 14th-highest grossing movie of all time. The Barbie movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, and received the Oscar for Best Original Song.
Mattel has a growing entertainment offering in television, consumer products, digital games, live events and experiences, publishing, and music.
Mr. Kreiz has had extensive experience as a corporate leader in the media and entertainment industry. Prior to joining Mattel, he was Chairman and CEO of Maker Studios, a global leader in short-form video content and one of YouTube’s largest multichannel networks.
Prior to Maker Studios, Mr. Kreiz was Chairman and CEO of the Endemol Group, the world's largest independent television production company and owner of major programming franchises including Big Brother and Deal or No Deal.
Before Endemol, Mr. Kreiz was a General Partner at Balderton Capital (formerly Benchmark Capital Europe), one of the leading early-stage startup investors in Europe.
Prior to Balderton, Mr. Kreiz co-founded Fox Kids Europe NV where he served as Chairman and CEO. Under his leadership, Fox Kids became one of the fastest growing pay TV channels in Europe and the Middle East and operated pay TV channels across 54 countries.
Mr. Kreiz serves on the Board of Directors of Warner Music Group and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Paley Center for Media. He is also a member of the AMPAS Executive Branch and was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2024.
Stacey Wilson Hunt
Contributing Editor, The Hollywood Reporter
Stacey Wilson Hunt is an award-winning journalist, editor and prolific host who has held numerous high-level editorial positions, including Hollywood correspondent for Fortune and New York/Vulture’s Hollywood Editor. She also served as The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards & Special Projects Editor for nearly six years—managing, editing and producing industry power-lists; Emmys and Oscars coverage; Hollywood-icon photo portfolios; special anniversary issues; and numerous other high-profile print and video initiatives.
Stacey was raised in Portland, Oregon by Illinois-native parents (Italian mom; farm-bred dad) and earned a B.A. in Professional Writing and Spanish from the University of Puget Sound. After starting her career at Microsoft, she earned an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University and, prior moving to L.A. in 2010, logged six years as People magazine’s Northwest-based correspondent. She also has written for L.A. Magazine, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, Playboy, IndieWire, EW, TV Guide, Variety, and earned Society of Professional Journalists and L.A. Press Club awards for her work.
A prolific moderator, Stacey has long been a busy event host for HBO, Max, Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon, a24, Paramount+, Hulu, Searchlight Pictures, Universal, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, the Paley Center and others.
For television, she produced and hosted Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter, the Emmy-nominated roundtable series, from 2012 to 2015. And in 2021, she was selected from 100 candidates to host Hulu’s Handmaid’s Tale after-show, One Burning Question. She's also an experienced podcaster, having written, produced and hosted Nat Geo’s Emmys FYC series, The Making Of and Inventing Anna: The Official Podcast, the companion show to Shonda Rhimes’ hit Netflix series.
A Contributing Editor for The Hollywood Reporter since 2022, Stacey writes awards-season analysis and profiles, while also serving as a producer, host and programmer of special projects and events, including the 25th anniversary cast reunion of Mike Judge’s film Office Space at SXSW in 2024; THR’s inaugural “Latin Power” event in Miami in 2023; and two consecutive years of THR’s signature “Raising Our Voices” DEI-themed luncheon.
Stacey lives in Los Angeles just down the hill from the Hollywood sign.