Power struggle

December 05, 2006 It's been a rough year in Hollywood, with layoffs and cost-cutting part of business as usual and corporate leaders struggling to figure out if new media sources are going to take their place in the established order or overturn the apple cart entirely. Amid the uncertainty, women in the entertainment sector have not been immune to a buffeting by the winds of change, and some observers say their ranks have emerged worse for the wear. While there have been some positive shifts -- notably Amy Pascal's consolidation of power at Sony Pictures Entertainment and Dawn Ostroff's ascent to the top of the new CW network -- the void created by moves like the exit of Nina Jacobson from her post as president of Buena Vista Motion Picture Group and Universal Pictures losing both chairman Stacey Snider and vice chair of production Mary Parent have resulted in something of a female power vacuum.

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