Carol Lombardini may have the toughest, if least glamorous, job in Hollywood. As the chief negotiator for the major studios, she must find consensus among a group of executives who often have conflicting interests and priorities.
But Lomabardini, the newly appointed president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, has had plenty of time to learn what she’s getting into. In selecting Lombardini for the job, the alliance’s board chose an ultimate insider. The onetime labor attorney has spent most of her career — 27 years — at the alliance, where she worked under her longtime mentor, Nick Counter, who retired earlier this year.
In a recent interview, Lombardini, 54, shared her thoughts on the new job, how she might do things differently and the challenges she faces to find common ground with Hollywood’s increasingly restless talent unions while pushing the agenda of her demanding bosses.
You were up until 3 a.m. the other night negotiating a contract with the American Federation of Musicians. Clearly, you don’t keep bankers’ hours.
It’s very hard to focus when you have 20 people in a room. It happens more often than I would like. There are days when I wish I had a 9-to-5 job.
So how many labor contracts have you been involved in during your career?
I think I’ve participated in more than 300 deals. This is probably one of the most heavily unionized industries in the U.S. When you step foot on a set in Hollywood, you’re automatically dealing with 25 unions. It’s very challenging because you have to know what’s in each contract. Even locals within the same union have different points of view on the same issues.
In some ways you have a thankless job: the nemesis of Hollywood labor.
There is a certain truth about it being thankless. As the chief negotiator, you are the target of negative attention from the other side. But the irony of the situation is that, in reality, I’m labor’s closest ally because if I can’t convince my bargaining committee to do something they are asking for, they are not going to get it.
You’re the first female negotiator for the major studios. Are you ready to break up the boys' club?I think we have broken up the boys' club. When you look at our bargaining committee, I would say we’re 30% women. Women have done a really remarkable job in labor relations. When I first came to this job 27 years ago, there were many people on the management side who probably never would have considered a woman for the top position.
Your predecessor, Nick Counter, was known as a pugnacious negotiator. Will you adopt a similar approach?
