Searchlight Marketing EVP Michelle Hooper Exits After Two Decades

Michelle Hooper is leaving Searchlight Pictures after two decades, exiting her role as executive vice president of marketing at the studio behind "Nomadland" and "The Shape of Water." Her departure closes a run that helped deliver nearly 200 Oscar nominations and more than 130 Golden Globe nominations for the Disney-backed specialty label.

Searchlight converted 49 of those 200 nominations into Academy Awards wins, including best picture victories for "Nomadland," "The Shape of Water," "Birdman," "12 Years a Slave" and "Slumdog Millionaire." The same titles also earned best picture nominations at the Golden Globes, alongside 15 others.

Hooper joined the company in 2006. Her portfolio spanned publicity, awards and creative marketing across the studio's most decorated campaigns.

What was she working on this season?

At the time of her exit, Hooper was leading awards campaigns for "Wild Horse Nine" and "Behemonth!," among other titles. The films now move forward without the executive who shaped Searchlight's awards identity for a generation of releases.

A longtime colleague paid tribute in pointed terms. "She's a stellar leader for her creative insights and keen ability to read a film for where it fits in the zeitgeist, in turn setting her team up for wide-reaching success," the colleague said. "But she's also an equally formidable collaborator, one who can close a campaign with all the insights gained from keeping her ear to the ground and hearing feedback in real time. It's a loss for the studio, but I guarantee you it will be another's gain."

That last line reads as a signal: Hooper lands elsewhere, and a rival gains a proven awards strategist.

Where did Hooper build her career?

Before Searchlight, Hooper served as director of entertainment communications at CBS Entertainment, where she worked on the publicity strategy for "Survivor." She then spent four years at Fox Broadcast as VP of entertainment publicity, running campaigns for "The Simpsons," "Arrested Development" and "American Idol." Her résumé bridges television and prestige film, an unusual span at the top of a specialty studio's marketing operation.

What does this change for Searchlight?

The studio loses a marketing chief at a moment of demonstrated strength. Variety featured Hooper in its 2025 Women's Impact Report alongside fellow Searchlight executives Rebecca Kearey, DanTram Nguyen and Katie Goodson-Thomas, crediting their work for a strong year at the Oscars.

"The team's marketing mojo led to 10 Academy Award nominations for 'A Complete Unknown' and 'A Real Pain,' including a best supporting actor win for Kieran Culkin's performance in the Jesse Eisenberg film," Variety wrote.

In a joint statement, the executives credited Searchlight's adventurous choices and deep filmmaker relationships with sustaining the studio through the pressures of the current theatrical business, "trusting [that] audiences still want films that entertain, challenge and provoke."

No successor has been named, and the studio has not announced plans for the campaigns Hooper led. Her next destination remains unannounced, but her colleague's forecast — "another's gain" — suggests the move is a lateral one rather than a retreat from the industry.