13. Sue Kroll

Talk about trial by fire: Mere weeks after Kroll stepped into her newly created post in January, Heath Ledger -- the "centerpiece performance," she says, of summer tentpole "The Dark Knight" -- passed away. "It was a delicate situation, promoting him without exploiting him," she adds. "Knight" went on to earn $1 billion in worldwide boxoffice, as well as awards buzz for Ledger. Then Kroll's slate doubled when New Line folded into Warner Bros. in the spring. Immediately she got her hands dirty, shepherding the New Line hit "Sex and the City," which brought in more than $400 million worldwide. "Mach speed is in my fabric," she says, and she'll need it for challenges like the upcoming Oscar contender "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (for which Warner Bros. has worldwide rights) and next year's "He's Just Not That Into You." But even a mach-speeder can enjoy a leisurely solo ride up the coast. "Just being alone and not having to talk rejuvenates me," she says.