22. Sheila Nevins

In the world of TV documentary films, not only is Nevins the industry's most powerful exec -- there isn't a close second place. "I'm just fortunate to be an insomniac and have a mind that never shuts off," she says with typical breathless energy. Nevins has been HBO's "Documentary Dominatrix" (her words) for some 29 years, greenlighting and championing projects that have earned 19 Academy Awards. Her highlights this year included "Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery" and "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired." "What I worry about now," Nevins says, "is how I can do anything as good as 'Polanski' in 2009." Not that the cupboard is bare. She has a new doc about the Republican presidential campaign on tap from "Journeys With George" filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi and a look at the deadly May earthquake in China. "We keep coming up with new stuff somehow," she says.