58. Claudia Lewis

Lewis takes breaks from shepherding Searchlight's production slate by holidaying in ... Bhutan? The eclectic exec indulges her wanderlust with an exotic trip nearly every year, which ends up paying dividends on the job. "I definitely think those trips can help you see the world differently and make your movies better," she says. Such broadened horizons led to films like "Juno," which grossed $143 million domestically and won an Oscar for writer Diablo Cody.

The buzz on this year's awards contenders "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Wrestler" is equally strong. As the only executive to have been with the company since its founding, Lewis has become Searchlight's institutional memory. "You see a lot of things in 14 years," she says. "You learn what to take seriously and what not to take seriously." Seriously important for 2009 are projects like the hip-hop biopic "Notorious" and the offbeat Hess brothers comedy "Gentlemen Broncos."