Women in Entertainment 2010 - Power 100 List

In September 2009, Warner Bros. picked the Rhode Island native to head its refigured DC Entertainment division, putting her in charge of a league of comic book superheroes, including Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Since then, she has helped steer Green Lantern into production while making key new appointments — naming Jim Lee and Dan DiDio co-publishers of DC Comic and Geoff Johns chief creative officer of DC Entertainment — and moving multimedia and digital content production from New York to Burbank. Nelson, who at one time planned to be a photojournalist and even enrolled at the S.I. Newhouse Communications School at Syracuse University, had a practical side that took over: She switched to English and advertising with the idea of becoming a copywriter, but moved to Los Angeles when husband Peter decided to take a stab at screenwriting. After starting at Walt Disney Records, she segued to Warners in 1996 as vp domestic marketing. In her new position, she retains oversight of Warner Premiere, focusing on direct-to-DVD production, and the Harry Potter franchise, which she has been handling with author J.K. Rowling since 2000.