Wanted: The Next Generation of Hollywood Executives

6:00 AM PDT 10/9/2012 by Kim Masters

Alan Horn's in, Tom Rothman's out, but the story is the same at the studios, where few seem prepared -- or willing -- to ascend to the top job.

They were part of Hollywood lore, the "Killer Dillers" of the mid-1970s. With Barry Diller in the top job, the team presided over Paramount during an extraordinary run -- with hits from the Oscar-winning Reds to the franchise-launching Star Trek and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Included in the group of brilliant young execs were future Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner; future Disney studio chairman and DreamWorks Animation boss Jeffrey Katzenberg; Dawn Steel, who would become president of Columbia Pictures; and Don Simpson, who would produce with Jerry Bruckheimer such hits as Flashdance, Top Gun and Beverly Hills Cop.