Producing Change with Nina Jacobson & Brad Simpson (CRAZY RICH ASIANS, HUNGER GAMES)

Moira Griffin is the Executive Director of Production, Creative Labs for 21st Century Fox where she is charged with furthering Fox’s goals to create content that reflects the company’s global audience, attracts diverse storytellers, and positions the film, television studios, and the networks as the home for innovative storytelling. She is the former head of Diversity Initiatives at the Sundance Institute where she focused on developing diverse artists while by helping them gain access to the programs within the institute, as well introducing them to the international marketplace, finance and emerging technologies. Prior to her position as Sundance she worked as an Independent Producer and Strategist based in New York and Los Angeles.  

Moira has numerous projects under her belt including music videos, short films, features, documentaries and webseries for a variety of companies including PBS, YouTube, and NBC Universal. With award-winning projects such as Night Shift (Executive Produced by Viola Davis), The New Black (PBS), Black Folk Don’t (PBS/YouTube), Hug, and The Contest (Cartoon Network) premiering at festivals including Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, AFI Docs, Mill Valley Film Festival, and Human Rights Watch Film Festival, she is consistently focused on helping directors move their projects from development through post. 

Her next feature documentary Alabamaland will premiere in 2020 and she just completed her most recent project CAP. 

Previously, she worked as VP of Production/Development with Pipedream Productions developing projects with talents such as Derek Cianfrance, Julian Fellowes, Ian Rankin and Liza Johnson. A founding director of Rooftop Films, she has curated film programs for multiple organizations from Ocularis (New York, NY) to the Global Peace Film Festival (Bali). In addition, she developed the Ethiopia Film Initiative as a consultant with the IETFF in Monaco, which supports Ethiopian filmmakers and the development of an Ethiopian film industry. 

Originally from the border cities of Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan, she holds degrees in Media Studies and Japanese Studies from the University of Windsor.

Nina Jacobson has built an impressive career spanning over 25 years. Jacobson achieved enormous success as a senior film executive at three major motion picture studios before founding the independent company Color Force in 2010. Her first film as producer and the first for Color Force was Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which grossed over $75 million worldwide and spawned three popular sequels. Jacobson also produced The Hunger Games franchise, based on Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel, which together have grossed $2.9 billion worldwide.

Jacobson and her Color Force partner Brad Simpson won Emmy and Golden Globe awards for Color Force’s first foray into television, The People V OJ Simpson: American Crime Story, which they executive produced alongside Ryan Murphy. The show, Season 1 of an anthology series, debuted on FX in February 2016 to critical acclaim and record ratings and went on to receive a remarkable 22 Emmy Award nominations and nine wins, including the Emmy for Best Limited Series. The series’ second season, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, premiered in January 2018 and received 18 Emmy nominations and 7 wins, including the Emmy for Best Limited Series. Jacobson also executive produced the critically acclaimed drama POSE alongside Ryan Murphy, and is currently developing the first season of Y for FX, adapted from DC comic book Y: The Last Man.

On the feature side, Jacobson recently produced the groundbreaking upcoming feature film Crazy Rich Asians based on Kevin Kwan’s international best-seller for Warner Bros., Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Maria Semple’s best-selling novel Where’d You Go Bernadette; and The Goldfinch, based on the critically acclaimed novel by Donna Tartt.

Prior to forming Color Force, Jacobson was president of the Walt Disney Motion Picture Group, where she oversaw script development and film production for Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures. During her tenure, 15 of Jacobson’s projects grossed over $100 million domestically, including Pirates of the Caribbean, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and The Princess Diaries. The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise became the highest grossing film in Disney’s history, generating almost three billion dollars in worldwide box office.

Before joining the Walt Disney Motion Picture Group, Jacobson was a senior film executive at DreamWorks SKG, where she developed What Lies Beneath and originated the idea of DreamWorks’ first animated feature, Antz. She also held positions at Universal, Parkes/MacDonald Productions, Silver Pictures, and began her career at Disney Sunday Movie.

Jacobson is a graduate of Brown University and currently lives in Santa Monica with her wife Jennifer, their three children, two dogs, and a cat.

Brad Simpson is partners, with Nina Jacobson, in Color Force.

Simpson is the Executive Producer of The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story and The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. For his work on the franchise he has received two Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics Choice Awards, three TCA Awards, two AFI Awards, two PGA Awards, a BAFTA, and a NAACP Award. 

Simpson is also the Executive Producer of Pose which was created by Ryan Murphy. Pose debuted to critical acclaim on FX and was hailed as one of the best new shows of the year. It was nominated for Best Dramatic Series at the 2019 Golden Globes and at the 2019 Critics Choice Awards. It was awarded a 2019 AFI Award. 

The next series for Color Force will be Y starring Diane Lane, which will premier in 2020 on FX. Y is an adaptation of Bryan K. Vaughan’s fabled graphic novel series Y The Last Man. 

In 2018 Simpson and Jacobson produced the hit film Crazy Rich Asians. Starring Michelle Yeoh and Constance Wu, the film became a cultural phenomenon, opening at number one at the US Box Office and going on to gross over $230 million worldwide. Crazy Rich Asians won the 2019 Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy and was nominated for a 2019 Golden Globe Award and a 2019 PGA Award.

In 2018, Simpson also produced Ben is Back starring Julia Roberts, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to critical acclaim. 

Next for Color Force is Where’d You Go, Bernadette? starring Cate Blanchett, All Day and a Night starring Jeffrey Wright, and The Goldfinch starring Nicole Kidman and based on the critically acclaimed novel by Donna Tartt. Along with Jacobson, Simpson also produced the hit films Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul. 

Prior to joining Color Force, Simpson was a producer at legendary New York indie production company Killer Films and President of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way. Simpson was executive producer on World War Z starring Brad Pitt, which grossed over $540,000,000 worldwide. He co-produced the multiple Academy Award-nominated film Far From Heaven, served as associate producer on the Academy Award-winner Boys Don’t Cry, produced Party Monster, served as co-producer on Home at the End of the World and an associate producer on Camp. As an executive, he was also involved with such classic independent films as Velvet Goldmine, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Happiness and One Hour Photo.

Originally from Little Rock, AR, Simpson graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brown University.