Sidonie
Dumas

Dumas is the CEO of venerable Paris-based company Gaumont, the world’s oldest film studio, which is behind “Intouchables,””The Neon Demon” and “Narcos.” She succeeded her father, Nicolas Seydoux, at the helm of Gaumont in 2004. Dumas has excelled at expanding Gaumont’s footprint in the U.S. with the launch of a thriving Los-Angeles-based TV outfit. So far, the U.S. TV banner has produced such hit dramas as “Narcos,” sold to Netflix and “Hannibal,” sold to NBC.

Back in France, Gaumont has delivered several box office hits, notably “The Intouchables,” Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s comedy starring Omar Sy (“Jurassic World”, “Inferno”) which grossed more than $426 million worldwide and was nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. Another recent successes include Guillaume Galliene’s “Me, Myself and Mom” which won five Cesar awards in 2014.

Seydoux’s first experience in the film business was in 1987, at the age of 19, when her father brought her on the set of “The Big Blue,” directed by Luc Besson and starring Jean Reno. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she worked for Warner Bros. in the acquisition department and later returned to Gaumont as a script reader.

Within the last year, Dumas has pushed for Gaumont to consolidate its presence stateside with the launch of a film production arm in Los Angeles which will be headed by former Working Title exec Johanna Byer. The company is now developing various English-language projects, including the U.S. remake of Yeon Sang-ho’s thriller “Train to Busan” which premiered at Cannes last year and became a B.O. hit in Korea.