Mary Parent (born 1968) is an American film producer, and former studio executive.
Early life and education A native of Santa Barbara, California, Parent studied business at the University of Southern California before launching a modestly successful women's fashion company. Her interest in film led her to take an entry-level job at a talent agency, and she eventually entered the entertainment industry in the early 1990s.
Career Parent began her executive career at New Line Cinema, where she rose to vice president and helped shepherd projects such as Set It Off and Pleasantville. She later joined Universal Pictures as senior vice president of production, where she oversaw films including 8 Mile (2002), helping launch successful collaborations with filmmakers like Judd Apatow. In 2005, she co-founded the production company Stuber/Parent at Universal.
In 2008, Parent was named chairman and co-CEO of MGM, but left shortly after due to the studio’s financial struggles. She subsequently founded Disruption Entertainment, signing a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures and producing films such as Pacific Rim (2013), Noah (2014), and The Revenant (2015), the latter of which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. That year, she placed 28th on The Wall Street Journals "50 Women to Watch 2008" list.
Since 2016, Parent has served as vice chairman of worldwide production at Legendary Entertainment. She has overseen major projects including Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune (2021), which she had advocated for since 2013. Known for her ability to balance creative and financial priorities, Parent has been praised by collaborators for her dedication to storytelling and support of directors' visions.
In 2022, Parent was announced as that year's recipient of the Producers Guild of America's David O. Selznick Achievement Award.
Filmography She was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
Film Year Film Credit 1996 Set It Off Executive producer 1997 Trial and Error 1998 Pleasantville 2006 You, Me and Dupree 2007 The Kingdom Executive producer 2008 Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Role Models 2013 Pacific Rim 2014 Noah Godzilla 2015 The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water The Revenant 2016 Monster Trucks 2017 Kong: Skull Island Same Kind of Different as Me 2018 Pacific Rim Uprising 2019 Detective Pikachu Godzilla: King of the Monsters 2020 Enola Holmes 2021 Godzilla vs. Kong Dune 2022 Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths Executive producer Enola Holmes 2 2023 The Toxic Avenger 2024 Dune: Part Two Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire 2025 A Minecraft Movie 2026 Enola Holmes 3 Street Fighter Digger Dune: Part Three 2027 A Minecraft Movie Squared TBA Gundam
Production manager
Year Film Role 1997 Dangerous Ground Executive in charge of production
References
External links
Mary Parent - Variety, 2001 Stuber and Parent birth a producing deal, 2005 Parent Bio at Universal Studios