How Kerry Washington’s Simpson Street Thrives Through Disruption

How Kerry Washington’s Simpson Street Thrives Through Disruption

From Creative Control by Fast Company

June 9, 2026 · 46 min

About this episode

Kerry Washington and Pilar Savone discuss how their production company, Simpson Street, navigates the challenges of a changing Hollywood landscape.

Over the past decade, Hollywood has been upended by streaming wars, labor strikes, AI anxiety, and a rapidly shifting business model. Amid the turbulence, Kerry Washington and Pilar Savone have built Simpson Street, a production company with projects that have been both commercially successful and culturally resonant. In this episode of Creative Control, Washington and Savone explain what it takes to make a project undeniable in today's market and how they’re redefining what creative control means when every corner of Hollywood is being reinvented in real time. You’ll also hear lessons in creative collaboration from behind the scenes of Simpson Street’s latest hit, Imperfect Women, on Apple TV, as well as what it takes to actually work for Kerry Washington—questionnaires may be involved. For more of the latest business and innovation news, go to https://www.fastcompany.com/news To listen to the latest episodes of Creative Control on Fast Company:https://www.fastcompany.com/podcasts/creative-control

People in this episode

Host: Fast Company

Guests: Kerry Washington, Pilar Savone

Topics covered

  • Hollywood disruption
  • streaming wars
  • creative control
  • production companies
  • cultural resonance
  • creative collaboration

Keywords

  • Kerry Washington
  • Simpson Street
  • Imperfect Women
  • Hollywood
  • streaming
  • creative control
  • production

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Simpson Street, Apple TV, Fast Company

Books & works: Imperfect Women

More episodes of Creative Control

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Creative Control podcast page.