MEET ENTERTAINMENT'S FUTURE LEADERS: LAURA WAINWRIGHT

Laura Wainwright never planned a career in video, let alone emerging as an ERA Rising Star, but after an events-management degree, and joining Amazon’s cloud computing platform on a graduate pathway, she pivoted from tech sales into entertainment — and hasn’t looked back since. “When I meet so many people in entertainment who’ve been in the business since day one, I feel like a baby in the industry,” she laughs, “but I’m so grateful Amazon let me pivot. I’ve been learning fast ever since.”

Today Laura is a Vendor Manager at Prime Video and country lead for the Nordics on its transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) team. Day to day that means classic account management — maintaining studio and aggregator relationships, ensuring titles and promotions go live on time — alongside the more strategic work of expanding Prime Video’s TVOD footprint across Sweden and Finland (already live) and soon into Norway and Denmark. “Going into a new territory isn’t just flicking a switch,” she says. “You negotiate with local partners, understand broadcasters’ rights, and decide the right windowing strategy for that culture. We’ve also just launched our TV product in some markets, so my network has broadened to include more TV rights holders and aggregators. It’s a lot of spinning plates — and that’s the fun of it.”

Windowing has become a particular focus. “The world is more digital, but cinema still matters. We’re trying to prove you can run premium digital windows in harmony with theatrical without cannibalising box office. Different countries feel differently about that, so it takes collaboration — including with cinema chains — to get it right.”

Her route to film and TV was anything but linear. Laura’s early career at AWS had her working with start-ups (“Some were aiming to solve huge global problems; others were an app for cat pictures — it kept you sharp!”), but she craved a more creative, relationship-led role. A colleague who’d moved to Prime Video opened the door; Laura started with UK local partners and aggregators — “I watched a lot of indie horror behind my fingers” — and later took on one of the US majors in the UK alongside her Nordics brief. At the same time, she has championed projects that connect the industry to the next generation, including a collaboration with ground-breaking film education charity Into Film. The Amazon partnership means shortlisted shorts from the Into Film Awards for children aged 4–19 are now hosted free on Prime Video. “It's really special for a child to see their movie on Prime Video alongside Top Gun Maverick or something like that,” she says. “It tells them this world is for them.”

Amazon may be a technology company, but Laura says the job still runs above all on human relationships. A case in point has been her work helping build a new query-management flow for smaller partners. She is now exploring how AI can make the support process even smoother while keeping an escalation path to a real person. “AI should be additive, not a replacement,” she says. “It can speed up repetitive tasks, but you still need a human to sanity-check outputs. You can’t just run with whatever a tool gives you.”

That people-first mindset extends to market events. Laura prioritises getting in the room with partners — from major studios to niche local players. “Face-to-face, you learn what truly matters to them. That shapes our roadmap more than any spreadsheet,” she says.

Laura says she is very excited to be inducted into ERA’s Future Leaders Programme and to have the opportunity to contribute to ERA’s work bringing together digital services and independent retailers to share ideas and tackle common problems. “I’m excited about being paired with a mentor, deepening my understanding beyond film and TV, and bringing a younger perspective into the conversation, ” she says. Like her fellow inductees, she sees the programme as a way to channel frontline experience into practical change across music, film, TV and games. 

“A sign of good leadership is listening to voices from the ground up,” she says. “ERA’s structure — with the main board now joined by the shadow board of Future Leaders — encourages that. I’m thrilled to be part of a group that can challenge, be challenged, and push the agenda forward.” Her first meeting is due later in October. She can’t wait to get cracking.


Your all-time favourite video/film - and why? 

Chef is my all-time favourite film. I've always loved experiencing new countries and cultures through their food and music, and Chef perfectly encapsulates this in a movie. The film is an immersion of dishes, Latin music and a heartfelt story about creativity and connection. It's the perfect example of how film can transport you to different places and cultures - not just though its visuals, but through its sounds, flavours and emotions as well.

A new film/video to look out for – and why? 

I’m most excited for the release of Wicked For Good. What I love about stage-to-screen adaptations is how they unite two different audiences - theatre lovers and film fans. While there’s often talk about digital media threatening live entertainment, projects like this show how the two can complement each other, inspiring new audiences to discover a love for theatre, live performance, and music.
 
The biggest issue facing the video industry? 

One of the biggest issues to the video industry is piracy. Previously, long blackout periods between cinema and digital releases encouraged audiences to turn to illegal sources. The introduction of earlier windows is helping to combat this, giving viewers quicker, legitimate access to new releases and reducing the appeal of piracy. It’s a great way for the industry to adapt to modern viewing habits while still supporting cinemas.