Sony Hack: Movie Studio's Top Brass May Be Just Fine

Amy Pascal didn’t waste any time. Within days of Sony Pictures’ discovery in late November that hackers had taken down its computer system in protest over its film The Interview, the studio’s co-chairman began sending warnings to key producers and creative talent around town: Executives’ e-mails—many filled with embarrassing comments about some of the company’s most important business partners—may have been looted. That sparked a series of preemptive calls to producer Megan Ellison, director Ivan Reitman, actress Angelina Jolie, and other frequent collaborators. And for weeks Pascal kept working the phones. Damage control has been Job One at Sony since the cyber attack dumped reams of unflattering disclosures onto file-sharing websites that the media raced to publish.

The firestorm has died down as awards season has gone into full swing, but for Sony the fence-mending is likely far from over. “Relationships are built over years, they fall apart in minutes, and they are rebuilt over months,” says Howard Bragman, a crisis expert whose client roster has included Monica Lewinsky and Michael Sam.