The Hollywood Reporter, a trade magazine for the entertainment industry, was on its last legs in 2010 when Janice Min joined the team as editorial director.
Since then, Min has transformed the daily entertainment trade paper into a weekly glossy with longform pieces and photo galleries, as well as revamped the website. Her bosses must have really liked her work, because last year, they promoted her to Co-President and Chief Creative Officer. The title change coincided with the addition of Billboard Magazine to her portfolio as well.
“I was at the mindset, at the time when we were doing this, that Hollywood was such a strange place, in that you had this incredibly visual industry with storytellers,” Min says. “Everyone in the world is fascinated by Hollywood, yet the press that covered Hollywood was nowhere. It wasn’t keeping up with that conversation at all.”
Min can also be partly credited with that fascination. Before moving to The Hollywood Reporter, Min was the editor at Us Weekly. Her time there, from 2003 to 2009, coincides with the rise of reality television — something Us Weekly was quick to capitalize on. Min notes that Us Weekly was the first publication to put “The Bachelor” on the cover.
“I mean, now you can fast-forward ten years and say, ‘Oh my god, these are the things that have destroyed society,’” Min jokes.
When she moved to The Hollywood Reporter, some critics worried Min might remake the 85-year-old publication in Us Weekly’s image. That hasn’t been the case, but there are, perhaps, hints of it.
“When I left Us Weekly, they did a going away video for me. And Kim Kardashian, who was sort of a nobody, was just becoming a somebody. They got her to say in the video something funny, something like, ‘Thanks for making my A-S-S a star,’” remembers Min. Fast-forward to a recent issue of The Hollywood Reporter which included the story, “From Jennifer Lopez to Kim Kardashian: How Butts Stole The Spotlight From Boobs.” It describes the influence of the larger derriere on everything from plastic surgery to red carpet styling.
With Min as editorial director, The Hollywood Reporter is thriving. Circulation for the weekly is only at 70,000 households, but the demographic is high-profile. Min’s plans include growing the brand’s digital influence through video, podcasts, and more.
Min credits her success at the Hollywood Reporter, and what her bosses are hoping she’ll do for Billboard, with her ability to observe the industry as an outsider.
“I noticed this right away in New York… the Wall Street factor in New York. You have a whole community of people whose one goal in life is to make money,” Min says. “In Hollywood, you have a whole group of people whose goal in life is to make money, but along the way they’d like to be critically acclaimed. They’d like to be thought of as smart people, intelligent people… funny. They want to create something that they are proud of on their way to making that money.”
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