Hollywood’s gravity-shaking stars have had quite an awards season. A complete return to normalcy from the worldwide pandemic is not yet within our grasp. Everyday life must still tip-toe around that truth—affecting when, where and how we live our lives. But the promise of normalcy feels around the corner, particularly for an entertainment industry desperate for stability and brimming with creative talent.

After a tumultuous 12 months of unprecedented disruption, movie theaters across the country are finally beginning to reopen, bringing Hollywood one step closer to business as usual just in time for the Academy Awards. While streaming will continue to thrive in this new world of immediate delivery and distribution, the big and small screens will exist in a more symbiotic relationship. There’s no going back to old models, but the future holds promise for something new.

With positive change on the horizon for the entertainment industry, we felt it important to showcase the 21 creative luminaries who have produced the work that defines this awards season and a year of transition.

Observer Entertainment’s ’21 Supernovas are some of the most important talent and minds behind this industry’s intersection of art and commerce. They brought conviction and energy to the year’s most impactful and beloved film and TV, delivering work that felt transformative, explosive and alive. This list is reserved for the actors, actresses, writers, directors and producers who have not only made us think, but also made us feel. They have sparked conversations and brought us joy in sadness; they have argued for change, confronting society’s issues through their art. They are the entertainment visionaries who lead us, not to a false normalcy, but to a new and more hopeful 2021.

Credits
Writing: Brandon Katz
Editing + Production: Eric Vilas-Boas
Photo Editing: Julia Cherrualt
Logo Design: Steph Novak
Editorial Direction: Mary von Aue

Observer Entertainment’s ’21 Supernovas was made possible by Vida Optima—a progressive lifestyle and wellness brand focused on creating premium CBD products.