It takes a village, even in Barbie Land. Here’s a run down of the team of creators who helped to bring the world of Barbie to life.

Starting off her career in the “mumblecore” movement of the mid-2000s, Great Gerwig is now best known as an Academy Award nominated writer and director known for her films Lady Bird and Little Women (2019). Gerwig created a new milestone with the release of Barbie, as it became the first film from a solo female director to earn more than $1 billion worldwide.

Also working on the script for Barbie was Greta Gerwig’s partner and frequent collaborator Noah Baumbach. Baumbach broke onto the scene with his breakthrough film The Squid and the Whale in 2005, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He earned a further nomination for his film Marriage Story in 2019, and a third for his work on Barbie.

As well as starring in the title role, Australian actor Margot Robbie also had a big hand in the creation of the film in her role as co-founder of LuckyChap Entertainment. Previously known for her acting roles in The Wolf of Wall Street and as DC antihero Harley Quinn in three entries from the DC Extended Universe, her work behind the scenes of Barbie shaped how it would eventually come together. With the license for the film having changed several hands and floating in development limbo since the mid-1980s, it was Robbie’s pitch to Warner Bros that finally got the ball rolling, and she was also the one to approach Greta Gerwig to steer the production. The story goes that Robbie joked in her pitch that the film would make over a billion and be as big a hit as Jurassic Park – little did she know she was right!

Head and founder of Heyday Films, David Heyman is best known as the primary producer for all eight of the Harry Potter films, along with the Fantastic Beasts spin off series. Heyday Films also produced both Paddington movies and have just had another global hit in cinemas with the 2023 release of Wonka.

Tom Ackerley is co-founder of LuckyChap Entertainment along with his wife, Margot Robbie. Barbie marks the third time the pair have collaborated together, having co-produced the Academy Award nominated I, Tonya (in which Robbie also starred), and the Academy Award-winning Promising Young Woman. Ackerley also served as executive producer for the recent word-of-mouth success, Saltburn.

Representing Barbie’s parent company, Robbie Brenner is President of Mattel Films and acts as producer for Barbie. Brenner has a long history in film production, having previously worked for Miramax on films including Serendipity and Dallas Buyers Club.