Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra has had a career that spans several decades — and his expertise in the entertainment industry has made him a key figure in shaping global media.

But before all of that, Vinciquerra was a kid growing up in a humble household in Albany, New York, where he worked odd jobs to get himself through college. After working at local stations and eventually CBS, he worked his way up to president of Fox Networks Group, overseeing the cable and broadcast networks.

Vinciquerra joined Sony Pictures just as they were suffering from the North Korean hack and led the company through the turmoil. While it was challenging, he said the opportunities with the company were endless.

“One of the things that was so attractive to me to come to Sony was they have PlayStation, Sony Music, one of the three largest music providers in the world and the technology of Sony itself,” he said. “There’s no other company in the world that has that combination plus pictures. So trying to find a way to put that all together was really what I found interesting.”

In the latest episode of “LA Stories with Giselle Fernandez,” as he prepares to step down and hand over the reigns to incoming CEO Ravi Ahuja in 2025, Vinciquerra looks back at some of the successes he’s had. While known for his humble, low-profile style, he is celebrated for his understanding of both the creative and business sides of the media.

One of Vinciquerra’s boldest decisions was to avoid entering the streaming market and instead position Sony as a content supplier for other streaming platforms — a move that brought Sony immense success while its competitors suffered.

“It occurred to me that those companies would all need lots of programming to get subscribers, to attract subscribers to their services,” he said. “We knew everyone was going to be wanting more product, and we’re the only ones out there selling it.”

Vinciquerra was also a key figure during both the writers’ and actors’ strikes of 2023. He talks about the effects of the strikes that are still being felt today. He emphasizes the high costs of production in California and encourages those in the industry to find ways to work with new technologies in order to be successful.

With a legacy of resilience and innovation, Vinciquerra stresses the importance of looking outside of the world that is right in front of you. That, he says, is the key to his success.

“You need to be curious. Curiosity is the most important thing you can have and enthusiasm about what you do,” he said. “You need to get out of your bubble. If you don’t do that, you will not be successful at what you do.”