Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra has redrawn the top executive structure of SPT Networks, SPT Marketing as well as Home Entertainment. As part of the shakeup, Andy Kaplan is stepping down as President of Worldwide Networks after 31 years at the company, Sheraton Kalouria is exiting as SPT’s President and Chief Marketing Officer, and Man Jit Singh is departing as President of SPE Home Entertainment.
The shake up happens three months after Vinciquerra recruited Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins as Sony Pictures Television Chairman.
Under the new setup, 18-year Sony veteran Keith Le Goy, President of Distribution for SPT, will be expanding his oversight to also include Home Entertainment.
“The expansion of Keith’s oversight is not only recognition of his leadership strength and success in this space, but also of the changing landscape of the home entertainment sector, which continues to shift from physical to digital, and increasingly to markets around the world,” Vinciquerra said in an internal memo announcing the restructuring and executive changes. “Keith’s global experience is unmatched in our industry and he is the perfect fit to reorient our home entertainment business to align with the realities of today’s marketplace.”
In his new role, Le Goy will continue to report to Hopkins for SPT distribution. He will now also report to Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman on MPG home entertainment business. As president of distribution, Le Goy has been overseeing the distribution of SPE’s film, television and other content to all media platforms — from broadcast, satellite and cable, to digital distribution, in the US and around the world.
SPT’s networks business — currently operating in 178 countries, with 101 channels and 189 feeds — will now report directly to Hopkins who has experience in the cable network field from serving as president of distribution for Fox Networks Group under then-FNG chairman and CEO Vinciquerra.
In the SPT Marketing reorganization, each of ourmarketing teams will report directly to the business units they support:
- S. Distribution Marketing, International Production and Distribution Marketing, and Creative Services will report to Keith Le Goy’s group;
- Franchise and Consumer Products Marketing, and Publicity and Talent Relations will report to Jeff Frost’s group;
- Event Planning and Marketing Advertiser Sales will report into Amy Carney’s group.
“Our decision to rethink the way we operate these units was driven by our goals to streamline SPE’s business operations, making them nimbler and better aligned with a rapidly-evolving industry,” Vinciquerra said about the reorganization in the memo, in which he also thanked departing presidents Kaplan, who’s also NATPE chairman, Kalouria and Singh.
Since joining Sony last May, Vinciquerra has been focused largely on the TV operation, which has undergone a string of executive changes and restructuring moves. On the film side, Clint Culpepper exited Screen Gems last month, with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions chief Steve Bersch taking over both divisions.
