Sony Names New Chief of Columbia Unit

Sony Pictures Entertainment on Sunday took another step toward overhauling its management by naming former Turner Pictures executive Amy Pascal to head its troubled Columbia Pictures division.

The move, the latest in series of appointments by Sony, brings Pascal back to Columbia, where she worked for seven years before joining Turner Pictures in 1994.

In an interview, Pascal said she decided to return to Columbia Pictures as president after her current job at Turner disappeared with the merger of Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner Inc.

“Once they decided to absorb Turner Pictures into Warners, the job really ceased to exist,” she said, adding she expects to join Columbia Pictures early next year.

The appointment follows months of executive turmoil at Sony Pictures Entertainment, the umbrella company for Columbia and TriStar Pictures.

Earlier this summer, Marc Platt, the head of TriStar, quit to join rival studio MCA Inc. A few months later, Sony fired Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Chairman Mark Canton and dismissed Sony Pictures Entertainment President Alan Levine.

Under new Sony Pictures President John Calley, Sony is hoping to improve the studio’s track record, strengthen its finances and clear the way for a possible initial stock offering.

Calley said Pascal’s appointment should solidify the management team at Sony Pictures and allow the studio to concentrate on other facets of its reorganization, including what types of films and how many projects the studio should be making.

In her new role, Pascal will report to Calley and help select the types of projects Sony will develop. She will succeed Lisa Henson, who left the studio earlier this year to form her own production company.

Pascal worked for Columbia Pictures for seven years before joining Turner Pictures in 1994 as president of production, overseeing development of more than two dozen films, including the upcoming “Michael,” which stars John Travolta.

At Columbia, she was involved with a number of successful films, including “Little Women” and “Groundhog Day.” Sony executives are hoping she can repeat her successes at Columbia, which has suffered this year from a series of disappointing films.

“Amy has a remarkable track record for developing and producing movies that are critical successes as well as audience pleasers,” Calley said in a statement.

Sony said Pascal will work with Columbia-TriStar Vice Chairman Lucy Fisher and Executive Vice President Gareth Wigan and Production President Barry Josephson.