Mark Caplan has been promoted from exec director of interactive to vp, hardlines for Sony Pictures Consumer Products (SPCP). Caplan represents the SPCP catalog of merchandising properties, whose key theatrical assets include OPEN SEASON and SURFS UP; television properties, including the animated series, ITS A BIG BIG WORLD and syndicated game shows WHEEL OF FORTUNE and JEOPARDY.
Additionally, Sharie Van Gilder has been named director of softlines SPCP, responsible for the domestic licensing sales for the softlines categories, including apparel and accessories, back-to-school, domestics and housewares.
We are extremely pleased to announce Marks well-deserved promotion, said Juli Boylan, svp, SPCP, to whom Caplan will continue to report. Mark has a proven track record and has continually demonstrated his keen understanding of the licensing business. Mark will now play an even greater role in SPCPs worldwide licensing efforts, handling all hardlines, which include videogames, toys, and other related lines of business.
Caplan was overseeing videogame licensing efforts for the studio. He joined SPCP in 1996 as an account manager, where he worked in a sales capacity. He previously worked for the licensing and merchandising arm of 20th Century Fox. Prior to that, he was a business development associate with the consulting firm of LCA Investments.
We are delighted to have Sharie join our team, said Ashley Maidy, exec director of Softlines, SPCP, to whom Van Gilder will report. Her experience in both sales and retail development will provide our group with a real point of difference in the industry.
Van Gilder joins SPCP with more than 15 years of experience in wholesale apparel sales, retail and consumer products. She was director of retail at Warner Bros. Consumer Products, where she developed and launched the first HARRY POTTER retail promotion at Marshall Fields, including a comprehensive merchandising shop. Before Warner Bros., Van Gilder spent five years at Bugle Boy Industries.
Sony Pictures Consumer Products, a division of Columbia Tristar Consumer Marketing (CTCM), is based in Los Angeles and handles the merchandising and branding efforts for some of the most recognized properties in film and television.
Columbia Tristar Consumer Marketing is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE, www. sonypictures.com.). SPE is a subsidiary of Sony Corp. of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corp. SPEs global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.
