Kent Rice, ceo of Starz Media's animated feature film division takes on the additional post of president/coo of the company. John W. Hyde, president/coo of Starz Media, has been appointed to the created position of vice chairman of the company.
In addition to running the Starz Animation unit, Rice now has operational responsibility for the Film Roman animation unit and the Starz Prods. live-action division, bringing all production at the company under one management. Hyde will continue to manage Starz Home Ent. -- including the Anchor Bay and Manga brands -- and will take on additional responsibility for new business, partnership development, as well as both industry and talent relations.
Hyde will work closely with Rice in the initial process of consolidating the various production entities. Both will continue to report to Starz Media chairman/ceo Robert B. Clasen, as will Starz Media president of distribution and marketing Neil Braun. Rice will remain based in Denver and Hyde will continue to work from the Starz Media office in Burbank, California.
Clasen said, "This new arrangement will place responsibility for all programming production under Kent's leadership, allowing him to make the best possible use of all our talented creative teams and resources in both Burbank and Toronto. It will also allow us to make use of John's experience and wide range of industry contacts to develop closer relations with talent and to explore new business opportunities. As we continue to expand our enterprises these will be critical functions. "
Rice said, "It makes sense to have the talented artists, producers and directors in Burbank and Toronto as part of the same team. That way we can send our work wherever makes the most sense --whether it is animated or live action, a feature film or TV program, work-for-hire or production of a proprietary show."
Named ceo of Starz Animation in Aug. 2006, Rice was exec advisor to Starz Ent. where he played a key role in the acquisition of Starz Media from IDT Corp. last year and managed its merger with Starz Ent.
Prior to joining Starz in 2005, Rice was president of Il Ponte Partners, a consulting group. From 1995-2004, he was president/coo of International Channel Networks, then a subsidiary of Liberty Media. Prior to that he had been coo for Liberty Global's Norway Division and, before that, was a division president of Time Warner Cable.
Hyde said combining Starz Ent.'s premium television business with the production and distribution capabilities of the old IDT Ent. and the launch of Overture Films, all under the Starz umbrella, creates a company with potential for growth on many fronts.
"Just in the home video arena," he said, "The addition of the Overture movies to our lineup will create enormous opportunities for Starz Home Ent. And the array of Starz worldwide distribution outlets will be very attractive to both the creative community and industry partners. I look forward to helping Starz capitalize on these opportunities."
Hyde was named president/coo of Starz Media in 2005. He had been coo of IDT Ent. and ceo of Film Roman since 1999. His career as an independent and with studios in production, distribution, plus as an exec bring a wide range of contacts and experience to Starz. He has worked at or with Universal, Fox, MGM, Columbia, Warner, Disney and Paramount. His production credits include the feature films NEVERENDING STORY, SHORT CIRCUIT, 9 1/2 WEEKS, LOST BOYS and DAS BOOT; animated series MIGHTY MOUSE, KING OF THE HILL and THE SIMPSONS; and live-action TV series HOMICIDE (NBC), MASTERS OF HORROR (Showtime) and MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION (ABC).
Hyde is a member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He is a former officer and director of The Cousteau Society. He was also a founding member, as well as vice chairman and board member, of the American Film Market.
Starz Media (www.starz.com) is a programming production and distribution company operating worldwide. It includes the Film Roman, Anchor Bay Ent. and Manga Ent. brands. Its units create animated and live-action programming and theatrical films, as well as programming created under contract for other media companies. It distributes that programming, and programming acquired from outside producers, through home video retailers, theaters, broadcasters, ad supported and premium television channels, and Internet and wireless video distributors in the U.S. and internationally. Starz Media is an operating unit of Starz, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp. that is attributed to Liberty Capital Group.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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