Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson will stay on through 2014
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
NBCUniversal owner Comcast Corp. took another step to retain Universal Pictures’ top leadership, announcing Monday that it has extended the contract of Chairman Adam Fogelson through 2014. Fogelson’s deal was set to expire at the end of next year.
The news comes after the company in June extended the contract of Fogelson’s boss, Universal Studios President and COO Ron Meyer, through 2015.
While the company is keeping Fogelson in his current position, NBCUniversal is tweaking the reporting structure. The executive will now report both to Meyer, as he had previously, as well as to NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke.
The announcement appears to be further evidence that Comcast has confidence in the film studio’s leadership, after having made significant management changes on the television side since acquiring the company.
Comcast is also planning to renew the contract of Fogelson’s top lieutenant, Universal Pictures co-Chairwoman Donna Langley, in the coming weeks, said someone close to the matter who requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing negotiations.
Fogelson, a one-time screenwriter who was raised in Los Angeles, returned to the Southland from the East Coast in 1997 to work at the independent entertainment company Trimark. Prior to being promoted to the chairmanship of Universal two years ago, the 44-year-old executive headed the studio’s worldwide marketing and distribution operations.
Under Fogelson’s chairmanship, Universal has had several hits -- including this spring’s “Bridesmaids” and “Fast Five’ -- as well as such disappointments as “Cowboys & Aliens” and “The Change-Up,’ both of which were released this summer.
Still, the movie team’s biggest test will come next year, when the expensive and much-scrutinized films ‘Battleship,’ Pete Berg’s adaptation of the popular board game, and ‘Snow White and the Huntsman,’ a spin on the classic fairy tale starring Kristen Stewart, are set to hit theaters.
--Steven Zeitchik
RELATED:
Ron Meyer’s contract extended through 2015
