UTV Motion Pictures core team restructured

New Delhi, Apr 6: UTV Motion Pictures has restructured its core team, promoting Siddharth Roy Kapur from its EVP Marketing, Distribution and Syndication to the post of CEO.

Mr Kapur will, however, continue to report to Ronnie Screwvala, CEO, UTV Software Communications Ltd, spearheading the motion pictures business at UTV, company sources said. Alpana Mishra has been elevated to COO Production, UTV Motion Pictures; she will overlook film production and development for UTV Motion Pictures. Vikas Bahl has been promoted as COO, UTV Spotboy Motion Pictures, and will spearhead UTV Spotboy, the film development and production arm launched by UTV Motion Pictures last year. Both Mishra and Bahl will report to Kapur.

Ram Mirchandani will set up a separate film development and production arm, funded by UTV Motion Pictures, that will exclusively produce films for UMP, the sources said. The Marketing, Distribution, Syndication and International teams will continue to report in to Siddharth, they said.

On the restructuring of the core team, CEO UTV Software Communications Ltd Ronnuie Screwvala said,''the core team at UTV Motion Pictures has been instrumental in driving the growth of the Company over the last few years. As we move to the next level in our operations, we are happy to streamline the structure to ensure the same pace in decision-making and creative judgement that has served us well in the past.

I am confident that Kapur and his team will help lead the Company well in this new phase of growth.'' UTV Motion Pictures. which has in the past produced several pathbreaking films like 'Rang De Basanti', 'Life In a Metro', 'Namesake' and 'Dhandhanadan Goal', opened 2008 with blockbusters like 'Jodhaa Akbar' and 'Race' that have been ruling the box office charts.

The 18-film slate of UTV includes an all-encompassing mix of genres running across comedy, action, thriller and romance, in Hindi and English, with dubbed versions in Tamil, Telegu, French, German and other languages.

The films include a heady mix of experience and youth, including Academy nominated directors M. Night Shayamlan's 'The Happening', Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra 'Delhi 6', Shyam Benegal 'Mahadev', Aziz Mirza 'Kismat Konnection', Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Fashion', Shoojit Sircar 'Shoebite' starring Amitabh Bachchan, Dia Mirza and Sarika.

UTV is presently working on a slate of 4 animation films the largest animation slate out of India.

UNI