Sony (NYSE: SNE) Pictures Digital, which has seen a lot of infighting and execs leaving over the last year or so, is now losing its longtime head Yair Landau…he is leaving to start a new games and animation venture to develop and produce multiplatform content, reports THR. He will continue working with SPD as an exec producer on Sony Pictures Animation’s Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, which is slated for a 2009 release. Sony said a replacement for Landau would be named soon. More in extended entry…
Landau established Sony Pictures Animation in 2002…he had been president of Sony Pictures Digital for nearly 10 years and with Sony for 17 years. Regarding his decision to leave, Landau referenced his entrepreneurial role at Sony: “Those organizations are stable and well managed and positioned for succession…It’s more a function of my work here being done and the opportunity to do on the outside what I managed to do at Sony historically.”
There has been speculation in the market about Sony’s efforts to sell SPD, or at least take on equity investment. SPD now consists of Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Online Entertainment, Sony Pictures Animation and Imageworks Interactive…this exit will surely fuel it. Sony has been working with investment bank Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin since last year to look at strategic options.
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