Bewkes Hails Warner Studio Chief Kevin Tsujihara as ‘Most Forward-Thinking’ Executive

Wed, 08 May 2013 23:26:43 GMT

Source: www.homemediamagazine.com --- Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes reiterated why in January he chose veteran home entertainment executive Kevin Tsujihara to replace retiring Barry Meyer to run the famed Warner Bros. studio — a decision that surprised most observers at the time. During a May 7 presentation at the Jeffries 2013 Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in New York, Bewkes said Tsujihara was the most “forward-thinking” executive at Warner to meld the increasing demands and expectations being placed on the studio’s TV and film divisions in the digital age. The CEO said he admired Tsujihara’s broad personal relations within the studio and industry, coupled with a strong financial and strategic background. Tsujihara, who joined the studio 19 years ago, previously headed Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. “He’s proving out to be the best choice to unify not only the people at Warner, but also the experience on the theatrical side, the TV production side and the distribution side: video, games and all the new businesses,” Bewkes said. As Warner expands its footprint internationally — 15% of revenue in 2012 was generated abroad — the studio chief is increasingly responsible for not only what movies and TV shows are greenlighted, but also how they are distributed, most notably via erstwhile cash cow: home entertainment. Indeed, Tsujihara was instrumental in bowing transactional VOD access of new releases on retail street date. He helped pioneer the l ...