UNIVERSAL PICTURES PROMOTES ADAM FOGELSON AND EDDIE EGAN, CREATING CLOSER ALIGNMENT BETWEEN MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION

UNIVERSAL PICTURES PROMOTES ADAM FOGELSON AND EDDIE EGAN, CREATING CLOSER ALIGNMENT BETWEEN MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION

Fogelson Appointed President of Marketing and Distribution; Egan Promoted to President of Marketing

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Coming off of a summer which saw four of its domestic motion picture releases each exceed $100 million at the boxoffice, Universal Pictures today recognized the achievements of two of its senior marketing executives with promotions and expanded responsibilities.

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Adam Fogelson has been appointed President of Marketing and Distribution, and Eddie Egan has been promoted to President of Marketing. Additionally, Nikki Rocco continues in her long-term agreement as President of Distribution, a leadership role she has held since 1996, when she became the first female executive to hold this position at a major studio. The announcements were made by Marc Shmuger and David Linde, Chairman and Co-Chairman, respectively, of Universal Pictures.

In his newly created position as President of Marketing and Distribution, Fogelson assumes executive oversight of Universal's domestic marketing and distribution divisions. Additionally, Fogelson will supervise the marketing and distribution of Rogue Pictures, the studio's specialty genre label. He will report to Shmuger and Linde.

With his promotion to President of Marketing, Egan now directs all aspects of marketing for Universal's domestic feature film releases including creative advertising, media, publicity, promotion, digital marketing and administration. He will report to Fogelson.

Commenting on the promotions, Shmuger said, "Adam is that rarest of executives who combines extraordinary creativity with astute business acumen. He has been instrumental in our greatest successes over many years. He is passionate, innovative, and creatively fearless. We are pleased to give him this greater scope of responsibilities at Universal." Agreed Linde, "Adam possesses a keen understanding of our audiences, our company and our filmmakers, and his leadership gives Universal a sizable competitive and strategic advantage."

Of Egan, Shmuger stated, "There is no executive at our company who is wiser, more well-rounded or seasoned than Eddie. He brings a deep knowledge of popular culture, a breadth of experience in marketing and an institutional understanding of Universal Pictures to everything he does. This expansion of his oversight reflects the leadership he has demonstrated over many years." Linde added, "Before I assumed my own new role last year, I knew of Eddie's reputation as an indispensable leader at Universal; since then, I have witnessed firsthand just how much that esteem is earned."

Shmuger and Linde continued, "Through this new structure, which aligns Eddie and Adam more closely with Nikki, one of the most accomplished distribution executives in our industry, we will create a more integrated marketing and distribution process. This strengthens our already outstanding domestic theatrical operations."

Adam Fogelson was named President of Marketing for Universal Pictures in May 2002. He joined Universal Pictures as Vice President, Creative Advertising in 1998, and rose to Executive Vice President, Creative Advertising in 2002. Prior to joining Universal, he was Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing for Trimark Pictures. Earlier, he was Vice President of the AFA Company, a production marketing and distribution consulting firm, where his clients included Carolco Pictures and Nelson Entertainment.

Eddie Egan was named Co-President of Marketing for Universal Pictures in May 2002. He joined Universal Pictures in 1994, as Senior Vice President, and was named Executive Vice President, Universal Pictures Marketing, in 1999. Earlier, he held several marketing posts at Sony Pictures Entertainment, including Senior Vice President, Marketing, for TriStar Pictures and the same position for the combined Columbia Pictures/TriStar Pictures marketing departments. Before joining Sony in 1990, he held executive marketing positions at Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount Pictures.

Most recently, Fogelson and Egan have been supervising the marketing campaigns for director Ridley Scott's drama "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe; "Charlie Wilson's War," directed by Mike Nichols and starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman; "Leatherheads," directed by and starring George Clooney, and starring John Krasinski and Renee Zellweger; "Wanted," directed by Timur Bekmambetov and starring Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie; "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," starring Brendan Fraser and Jet Li and directed by Rob Cohen; and "Mamma Mia!," the film version of the global smash musical starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Julie Walters, Colin Firth, Christine Baranski and Stellan Skarsgard, and director Guillermo Del Toro's "Hellboy II: The Golden Army."

The pair also supervised the marketing campaign for Universal's Tony Award-winning smash Broadway musical hit "Wicked," which continues to sell out each performance in New York and has launched hugely successful engagements in Chicago, Los Angeles, on tour in North America, and international productions in London, Tokyo, Stuttgart and Melbourne.

Fogelson and Egan were named Entertainment Marketers of the Year by Advertising Age in 2003 for the marketing campaign of "8 Mile."

About Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (http://www.universalstudios.com/). Universal Studios is part of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi.

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Source: Universal Pictures

CONTACT: Stacy Ivers of Universal Pictures, +1-818-777-7216.
stacy.ivers@nbcuni.com

Web site: http://www.universalstudios.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment