"The Hollywood Reporter has appointed a senior editorial management team to steer the paper through a series of ambitious initiatives in the coming months, including the launch of a national edition next month. This group also will play a key role in enhancing and expanding in-depth news, reviews, features, charts and data across all platforms globally," according to a staff report in the paper. "As part of the paper's launch of a national edition for the East Coast on Nov. 2, Steven Zeitchik has joined the team in New York as senior writer. Zeitchik's role will be to develop and write news analysis and feature pieces for the national edition as well as break stories and develop a blog about the New York and East Coast entertainment scene."

Ryan Werner has left his post as head of theatrical distribution at Wellspring, joining IFC Films as the company's new VP of Marketing. The company said in an announcement that Werner will "be charged with overseeing the development and implementation of media strategies for all the company’s slate of film properties in addition to developing poster/trailer campaigns and strategic promotional efforts." He is replacing Ron Tsuruda and Nevette Previd who have left the company.

While at Wellspring, Wener handled the releases of "Tarnation", "The Brown Bunny", "Palindromes" and "The Beat That My Heart Skipped", among others, and he has previously worked for Palm Pictures, Magnolia Pictures, Sundance Channel, and IFP.

IDP, the joint distribution venture by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Roadside Attractions, has announced a number of key changes. Kristi Avram has been named VP of publicity, joining the company from Palm Pictures, while Shani Ankori has been promoted to VP of marketing and promotions. Daniel Feiner has been hired as director of finance and administration.

Avram will head the bi-coastal PR department that includes directors of publicity Nicolette Aizenberg and Tiffany Bair, as well as new addition Lindsey Weidhorn, coordinator for marketing and publicity.

Bob and Harvey Weinstein have hired Liza Burnett from Klores and Associates to head their film PR operations at The Weinstein Company. Burnett, who will join the company as Executive Vice President of Publicity on September 12th, will lead the domestic publicity department, overseeing the entire PR staff for TWC and its Dimension Films label.

Longtime Miramax PR exec Dani Weinstein has been named SVP of Publicity, supervising the TWC slate, with the company expected to announce an exec to supervise Dimension slate soon. Other staffing appointments in the department are still come.

"Liza is everything we are looking for in a leader. Her energy and experience make her the ideal person to lead our PR team," said the Weinsteins in a statement. "We are thrilled to have her onboard."

Jill Morris has been hired as SVP of production at Focus Features, while Kahli Small has also been named SVP of production for the company. David Gerson was named Creative Executive at the company. Gerson and Morris are based in NYC, while Small is based in L.A.

Last night in Los Angeles, Sid Ganis was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Ganis is beginning his 19th year as a governor representing the public relations branch and he has served as first vice president of the Academy for the past two years. He succeeds Frank Pierson.

Jon Gordon, who started at Miramax as an intern and rose to the job of co-president of production, will join Universal Pictures as President of Production, alongside Donna Langley, the company announced today. He will start at Universal in October.

Bob Weinstein today announced that Matthew Stein has been named senior vice president of production for Dimension Films at The Weinstein Company. Stein will continue to work at Miramax, in his current position as vice president of production for Dimension Films, through September 30, segueing to a full-time employee with The Weinstein Company as senior vice president of production on Oct. 1, 2005, when the Weinsteins’ separation from Disney is complete. He will report to both Richard Saperstein, recently appointed executive vice president and head of production for Dimension Films, and Bob Weinstein.

You may not know him, but Scotsman Hamish McAlpine wants to make a dirty name for himself. Outfitted in furs (and sometimes brass knuckles), McAlpine is the man behind Tartan USA, the company that released Michael Winterbottom’s controversial, sexually explicit “9 Songs.” Seeking to infuse American culture with the kind of culture that starts with a capital “C,” the 21-year-old British company is doing it one blowjob at a time. Matthew Ross of the Voice reports that months before Carlos Reygada’s “Battle in Heaven” screened at Cannes, Tartan had already acquired all distribution rights for the Mexican director’s film which begins and ends in an act of Fellatio. But sex isn’t Tartan’s only culture spreading/money making strategy—it will also focus on releasing Japanese and Korean horror films in the U.S.

Nancy Buirski has been named Artistic Director at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, NC. She founded the event in 1998. David Hughey, the former president and publisher of Durham’s Herald-Sun, will takeover the role of Interim Executive Director of the Festival next week.

The Weinstein Company has named Larry Madden its new CFO. He recently served as President, Digital Media Solutions for Loudeye Corp.

Richard Saperstein has been named EVP and head of production for Dimension Films and EVP of production for The Weinstein Company. He will oversee all Dimension's productions and work closely with the Weinsteins on developing the Dimension slate. He served as president of development and production for Artisan Pictures for two years and before that was an exec at New Line. He began his career as an ICM Literary Agent.

Bob and Harvey Weinstein have announced a trio of new executives for The Weinstein Company, including Colin Vaines as EVP of European production and development, Tim Clawson as EVP of physical and post-production, and Irwin Reiter as EVP of accounting and financial reporting. The three will work for Miramax and TWC through October 1, then transitioning to TWC.

Glen Basner is joining The Weinstein Company as the company's new president of International, effective immediately. He has left Focus Features where he served as Executive Vice President of International Sales & Distribution.

Andrew Rodgers has been named Festival Director at the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, NC. He served as a strategic consultant to the event this year, having also worked for the Sundance Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival.

Gabriele Caroti will join Film Forum as the new repertory program publicist, starting June 6. He is replacing Harris Dew who recently joined Global Film Initiative. Gabriele will be in charge of publicity for all events (including long-run revivals, restorations, festivals and retrospectives) on Film Forum’s repertory screen. Caroti previously created and ran the publicity department at Plexifilm.

Harris Dew has left Film Forum in New York to join Global Film Initiative, handling communications and collaborating on the organizations Global Lens film series and granting program. He spent five years publicizing Film Forum's repertory program.

Richard Lorber, the Chairman and CEO of Lorber Media has been elected as Film Forum Chairman of the Board. “Richard Lorber brings to the Chairmanship the experience gained during a 30-year career as an innovative entrepreneur in film distribution and marketing,” says Film Forum Director Karen Cooper (from a prepared statement). Lorber has served as a board member for Film Forum since 2002.

At the Toronto International Film Festival a few key hires have been announced. Giulia Filippelli has been hired as Senior International Advisor of the OMDC Sales Office, while Angie Driscoll and Myrocia Watamaniuk have been hired as new programmers for Canadian short films.

Meredith Blake has been named SVP, Corporate & Community Affairs at Participant Productions, the company announced. The company, formed by Jeff Skoll, made the move to "bolster its staff with additional expertise in the areas of social action and philanthropy," according to an announcement.

A trio of notable PR folks will join former PMK publicist Leslee Dart as partners at her new company, according to Variety. On board are Amanda Lundberg and Cynthia Swartz from Miramax and Robert Garlock who is leaving PMK to join the the company:

Dart, who had been calling her company the Dart Group since forming the venture late last year, will be chief executive officer of the expanded company, to be renamed shortly. Dart and her new partners will remain based in New York, but a full-scale Hollywood office will be established by fall.

After nearly 24 years with PMK public relations, Carol Marshall has left PMK/HBH to form her own firm. As of May 1, she has launched Carol Marshall Public Relations, working with her assistant Alanna Kordell. Marshall, who has worked with a number of film festivals, including the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and the Palm Beach International Film Festival, said that she is currently setting up a new office and will work with a number of her regular clients.

As it laid off a handful of employees today, Sundance Channel unveiled plans for a change in its strategic focus. Company president Larry Aidem said that the network, owned by NBC Universal, Showtime, and Robert Redford, will move towards creating more original programming and acquiring multi-part documentary and narrative series, shifting from internal production to licensing and commissioning work by TV and film directors and producers. More than a half-dozen staffers are understood to have been let go today, given their immediate walking papers.

Aidem also announced a number of key promotions and appointments, naming Jennie Morris from Showtime as Director of Scheduling and Program Planning, Gail Gendler as Senior Director of Acquisitions, both reporting to Christian Vesper, VP of Acquisitions, Scheduling and Program Planning. Adam Pincus remains Sundance Channel's SVP, Original Programming. They report to the recenly named Laura Michalchyshyn, EVP of Marketing and Programming.

In other changes, Valerie Bruce was named VP, Legal and Business Affairs, reporting to Jacqueline Moreton, SVP/General Counsel, Legal and Business Affairs.

At Jeremy Walker + Associates in NY, Christine Richardson and Jessica Grant, senior publicists at the agency, have been named Vice Presidents.

Mary Litkovich, a publicist at the agency for nearly three years, has amicably departed the firm for competitor Rogers & Cowan.

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At mPRm in LA, Ariel Carpenter has re-joined the company as VP of Emerging Media and Technology, while Jennifer Lopez rejoins as Senior Account Executive in the Film practice.

Elana Altshuler, Tom Chen and Katie Sanseverino have all been promoted to Senior Account Executive. Laura Howell and Katie Watson upped to Account Executive in the Film and General Entertainment practices respectively. Finally, Ayn Allen, Tracy Forrester and Kate Hubin, were promoted to Account Coordinators in EMT, General Entertainment and Film. respectively.

Ricky Strauss has been named president of Participant Productions, the company for "socially relevant, commercially viable feature films and documentaries," formed by Jeff Skoll.

Upcoming Participant films include Stephen Gaghan's "Syriana," starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright and Amanda Peet. Also on tap is the upcoming Niko Caro film, starring Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand and Sissy Spacek.

Strauss will run production, marketing and distribution, reporting directly to Skoll.

Sony Corporation announced that it has tapped the current Chairman and CEO of Sony Corp of America, Howard Stringer, to serve as the Chairman and CEO of the entire Sony Corporation.

In the words of the press release issued in Japan this morning, "Sir Howard will run Sony's overall group business operations on a global basis from headquarters in both New York and Tokyo. In this new position, he will also continue in his role as the head of the Entertainment Business Group and head of Sony Corporation of America."

Former Miramax acquisitions exec Arianna Bocco will join The Gersh Agency as the head of the groups indie film unit, according to Variety. She recently spent three years at Miramax as Sr. VP of Acquisitions and six years in acquisitions at other companies.

As expected, Viacom has made it official and named former Brillstein-Grey Chairman Brad Grey the new Chairman And Chief Executive Officer Of the Paramount Motion Picture Group.

The complete press release is available below:

Ron Tsuruda has joined IFC Films as the company's top marketing executive. As the new SVP of Marketing, Tsuruda picks up duties once handled by Caroline Bock (who managed marketing for both IFC Films and IFC TV). Earlier this year, IFC TV hired Evan Shapiro to oversee network marketing. Tsuruda is the former Senior Vice President, Advertising at Focus Features.

The complete press release follows.