Shakeup at Egmont

Timm fired but will oversee replacement 'til Sept.

By MARLENE EDMUNDS

AMSTERDAM -- Shakeups are expected to continue at Denmark's Egmont Group following the firing Wednesday of 23-year vet Ole Timm, president of Egmont distrib/exhibition arm Egmont Entertainment.

Timm was let go by Egmont CEO Jan Froshaug in what Froshaug called a "mutually agreed upon decision" initiated by Froshaug "in order to make way for some changes" at the top, but Timm told Daily Variety the "decision" was "put plain and simple an out-and-out sacking, although one done amicably enough."

Timm is a 23-year veteran of Egmont, parent group of 94-year-old film company Nordisk and the latest casualty of Egmont's efforts to power up the business as it faces growing competition from homegrown Nordic players Svensk Filmindustri and Sandrew Metronome.

Timm's resignation comes at the same time Egmont announced the appointment of Kenneth Plummer to be senior vice president and general manager for theatrical, video and games distribution, part of the areas that now fall under Timm's supervision.

Plummer will report directly to Timm until the latter's departure in September, at which time Timm will leave the company but remain in an advisory capacity as a non-executive director.

Plummer, who is half American, half Danish, comes to Egmont from his position as head of Mattel Northern Europe. He has also previously worked for Disney. "We found his thorough understanding of the entertainment business and retail very desirable," Froshaug said.

Timm is the latest in a string of more than a dozen top executives who have exited Egmont in the last four years, beginning with the firing in 1995 of Nordisk CEO Jens Jordan. Two of the last departures, which came last year, were Lars Kolvig, head of feature film for Nordisk, and Mikael Werner, sales topper for Nordisk for more than a decade.

Most of the departures are a result of reorganizations as Egmont attempts to meld the film culture of the decades-old, once fiercely independent film company Nordisk, which merged with Egmont in 1992, to the corporate culture of the Egmont Group.

The exits have weakened the company, especially in the TV area, where many of the departures originated and where defectors started up rival companies. Failures of several TV programs churned out in 1997 were also blamed on the defections.

Said Timo Lahtinen, a longtime Nordisk acquisitions executive who left in 1997 because of the continuing reorgs at the company: "This isn't Hollywood. You can't have so many talented people leave and not feel any impact." Lahtinen has since started up his own film co-production and distribution company, Smile Entertainment.