Redo in Lion's wake
UIP trims, shuffles exex in Asia, Oz upon MGM's exit
The reallocation of responsibilities in the region follows the exit last week of Steve Ashmore, whose position as VP for sales for Southeast Asia and Australia/New Zealand was eliminated (Daily Variety, April 5) .
Confirming Ashmore's departure, UIP president and chief operating officer Andrew Cripps told Daily Variety, "His position is now redundant."
Cripps acknowledged that the restructuring is part of a review of the international distrib's operations to reduce overhead resulting from MGM's withdrawal from the partnership with Universal and Paramount.
Pollock swims up
UIP has upped Roger Pollock to VP sales for Southeast Asia, while he will also continue in his current role as general manager for Singapore and Malaysia. Pollock, who remains based in Singapore, will supervise UIP's operations in Hong Kong, mainland China, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
A 13-year UIP vet, Pollock has served the company in the U.K., Thailand and Korea as well as in Singapore.
UIP's offices in Australia and New Zealand, which were added to Ashmore's purview when he relocated to Sydney from Singapore last October, will now report to London-based Cripps.
Douglas Lee, the Sydney-based director of marketing for Southeast Asia and Australasia, takes on the added role of marketing manager for Australia. Latter post was held by Sam Hamilton, who ankled in December.
UIP execs interviewed applicants for Hamilton's job last month, but subsequently opted to hand those duties to Lee -- another cost-saving measure.
Cripps noted the decision to move Ashmore and Lee to Sydney was made before MGM announced it was exiting from UIP. He added that UIP is continuing to review its operations but said there are no plans to eliminate the regional supervisors for Europe and Latin America.
