Korman Gets 2 More Posts at Columbia

Lewis J. Korman has been named chief operating officer of Columbia Pictures Entertainment, a company formed four months ago by the merger of Tri-Star Pictures and the entertainment business sector of Coca-Cola Co.

Korman, who retains his present title of senior executive vice president, also has been named to the Columbia board.

The chief operating officer’s job is a newly created position. Prior to the merger, David A. Matalon served as president of Tri-Star Pictures, but the chief operating officer’s post had been vacant since the 1984 resignation of Gary Hendler. Matalon continues as the Tri-Star subsidiary president and will continue to report directly to Columbia Pictures Entertainment President and Chief Executive Victor A. Kaufman, a company spokeswoman said.

Korman, 43, practiced law and ran a finance company before he joined Tri-Star in 1986 as a consultant. In January, 1987, Korman became Tri-Star’s senior executive vice president. Among other deals, he negotiated Tri-Star’s acquisition of Loews Theaters in December, 1986.

Until 1986, Korman was president of PSO Delphi, a movie company formed by the 1984 merger of a Korman-controlled financing company and Producer Sales Organization, a distributor of films abroad. Korman pulled out, however, after PSO Delphi encountered financing difficulties, and Producer Sales Organization later was forced into bankruptcy proceedings.

Korman was a founding partner in 1979 of the New York law firm of Gelberg and Abrams, where he practiced law until 1984.