Columbia Has Reportedly Hired Paramount’s Ganis

Ending weeks of speculation, Sony’s Columbia Pictures Entertainment has selected former Paramount Pictures Co-President Sidney M. Ganis as an executive vice president, industry sources said.

Although Ganis declined to comment about any new position, sources said his responsibilities will include forging the company’s public image and helping to plan such special projects as the proposed Sonyland theme park. He will report directly to Columbia Co-Chairmen Peter Guber and Jon Peters.

Ganis left his Paramount post last fall, accepting an independent producer contract with the studio. He was replaced by former Disney executive David Kirkpatrick.

Ganis has been a friend of Guber and Peters for years. As a marketing executive at Warner Bros. in the 1970s, Ganis first worked with Peters on the advertising campaign for the movie “A Star Is Born,” which Peters produced. Ganis once asked Peters, a former hair dresser, for advice on investing in a beauty salon, friends said.

Before joining Paramount, Ganis was a senior vice president at Lucasfilm Ltd., prompting some sources to speculate that his move to Columbia could be a prelude to stronger ties between the studio and filmmaker George Lucas.