Company Town : MCA’s Pollock Signs Long-Term Contract Broadening His Role : Entertainment: The company’s Motion Picture Group chairman is given new responsibilities.

After months of talks, Tom Pollock, as expected, reached a long-term agreement to stay on as chairman of MCA’s Motion Picture Group.

In announcing the agreement Monday, MCA President Sidney J. Sheinberg said that Pollock has been given new responsibilities under his arrangement--believed to be about three years in length--aimed at giving Pollock a broader role in influencing the direction of the Universal City-based entertainment conglomerate.

Left unsaid in the announcement was any word on the status of production chief Casey Silver, although he is widely expected to stay. Pollock said in an interview that he can’t comment on Silver’s situation now.

One message of Pollock’s renewal is clearly aimed at reassuring Hollywood that management remains stable at MCA and its units, one of which is Universal Pictures, overseen by Pollock. Company officials made a special point of noting that Pollock’s regime now ranks third in length among Hollywood’s major studios, behind the executive teams leading Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co.

“In this business, it is stability that yields long-term relationships with talent, and long-term relationships with talent is what yields good movies,” Pollock said.

There were no signs MCA seriously considered anyone else for the job. Talks are believed to have taken so long because Pollock, 50, wanted more responsibilities.

Pollock’s announcement came just days after MCA announced that its music chief, Al Teller, has agreed to a new contract. Insiders speculate that similar announcements are coming.

Executive stability has become a valuable commodity lately in Hollywood, where projects are developed years in advance. Uncertainty among management has been a problem at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where some top executives have recently departed, and at Paramount Communications, which was hurt by months of turmoil caused by the $12-billion takeover battle eventually won by Viacom.

“Stability is viewed as an asset today. The most successful studios have been Warner Bros. and Disney for a number of years. There’s a perception that endless musical chairs works to the disadvantage of the creativity of a company,” said entertainment lawyer David Colden.

Observers added that the stability also would be important should MCA’s parent, Japan’s Matsushita Electric Industrial, decide that it wants to sell a portion of MCA, whose value is considered to have soared well beyond its $6.6-billion acquisition price in the wake of the Paramount takeover.

Pollock’s desire for additional responsibilities has been well known, with early speculation that he wanted such areas as home video under his domain. Pollock’s agreement now appears to be aimed more toward including an understanding that he will play a larger role in deciding where MCA is going as a company as well as taking on additional foreign duties. One specific duty MCA said Pollock will take on is assuming Sheinberg’s seat on the board of Toronto-based Cineplex Odeon Corp. theater chain. MCA owns 42.8% of the company.

MCA’s film group is coming off a banner year thanks to the extraordinary year for director Steven Spielberg, whose “Jurassic Park” has grossed a record $884 million worldwide. Pollock said plans are in the works for a “Jurassic Park” sequel produced by Spielberg, although it is uncertain if Spielberg will direct.

Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List,” which just won the Oscar for best picture, also has emerged as a commercial success, grossing $68 million domestically so far and more than $100 million worldwide.

Some critics have said Spielberg’s successes masked what otherwise was a disappointing film slate for Pollock. But Pollock counters that Universal’s film operation would have been profitable even without “Jurassic Park.”