Sony Assigns Sagansky New Duties in Sign of More Change : Entertainment: He will join the studio’s board of directors and executive committee.

Jeffrey Sagansky, named to a senior position at Sony of America earlier this year, is taking on added responsibilities at Sony Pictures Entertainment in a move that could portend further changes at the troubled studio.

Sony of America President Michael P. Schulhof, in a letter to Sony Pictures executives late Wednesday, said Sagansky will join the studio’s board of directors and executive committee. Without mentioning specific duties, Schulhof added that Sagansky will take a “more active role” in the studio. Sony executives were unavailable for comment on the letter.

The development raises questions about the future roles of Sony Pictures President Alan J. Levine and Columbia-TriStar Motion Picture Cos. Chairman Mark Canton, who have been running the company since Sony Pictures Chairman Peter Guber left under pressure in September.

One source said Levine was in on the decision to expand Sagansky’s role. But Hollywood sources speculated that Levine and Canton’s jobs are in danger, after the parent company said it would take a $3.2-billion writedown on the studio. Schulhof is also said to be under intense pressure to turn the studio around.

Sony previously denied that Sagansky would take a hands-on role at the studio even though he is known as a tough and resourceful manager. Instead, it said Sagansky, who is based in New York and will continue to report to Schulhof, would serve as a strategic planner.

But insiders always suspected that the executive would be drafted into service at the studio. Sagansky previously ran TriStar Pictures before it was acquired by Sony. At the time, he told friends that he didn’t enjoy the movie business. He had a much more successful stint as the entertainment chief at CBS before resigning earlier this year.

Tokyo-based Sony Corp. purchased the studio for $3.4 billion plus considerable debt in 1989. At the time, critics said it overpaid for the company and its expensive management team of ex-producers Jon Peters and Guber. But Sony proceeded to invest millions more in reviving its Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures units, as well as the Culver City lot.

Columbia, in particular, performed poorly, releasing a string of expensive failures that included the infamous “Last Action Hero.” Sony also wound up paying out tens of millions of dollars in executive settlements to Guber, Peters and a succession of other ex-studio heads.