Former Pixar Exec to Head Shockwave

Internet entertainment site Shockwave.com said it has hired Lawrence Levy, a longtime executive at Pixar Animation Studios, as its new chief executive. Levy, 41, formerly chief financial officer at Pixar, is expected to help groom Shockwave for an anticipated stock offering and expand the San Francisco company’s position as one of the most popular entertainment sites on the Web. Levy replaces Rob Burgess, who will remain chairman of the company. Burgess is also chairman and CEO of Macromedia Inc., the software firm that launched Shockwave partly to showcase animation and games enabled by Macromedia software. Levy said his focus will be on building Shockwave’s audience and moving the company toward profitability. “The days are gone when you can blow through $50 [million] or $100 million” with little regard for turning a profit, Levy said. Levy was largely responsible for day-to-day management at Pixar--the creator of such cinematic hits as “Toy Story”--because Pixar CEO Steve Jobs has spent much of his time in recent years rebuilding Apple Computer Inc.