Chernin revamps film unit; Jenno Topping named president

This post has been corrected. See note at bottom.

Peter Chernin’s entertainment company is shuffling its feature film division and casting Jenno Topping as its new president of films.

Topping joined Chernin Entertainment two years ago and has been deeply involved with the production of the upcoming film “The Heat,” starring Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock.

Topping previously spent nearly 10 years as a film producer, working on such films as “Country Strong,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “28 Days” and “Dr. Dolittle.” Before that, she was an executive at HBO Films.

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She replaces Dylan Clark, former film president and a former Universal Pictures executive, who has transitioned out of management and is producing movies for the company.

Topping will report to Chernin, the former News Corp. president, and oversee all aspects of feature film development and production for the Santa Monica company.

Chernin Entertainment in 2011 released “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” in conjunction with News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox film studio. Chernin’s lucrative 2009 exit package from News Corp. obligates Rupert Murdoch’s company to greenlight and finance two films a year from Chernin’s entertainment company.

The company also has hired David Ready as senior vice president of production. Ready, considered a rising star in Hollywood, most recently has worked as a senior vice president of production for Lorenzo di Bonaventura’s production company.

Ready, who will become a senior vice president and report to Topping, helped oversee such releases as “Red,” starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren, and “Man on a Ledge,” starring Sam Worthington and Elizabeth Banks.

[Corrected at 5:57 p.m., Feb. 27: An earlier version of this post said Jenno Topping was an executive at Sony Pictures’ Columbia Pictures. She did not hold an executive role at the company.]

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