CBS - CBS FEATURE FILMS TAKES SHAPE

Just as CBS Chairman Les Moonves's announcement last June that the company would begin producing six to eight movies annually seemed as if it had been only a trial balloon, Moonves announced Wednesday that he had appointed Bruce Tobey as COO of CBS Feature Films and would appoint a CEO for the unit soon. Moonves has reportedly been looking for outside investors to bankroll the movies. Analysts presumed that the films would be distributed by Viacom's Paramount unit, a corporate sibling of CBS until Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone decided to split up the movie and broadcasting operations into independent entities. Tobey, a former attorney, worked at Paramount for four years as executive vice president but was forced out during an overhaul of management in 2005.

08/03/2007