2010-08-25 15:22:18 -

Variety announced today that Tom Rothman, Co-Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment and Rob Friedman, Co-Chairman and CEO of Summit Entertainment, will keynote Variety’s Film Marketing Summit Oct.
5-6 at the Hilton Universal, Los Angeles, CA.

Each studio chief will participate in a ‘Keynote Conversation,’ featuring the theme “Masters of Innovation” over the course of the two-day conference analyzing current theatrical marketing trends and challenges.

Rothman, headlining Oct. 5, manages all feature film and TV production, marketing and global distribution for the Fox group with Co-Chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos.

A long-time leader at Fox, Rothman founded Fox Searchlight Pictures division in 1994, serving as its first president. More recently, Rothman has helped steer the studio through its record-breaking box office run

with Avatar, which has earned over $2.7 billion worldwide to become the highest-grossing film of all time. Other Fox film milestones under Rothman’s watch include the studio’s X-Men, Night at the Museum and Alvin and the Chipmunks franchises.

Friedman will be headlining the Oct. 6 ‘Keynote Conversation.’


From its 2007 launch as a full-service studio, Summit Entertainment has quickly grown into major entertainment force, as led by Friedman and Summit co-chairman Patrick Wachsberger. Already, Summit boasts one of the most successful modern film franchises in The Twilight Saga and a multiple Oscar®-winning film, including Best Picture, in The Hurt Locker.

Friedman was formerly Vice Chairman and COO at Paramount Pictures Motion Picture Group, and is now shepherding upcoming Summit films including Red, Fair Game and Drive Angry 3D.


Variety’s Film Marketing Summit aims to help the entertainment community stay on top of its game - dealing with tighter budgets, shorter attention spans, noisy channels, or new platforms and devices.
The summit also delivers innovative strategies for box office success now and into the future.

Gordon Paddison, of global marketing firm Stradella Road, partnered with Variety in developing a provocative and relevant program. A long-standing member of the studio community, Paddison has created innovative campaigns for hundreds of movie titles, including The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the Austin Powers and Blade franchises, Wedding Crashers, The Notebook, and Sex and the City.


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VarietyLinda Buckley-Bruno, 323-617-9429 Linda.buckley@variety.com : mailto:Linda.buckley@variety.com