Sanford Panitch is an American film industry executive. Appointed president of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group in October 2019, he served previously as president of

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. Earlier in his career, he founded Fox International Productions, a division of 21st Century Fox.

Early life and education

Panitch was born in Los Angeles, to Hersh Panitch, an entertainment business manager, and Elaine Panitch, a teacher and author. He attended

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

in New Orleans. During school breaks Panitch interned for

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...

, and as a student he founded Revive Screening to distribute New Line Films at various venues in New Orleans. After graduating from Tulane with a degree in Political Science, Panitch sold the company and returned to Los Angeles.

Career

In 1995, Panitch was named executive vice president of Production at 20th Century Studios. In 2008, recognizing the growth of international box office and seeing the large percentage of market share for locally produced films, Panitch founded Fox International Productions. He served as its president until April 2015, when he joined Sony Pictures as president of international film and television. In June 2016, he was named President of Columbia Pictures. He was promoted to president of Sony Motion Picture Group in October 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panitch, Sanford Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Tulane University alumni People from Los Angeles Sony Pictures Entertainment people Presidents of Columbia Pictures