Entertainment Industry Expert Joins Hill & Knowlton as Senior Advisor

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Hill & Knowlton announced today that media and technology investor and former Sony Pictures executive Benjamin S. Feingold will become a senior advisor to the firm, providing strategic counsel to H&K corporate, entertainment and technology clients on issues ranging from digital media content and distribution to consumer product licensing, film production and more.

Feingold held senior positions at Sony Pictures over an 18-year career, including serving as president of Worldwide Home Entertainment, Digital Distribution and Product Acquisitions.  After departing Sony in 2006, Feingold has participated as a media and technology investor, advisor or board member for a number of digital distribution and content companies, including Flixster.com, Varitalk Holdings LLC, Monty Python Ltd., Gamefly.com and Playphone.com.

"We are so pleased Ben will be joining our H&K team," said Hope Boonshaft, executive vice president and general manager of H&K's Southern California operations.  "His expertise in home entertainment, digital distribution and deal-making, as well as his extensive relationships in Hollywood, will boost our growing entertainment practice and to all of our clients across the H&K network whose communications and business needs intersect with this dynamic industry.''

Feingold commented, "The company's reputation for excellence in delivering top-flight communications programs that help advance business goals within the competitive digital entertainment industry is well deserved.  Their professionals are smart, experienced and passionate about what they do."

Feingold joins a team of entertainment industry veterans and experienced communications and marketing professionals on the H&K team who have supported clients including Technicolor, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Real D, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Disney Home Entertainment, Yahoo! Entertainment and more.

As president of Worldwide Home Entertainment, Digital Distribution and Product Acquisitions for Sony, Feingold oversaw a $3 billion global package media business, digital distribution of content on platforms such as Amazon, Apple and Netflix, domestic pay per view and video on demand licensing oversight on the satellite and cable platforms such as Direct TV.  He also oversaw the distribution of original production of mobile games, wallpaper and other mobile software to carriers and mobile content portals in the United States.

Among his other responsibilities at Sony, Feingold was president of Business and Operations for the Columbia Tristar Motion Picture Group.  In that capacity, he had oversight over all budgeting and forecasting of the Motion Pictures Group, joint greenlight signoff, business affairs, physical production of films, digital studio operations, post production, music scoring, mastering and authoring, global product fulfillment and consumer products. In the area of consumer products, he oversaw the licensing related to Spiderman, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.

From the time he became president of Worldwide Home Entertainment in 1994, Feingold worked closely with Sony Tokyo and Sony Computer Entertainment on various package media and digital formats, including the design, specifications, negotiations and introduction of the DVD format, the PS2 format (including incorporation of DVD playback, a first for a videogame system), the PS3 format (including incorporation of Blue Ray disc playback and Internet connectivity) and the portable PSP format. This included many explanatory and technical meetings with other Hollywood studios to explain the benefits of the formats and the barriers to product introduction.

Feingold is a member of the Motion Picture Academy, Executive Branch, and has relationships with current and former management of the Hollywood studios, agencies and the creative and production communities.

About H&K

Hill & Knowlton (www.hillandknowlton.us) is a leading international communications consultancy, providing services to local, multinational and global clients. The firm is headquartered in New York, with 79 offices in 44 countries, as well as an extensive associate network. The agency is part of WPP (Nasdaq: WPPGY, www.wpp.com), the world's largest communications services group.

SOURCE Hill & Knowlton