NEW YORK — Viacom recently named Jim Gianopulos chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures. He succeeds Paramount's former chairman, Brad Grey, who departed in February.
Gianopulos spent 16 years at 20th Century Fox before leaving last year. While there, he oversaw films such as Avatar and the X-Men franchise. He is expected to help increase the studio's annual output and will also be called on to better leverage Viacom's other properties theatrically, including Comedy Central, MTV, BET and Nickelodeon.