Woods to leave ausfilm

Ausfilm chief executive Mark Woods will leave the government partnership when his two-year contract expires in August. Woods, who was previously chief executive of the Irish Film Board, said he has achieved the two-year plan he had in mind when he took the top job at Ausfilm.

Overture boosts senior management team

Justin Alvarado-Brown has joined Overture Films as senior vice-president of business and legal affairs. Alvarado-Brown most recently served as senior counsel for HBO, and began his career in entertainment as vice-president in the business and legal affairs department at MGM Studios. Also, former Nielsen EDI vice-president of client services Matt Garelik has joined Overture Films as senior vice-president of theatrical distribution, and Adam Keen has left I/D PR to head Overture's worldwide publicity department.

Byrne to head peacock

Thomas M Byrne has been hired as managing director to lead Peacock Equity Fund, the $250m joint venture between GE Commercial Finance - Media, Communications & Entertainment and NBC Universal. Megumi Ikeda has also been named executive director, based in London and reporting to Byrne. Byrne will lead an international team investing equity capital in media companies that have a strong strategic fit with NBC Universal.

Fragen to spearhead summit TV business

Alex Fragen has been hired as Summit Entertainment's president of domestic television distribution and will oversee the company's free and pay television, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, and hotel and airline sales. He arrives from Paramount, where he previously served as senior vice-president of domestic television distribution, and will report to Summit's COO Robert Hayward.

Coni tapped for RAI's 01 Distribution

RAI Cinema has named Adriano Coni as new president of 01 Distribution, the distribution arm of RAI Cinema. Coni previously acted as chief of both RAI Cinema's marketing and human resources divisions.