Momentum Pictures, the UK joint venture of Canada's Alliance Atlantis and Germany's Kinowelt, has appointed Conrad Withey to oversee the operation's recently-expanded video retail activities.

Withey, who takes up the newly-created post of director of retail video and acquisitions, joins from Universal Pictures International, where he was vice president of programming. He was previously head of programming at PolyGram Video UK.

Withey's appointment follows Kinowelt's acquisition of more than 240 video titles from StudioCanal last week. The library, which will go through Momentum in the UK, includes Terminator 2 - Judgement Day, Cliffhanger and Universal Soldier, plus classics such as The Graduate, The Conversation and The Producers.

Withey will also be responsible for producing and acquiring non-film programming across all genres for release on video and DVD in the UK.