Phil Jackson has been named the new London-based president of Paramount Home Entertainment International, where he will replace longstanding international video veteran Paul Miller at the end of July.

Jackson joins Paramount from Walt Disney where he held the position of senior vice president/managing director, Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Prior to his twelve-year stint at Disney, Jackson was with the Rank Organisation.

Jackson's previous experience at Buena Vista gives him "the understanding of branding and category management that are essential to the continued growth of the Paramount brand internationally", explained Eric Doctorow, who is worldwide president of Paramount Home Entertainment.

Miller, who held the title of president and chief executive officer of Paramount's international video operation as well as its joint venture precursor CIC, is leaving after a combined twenty years at the two organisations to "further my career in a new direction."

"I felt that it was important to ensure a smooth transition from the CIC joint venture [which Paramount shared with Universal Home Video] to wholly-owned subsidiary status, before moving on," commented Miller in a statement issued on Monday. "I feel we have substantially achieved that."

Since 1994, when Miller was promoted to the top job at CIC, he has been involved in developing his company's home entertainment businesses in Japan, Australia, Korea and Brazil, complementing an already strong European presence out of the London headquarters.

More recently, Miller oversaw the launch of DVD in Europe and Japan before concentrating on the reorganisation at CIC that saw both Paramount and Universal strike out on their own in the international home entertainment distribution sector.