Holly Bario, who has spent more than a decade as a production executive at Universal Pictures, has been named executive vice president of production at the studio.

Bario has shepherded some of Universal's biggest comedies in recent years, including Bruce Almighty, Meet The Parents, Meet The Fockers, and The 40 Year-Old Virgin.

She is currently supervising the Bruce Almighty sequel Evan Almighty starring Steve Carrell and Morgan Freeman, as well as Knocked Up and I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry, which stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James.

'Holly is a tremendous asset to Universal,' president of production Donna Langley said. 'She understands that magical balance that brings comedy to life, while also having a firm grasp of all the realities of development and production.

'She is generous with her counsel, a terrific team leader, and has wonderful relationships with film-makers, talent and colleagues throughout our industry. We congratulate her on this well-earned new title.'

Bario arrived at Universal Pictures in 1996 as Marc Platt's assistant and moved up through the ranks to director of development, then vice president and senior vice president of production.