Nicholas Hanks has joinedSidney Kimmel Entertainment (SKE) in the new role of senior vice president ofbusiness and legal affairs.

The former entertainmentlawyer will be based in Los Angeles and reports to Jim Tauber, who was namedSKE president in July.

Hanks arrives from DavisWright Tremaine, where he served as an associate in the entertainmentdepartment since 2003 and advised on production matters including financialinstitutions, studios, and completion guarantors.

Prior to that he served inLondon in similar posts at Theodore Goddard and Denton Hall. He launched hiscareer with Western Atlas in Nigeria as a financial control supervisor and oilindustry analyst.

"Nick is a brilliant legalmind and will be a tremendous asset for SKE as the company continues to ramp upproduction," Kimmel said. "We are thrilled to have him aboard."

"This is a fantasticopportunity to join this company at this point in its history, and I value thechance to work with Sidney, Jim and president of production Bill Horberg,"Hanks added.

SKE recently completedproduction on Joshua Michael Stern's fantasy Neverwas and Bart Freundlich's romantic comedy Trust TheMan, both of which received worldpremieres at Toronto.

The company is currently in production on Agnieszka Holland's Copying Beethoven and is in post-production on Nick Cassavetes' Alpha Dog.