John Ferraro, senior vice president, worldwide acquisitions and co-productions at Paramount Motion Picture Group, is to leave the studio after 20 years to pursue other interests.

A well-known figure on the international festival and market circuit, Ferraro was most recently instrumental in acquiring British comedy Kevin & Perry Go Large and MTV comedy documentary The Original Kings Of Comedy directed by Spike Lee.

Other films produced under his aegis at Paramount included Jonathan Mostow's Breakdown, MTV Films' The Wood, David Ward's Major League, Sidney Lumet's Night Falls On Manhattan and Phil Joanou's U2: Rattle And Hum. He was also responsible for acquiring Kiss Me Guido directed by Tony Vitale, Ernest Dickerson's Juice and Jim Abrahams' Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael.

Prior to joining Paramount Motion Picture Group, Ferraro was an executive at Paramount's television group where he oversaw development of the pilot for Star Trek: The Next Generation among other projects.