Sony Pictures Head Landau To Form New Games, Animation Studio

Following news that Sony Online Entertainment would now be moved to the company's SCEI wing, Sony has announced that its Sony Pictures digital division president Yair Landau has left the company to form a new games and animation venture. Landau, recently featured on Gamasutra, will leave the company in April, after a 17-year tenure with Sony Pictures, including nearly a decade as its president. Landau helped oversee not only the company's digital animation and effects unit, Imageworks, but also established its feature-length animation studio Sony Pictures Animation (Open Season, Surf's Up). Sony says Landau also oversaw "the growth of Sony Online Entertainment into a worldwide leader in massive multiplayer online games, such as EverQuest, Untold Legends, PlanetSide and Star Wars Galaxies." Landau has not yet announced any details on the new games and animation venture. He will continue to serve as executive producer of Sony Pictures latest animated feature, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, due for release in 2009. Said Sony Corporation chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer, "From the moment I began my relationship with Sony Pictures Entertainment ten years ago, Yair has been a truly valued friend and colleague. His influence on Sony's decision-making in the digital dawn has been profound and enduring. We will all benefit from his instincts and insights for many years to come."