Mike Fleming

UPDATE: The Weinstein Company has confirmed Deadline’s scoop on Erik Lomis. His hiring gives the company a strong distribution executive who was rusting at MGM. (Release is below)

EXCKUSIVE, 12:20 PM: The Weinstein Company is closing a deal with Erik Lomis to become its President of Theatrical Distribution and Home Entertainment. He’ll oversee releases generated through both the TWC and Dimension labels. Lomis has been in talks for several weeks, but the issue has been time remaining on his contract at MGM, where he has been President of Worldwide Theatrical Distribution, Home Entertainment & Acquisitions. MGM is in the process of remaking itself with an emphasis on production and not distribution, so it’s not surprising that Lomis would be looking to leave. He had just under a year left on his deal, but I’m told those hurdles have been cleared and his appointment is imminent.

Lomis takes the job at a time when TWC is about to release the Julian Schnabel-directed Miral and Dimension is releasing Spy Kids 4, as well as the Timur Bekmambetov-produced “found footage” thriller Apollo 18, the Sundance pic My Idiot Brother, Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut Coriolanus and the Miley Cyrus-starrer So Undercover, among others. It becomes the latest move in TWC’s restructure under Harvey and Bob Weinstein and David Glasser. That restructure has seen Donna Gigliotti become TWC production president, former Miramax production vet Meryl Poster returned to the Weinstein fold as President of Television, and former Lionsgate exec Sarah Greenberg Roberts as head of publicity.

ERIK LOMIS JOINS THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY AS PRESIDENT OF THEATRICAL DISTRIBUTION AND HOME ENTERTAINMENT

New York (March 16, 2011) – The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that Erik Lomis has joined the company as president of theatrical distribution and home entertainment. The announcement was made by TWC COO David Glasser.

In his new position, Lomis will oversee the theatrical distribution slate for TWC and Dimension Films, including such upcoming titles as Miral, from Oscar®-nominated director Julian Schnabel; Wes Craven’s Scream 4, the new installment in Dimension Films’ seminal horror franchise; Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World, the latest installment in Robert Rodriguez’s family franchise for Dimension; the buzzed-about thriller Apollo 18; Simon Curtis’s My Week with Marilyn; the Sundance Film Festival hits My Idiot Brother and The Details; Ralph Fiennes’s directorial debut Coriolanus; Douglas McGrath’s I Don’t Know How She Does It; and So Undercover. Lomis will also be responsible for the day-to-day management of TWC’s home/digital entertainment business, which includes a strategic partnership with Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Lomis is the latest addition to the all-star executive lineup recruited by Co-Chairmen Harvey and Bob Weinstein as they, along with Glasser, have reorganized the company. The new executive team includes Academy Award®-winning producer Donna Gigliotti (Shakespeare in Love) as president of production; Miramax production veteran Meryl Poster as president of television; Sarah Greenberg Roberts as president of publicity; and Peter Lawson, who re-upped as executive vice president, acquisitions & co-productions.

Said Lomis, “I’ve long admired Harvey and Bob Weinstein as producers, distributors and passionate film advocates, so this is a very exciting move for me. I’m looking forward to working with the Weinsteins and the entire TWC team to bring exceptional movies to audiences here at home and all over the world.”

Commented TWC Co-Chairmen Harvey and Bob Weinstein, “It’s one thing to make a great, entertaining movie; it’s another to make sure that film finds its audience. Erik works tirelessly and creatively to devise the optimum distribution plan for his films, whatever the genre, wherever the viewers. Having him at the helm of distribution is a boon for TWC and for every filmmaker we work with.”

Added Glasser, “Erik is a master strategist with a deep understanding of the marketplace, and an uncanny ability to pinpoint the ideal window for any given title. We’re thrilled to have him at TWC.”

Prior to joining TWC, Lomis was president of worldwide theatrical distribution, home entertainment & acquisitions of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, where he oversaw domestic theatrical distribution as well as the marketing and distribution of MGM’s international theatrical, home entertainment and acquisitions titles. He had been a prominent executive and consultant at MGM for over 15 years. As president of domestic distribution from 2000 to 2005, Lomis was a part of the greenlight committee and oversaw the distribution for Legally Blonde, Barbershop and four of the James Bond films including Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. Following that period, he advised MGM, Warner Bros. and a number of other distributors on the domestic and foreign marketing and distribution of feature films. Prior to arriving at MGM, Lomis was head of the national film department at United Artists Theatres, as well as the head film buyer at Sameric Corp. in Philadelphia, where he was also responsible for real estate development.