Sony Pictures Promotes Drew Shearer CFO

Sony Pictures Entertainment has promoted Drew Shearer to executive vp and chief financial officer.

He assumes the post on Oct. 1. and will succeed Philip Rowley, who will step down after joining the Hollywood studio as CFO in 2016.

Shearer has spent nearly 30 years at Sony, joining the studio in 1996 as director of internal audit for Sony Corporation of America, before working as finance director of Sony Pictures Television Studios and divisional CFO of Sony Pictures Television’s global businesses.

In 2014, Shearer was promoted to executive vp and group divisional CFO, overseeing global financial affairs for the studio’s corporate departments, content development, production, marketing and sales businesses and linear and digital networks.

 “Drew knows our business inside and out, and his financial insights and efficiencies have driven strong results for our company. We look forward to his astute leadership at a dynamic time for our industry,” Tony Vinciquerra, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said in a statement on Monday.

Rowley added in his own statement: “I have had a wonderful time here at Sony Pictures, having had the great pleasure of working with so many talented and committed people. The last few years have been very successful for this company, and I feel very privileged to have been a part of that.”

Sony Pictures Entertainment, which spans film and TV, had a recent theatrical hit with Bad Boys: Ride or Die. Sony’s Game & Network Services division is a separate entity to Sony Pictures Entertainment and encompasses PlayStation hardware and software sales, as well as the PlayStation Network.

Recent dealmaking at the studio includes Sony Pictures Entertainment acquiring Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in a deal that puts a major Hollywood studio back in the business of owning a movie theater for the first time in more than 75 years.