Motion Pictures
January 15, 2008
Sue Kroll Named President, Worldwide Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures
(January 15, 2008 – Burbank, CA) - Highly regarded and award-winning marketing executive Sue Kroll has been named to the newly created position of President, Worldwide Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures, it was announced today by Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.
As part of its ongoing review of best practices in running its businesses, the Studio will now have both its domestic and international theatrical marketing divisions report into a single office headed by Kroll. In this new post, she will oversee the strategic creation and implementation of marketing campaigns for the films the Studio releases each year in the U.S. and internationally, directing all aspects of marketing, advertising, media planning, promotion, publicity and research. Kroll will also be charged with streamlining the Studio’s overall theatrical marketing operation and increasing efficiencies between the domestic and international marketing arms wherever possible.
“I know Sue will more than rise to the challenges of this new, exciting position, and I am thrilled that we’ll be doing this together,” said Robinov. “She’s an amazing marketer who is extremely creative, strategic, and has a great understanding of the filmmaking process. As the exhibition world increasingly becomes one market due to shifting windows, it makes a lot of sense for us to have the domestic and international marketing teams under one executive, which will help us maximize our resources, our reach and our impact.”
“During Sue’s tenure, our international theatrical division has had an impressive run of 100-, 200- and 300-million-dollar hits and billion-dollar years at the box office—both of which are in no small part due to the efforts of Sue and her marketing team,” said Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros. “I’ve always been impressed with her talent and her ability to take a filmmaker’s vision and translate it into a meaningful message to moviegoers around the world. I congratulate Sue on her promotion.”
“Across all of our businesses, we see the divide between domestic and international markets diminishing and the revenue from overseas markets increasing,” said Barry Meyer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Warner Bros. “Bringing our theatrical marketing divisions together under a single executive makes strategic sense for the company, and the fact that we have an executive of Sue’s caliber to head up this combined operation makes it even better for us.”
“I have to thank Jeff, Alan and Barry for presenting me with this extraordinary opportunity at such an interesting and dynamic time in our company’s history,” said Kroll. “As the global landscape of the film business continues to change, I’m truly looking forward to working with Jeff and the team to strategically meet the challenges and seize the opportunities that await us with creativity and innovation.”
Kroll most recently served as President, Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures International, a post which she assumed in 2000. Since that appointment, Kroll has helped lead the division to seven consecutive years, 2001-2007, grossing over $1 billion, with 32 releases each grossing over $100 million internationally in that period. In 2004, Warner Bros. Pictures International crossed the $1 billion threshold in less than six months and went on to become the first studio ever to surpass the $2 billion mark in a calendar year, with an estimated $2.2 billion box office total, a Studio record that stood until 2007, when the division’s receipts of $2.4 billion set both a Warner Bros. and industry record.
Among the recent films she’s handled are the “Harry Potter” series (all five of which are among the 10 highest grossing international releases of all time, having collectively earned over $2.4 billion in international receipts alone), “I Am Legend,” ($221 million internationally to date), “Sweeney Todd” (released internationally this week), “Beowulf,” ($111 internationally, still in release) and “300” ($245 million internationally), as well as “Ocean’s Thirteen,” “Happy Feet,” “The Departed” and “Blood Diamond” - all of which grossed over $100 million internationally.
Other international box office successes under Kroll’s tenure include “Batman Begins,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Constantine,” “Ocean’s Twelve,” “The Polar Express,” “Troy,” “The Last Samurai,” “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions” and Clint Eastwood’s dual films about the Pacific War—“Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters From Iwo Jima.”
Prior to taking leadership of the department, Kroll served as Senior Vice President, International Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures, where she oversaw the development of marketing strategy and the conception, creation and media placement of campaigns for Warner Bros. Pictures’ overseas releases.
Kroll joined the Studio in 1994 to head Programming & Operations for Warner Bros. International Channels. In this capacity, she devised the strategy and launch of the Studio’s venture into the international branded cable channels business, which was developed to expand the company’s global television presence with the creation of thematic programming services.
Prior to that, Kroll served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of both TNT and Cartoon Network, having joined Turner Network Television as head of its marketing department to develop and direct marketing and promotional campaigns for the network and its programs.
Kroll started her career in New York, where she worked over a seven-year period in various divisions of Viacom, including Showtime Networks Inc., The Movie Channel and Viewer’s Choice.
Kroll holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Glassboro State University in New Jersey.
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