Home Entertainment
December 20, 2002
Warren N. Lieberfarb Leaving Warner Home Video
(December 20, 2002 – Burbank, CA) - Warner Bros. announced today that Warren N. Lieberfarb, the creator of DVD and one of the most respected executives in the entertainment industry, is leaving his position as President of Warner Home Video, a position he has held for some 20 of his 27 years with Warner Bros. This comes at the culmination of Lieberfarb’s enormously successful 10-year personal campaign to envision, conceptualize, develop, launch and establish the DVD.
Lieberfarb had the initial vision for a high-quality, convenient and affordable digital form of home entertainment that evolved into today’s DVD. It was Lieberfarb who, over initial opposition from others, spearheaded the ultimate acceptance of a single standard DVD. As a result of his 10-year determination, Lieberfarb transformed a stagnating business facing technological obsolescence into the fastest growing and one of the most profitable sectors in the motion picture industry.
Under Lieberfarb, Warner Home Video has generated an unparalleled record of growth. Brought in to run Warner Bros.’ small home video division in 1982, he has been the driving force behind its explosive growth. During his 20-year stewardship, Lieberfarb has made the creation of a broad and deeply experienced management team at WHV a top priority. His successor will come from within WHV’s existing senior management, with an announcement expected shortly.
Barry Meyer, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Warner Bros., expressed his profound gratitude to Lieberfarb for his contributions to Warner Bros. “Warren is a true visionary and a world-class executive. We both began our careers at Warner Bros. back in the 1970s. Over these many years I have watched Warren build the finest home video company in our industry. But that accomplishment, great as it is, only begins to describe the unique nature of his role over these years. He constantly pursued how best to maximize our profits and how best to position Warner Bros. for the digital 21st century world. Warner Bros., as well as our industry in general, will be reaping the benefits of his efforts for decades to come.”
Richard D. Parsons, Chief Executive Officer of AOL Time Warner, Inc., stated, “Warren is unique among every motion picture executive I have ever met. He combines being a visionary and strategist with being a hands-on, first class operating executive. Warren has helped make Warner Bros. the entertainment powerhouse that it is today.”
In 1999, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presented Lieberfarb with an Emmy Award for the development of DVD technology. In May, 2002, he was awarded the inaugural Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award, which recognizes an individual who has been a key driver of the use of technology as a transformation tool.
Lieberfarb joined Warner Home Video as Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing in 1982, having originally joined Warner Bros. in 1975 as Vice President of Marketing, and had subsequent positions as Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Board, the late Ted Ashley, and as Vice President of International Marketing. He previously held positions at Ford Motor Company, Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox, where, as Vice President of Telecommunications, he was instrumental in the early initiatives that led to the growth of cable, pay-TV and home video outlets for motion pictures.
Lieberfarb received a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1965, and is a member of the University’s Board of Trustees. He received an MBA from the University of Michigan in 1966. Lieberfarb serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute, chairing its Entrepreneurial Committee. Lieberfarb is married to Gail Kamer, a successful portfolio manager with a Los Angeles investment firm. # # #