Universal Pictures Renews Rick Finkelstein Contract for Five More Years

Universal Pictures has renewed the contract of Rick Finkelstein, president and chief operating officer of Universal Pictures, for five more years, it was announced today by Stacey Snider, chairman, Universal Pictures.

Mr. Finkelstein, who guides the division's business operations worldwide, is a significant member of the team that has engineered the dramatic turn-around of Universal Pictures for the past two years. His contract extension comes on the heels of renewed five-year pacts with Ms. Snider, as well as Universal Studios President and Chief Operating Officer Ron Meyer, and reflects the company's determination to keep its key players in place.

``Rick personifies the values that have made our team strong and it gives me great satisfaction to know that he will be on board in the coming years,'' said Ms. Snider. ``He sees the big picture and has the ability to be both a leader and a team player.''

``This is a team that works and we want to sustain that momentum,'' said Mr. Meyer. ``Rick combines strong negotiating skills with an understanding of the international marketplace and a unique knowledge of emerging businesses in home entertainment and digital technology. We look forward to his continued leadership.''

Mr. Finkelstein was named president of Universal Pictures in November 1999, and chief operating officer in December 2000, having previously served as senior vice president, corporate development and strategic planning for Universal Studios since March 1999. He will continue to report to Ms. Snider.

As president and chief operating officer, Mr. Finkelstein oversees business operations worldwide, including business and legal affairs, home video, television distribution and technology. He is also responsible for the operational oversight of Universal's interest in United International Pictures (UIP), United Cinemas International (UCI) and the Sundance Channel. In addition, he is coordinating the integration of Universal Pictures into Vivendi Universal.

Along with Marc Shmuger, vice chairman of Universal Pictures, Mr. Finkelstein directs the company's business development and strategic planning, and oversees Universal Pictures Franchise Development Division. This division manages Universal's consumer products business and its two specialty production units -- Universal Home Entertainment Productions (UHEP) and Universal Pictures Visual Programming (UPVP) -- and coordinates the exploitation of Universal's franchise properties across these units and within Vivendi Universal.

Universal Pictures has just completed a highly successful year. The studio broke box office records with its Summer 2001 schedule: four consecutive films opened at number one to more than $40 million each, then went on to gross more than $140 million -- ``The Mummy Returns,'' ``The Fast and the Furious,'' ``Jurassic Park III'' and ``American Pie 2.'' Before this summer, no studio had ever had more than one film open to $40 million at the box office in a 12-month period. Universal also handled the highly successful international releases of two co-productions with other studios, ``Hannibal'' and ``Bridget Jones's Diary.''

In December 2001, Imagine Entertainment's ``A Beautiful Mind,'' a co-production with DreamWorks directed by Ron Howard and starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly, opened to widespread acclaim and strong box office. It recently won four Golden Globes including the awards for Best Motion Picture/Drama, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay and has received eight Academy Award® nominations.

Mr. Finkelstein joined Universal from Polygram Filmed Entertainment (PFE), where he served as executive vice president and was responsible for overseeing the business and legal affairs, music and post-production departments.

Prior to joining PFE, Mr. Finkelstein was president of Nelson Films, and before that served as executive vice president of De Laurentiis Entertainment Group. From 1978 to 1986, he practiced entertainment law with Mitchell, Silverberg & Krupp.