Fox Star Studios’ Sunil Punjabi joins MSM as SVP biz dev.

MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios’ Sunil Punjabi, who was in charge of strategy for production and home entertainment, has put in his papers.

Punjabi joined Multi Screen Media (formerly known as Sony Entertainment Television) as senior vice president business development on 23 June. According to information available with Businessofcinema.com, he will be instrumental in chalking out the strategy for MSM’s foray into sports and regional channels.

Speaking exclusively to Businessofcinema.com, Punjabi said, "I will be looking at organic and inorganic growth opportunities for Sony Entertainment. I am glad Sony has presented me the opportunity to identify and work on growth initiatives for the company."

Multi Screen Media recently acquired a regional Bengali movie channel Channel 8 and is also looking at other acquisitions in the space. Additionally, plans are also afoot to launch a sports channel. The company’s channels Sony, Pix and Max have the broadcasting rights to sporting events like the Indian Premiere League (IPL) cricket tournament, the New Zealand cricket series and the Football Association Challenge Cup.

Punjabi was with Star India since September 2006 and was part of the core team that set-up the company’s movie arm Fox Star Studios in India. Prior to that, he was at Fashion TV India as marketing head and with Shringar Cinemas as strategic planning head.

It may be recalled that MSM recently also appointed Balaji Motion Pictures CEO Ajit Thakur as business head for its flagship channel Sony Entertainment Television.