MUMBAI: UTV vice-president international distribution and syndication Ashoka Holla has quit. According to sources close to the development, Holla is headed to TV18 group’s new film division.
When queried on his next career move, Holla says, “There are many rumours floating in the market about my next move. I have a few options in hand and I have more or less decided on my next destination. However, it is a bit early to talk about it right now.”
Speaking on his tenure with UTV and the reason for quitting the company, he says, “I have been with UTV for the last two years and have done what I could for the company. Ronnie (Screwvala) has been a fantastic boss. However, now I felt that I needed to move on and look at the entertainment space more holistically and hence I decided to quit.”
Based in India, Holla played a key role in maturing the distribution network and ensuring that the company is a force to reckon with, on the international film distribution scene. He has been with UTV since 2004 during which he set up the company’s international distribution division. Holla headed the division since June 2004 and was given the added responsibility of the US region in July last year.
A graduate from Mumbai University with twin diplomas in mass communication and film and TV production from Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai, he spent the first three years of his career marketing space and airtime for the Indian Express Group of Newspapers and Times Television.
He then joined Kodak’s motion picture department and handled the markets of Mumbai and Hyderabad. In the course of his seven and a half year stint at Kodak, he also represented Kodak’s digital technology space and was instrumental in the beta testing of the Kodak Digital Cinema system in India.
