MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) co-presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard have signed on for four more years with Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).

The deal will extend the 18 year relationship with Sony Pictures and allows Barker and Bernard to continue to oversee the banner’s film slate as well as day-to-day operations which include releasing, producing, and acquiring high quality independent films.

During their tenure, SPC has garnered critical acclaim and financial success for over 300 films and forged relationships with many of today’s top filmmakers including Woody Allen, Pedro Almodóvar and Jonathan Demme. SPC films have received more than 20 Academy Awards and more than 70 Oscar nominations.

"Michael and Tom have brought to audiences worldwide some of the most memorable and significant films in recent history, and we are proud to have them and their entire team at Classics as part of the Sony Pictures family. The diversity of our film slate is an important factor in our success and stability over the years, and Michael and Tom have been an instrumental part of that story," said Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and CEO Michael Lynton.

"Sony is family. Sony is home. It is as exciting for us now as it was when we first started here eighteen years ago. We are proud of the library of films and amazing filmmakers we have nurtured over the years. The quality of support and encouragement we receive from Michael, Amy, Howard Stringer, and all the divisions at Sony with whom we interface, excites us about the present and, most importantly, empowers us to face and look forward to the challenges and triumphs of the future,” said Barker and Bernard.

"One of the real pleasures of all my years with this company has been knowing and working with Michael and Tom, and experiencing the great films and filmmakers they have introduced to me and to the world. I am so proud to continue this great relationship for many more years to come," added Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal.