Peter Kang Named Paramount EVP of Production

Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc., today announced the appointment of film veteran Peter Kang to Executive Vice President of Production. The announcement was made by the studio's President of Production Marc Evans, to whom Kang will report.

"Peter's experience and creativity, coupled with his longstanding relationships in the film industry and in the literary world, perfectly complement Paramount's commitment to making original and entertaining films," said Evans. "I am delighted to welcome such a phenomenal executive to the team."

Kang joins Paramount from Twentieth Century Fox, where he served as Executive Vice President of Production. Recently, he oversaw the critically acclaimed "RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES," which he developed from inception with producers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, and was instrumental in bringing aboard director Rupert Wyatt and the film's star Andy Serkis. Prior to his departure, he shepherded the film's sequel into production with Chernin Entertainment again producing.

In charge of New York book operations for Fox's main divison, Kang obtained for the studio the rights to suchNew York Times bestselling books as Gillian Flynn's wildly popular Gone Girl, which Reese Witherspoon will produce, as well as James Dashner'sThe Maze Runner and Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, among others.

Kang joined Fox in 1996 after graduating from the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. He was promoted to creative executive just two years later. In 2000, he joined Fox's specialty division Fox 2000 and was made Vice President in 2001. Kang was named Senior Vice President of Twentieth Century Fox in 2008 and was promoted to Executive Vice President in 2010. During his tenure at Fox, Kang worked closely with some of the industry's most notable filmmakers, including Tim Burton, James Cameron, Baz Luhrmann, Tony Scott, Oliver Stone and Robert Zemeckis, to name a few.