Film Production
Paramount names Michael Ireland & Daria Cereck co-presidents of production
MUMBAI: Paramount Pictures has named former New Line Cinema executive Daria Cercek and former 20th Century Studios executive Michael Ireland as co-presidents of production at the studio.
Both Cercek and Ireland will report to Paramount motion picture group president Emma Watts. Ireland joined the studio in late November, and Cercek begins her position effective from 11 January.
“I’m thrilled to be working again with both Daria and Mike,” Watts said in a statement. “The key to success is having the right team, and having watched Daria and Mike grow over the years, I am quite confident their combined creativity, enthusiasm and extensive talent relationships will be a huge windfall for Paramount. They believe passionately in people and projects, which makes for better films.”
Prior to joining Paramount, Cercek worked in New Line Cinema, where she served as executive vice president of production and development. In her role, she oversaw Olivia Wilde’s upcoming next film Don’t Worry Darling starring Florence Pugh, Harry Styles and Chris Pine.
“I am absolutely over the moon to be joining the incredible team at Paramount, and working again with some of my most esteemed and beloved friends and colleagues,” Cercek said in a statement. “It is truly an honor to step into this role alongside Mike at such a historic studio, and to continue the legacy of making top-notch movies with world-class talent.”
Cercek was formerly senior vice president of production and development at Twentieth Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios), having risen through the ranks after starting as a creative executive in 2010.
Ireland, began his career as a network executive at MTV in 2003.
Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
