Miramax names former News Corp. executive Michael Lang as CEO

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Former News Corp. business development executive Michael Lang has been named chief executive of the newly independent Miramax Films.

The widely expected appointment puts Lang in charge following the completion last week of Walt Disney Co.’s $663-million sale of the specialty film studio to an investor group led by Colony Capital and Ron Tutor.

Lang is expected to lead a team that initially will focus on forging deals to make money off the 700-plus titles in the Miramax library. The company is already in negotiations to offer some of its movies through Google’s YouTube, and a person close to the studio has said it will seek to build the Miramax.com website as a destination to watch its films and to launch a new cable channel.

While at News Corp., Lang worked extensively on several of the media giant’s digital businesses, including online television distributor Hulu and social-networking site MySpace.

-- Ben Fritz

Related:

Miramax purchase puts Colony Capital in the spotlight

Ron Tutor-led group closes Miramax deal

New Miramax closing in on CEO, other senior executives