Panavision Taps Technicolor Exec as Its President

Panavision Inc., the leading provider of cameras and lenses to Hollywood, said Wednesday that it named Technicolor Inc. executive Robert Beitcher as its president, effective April 14.

Panavision, based in Woodland Hills, is 84% owned by billionaire financier Ronald O. Perelman, who remains its chairman and chief executive.

Beitcher, 48, succeeds John Farrand, who resigned in January amid efforts by Panavision to overcome financial losses caused mainly by a heavy debt load.

At the time, Perelman lieutenant Howard Gittis said Panavision needed to be managed more aggressively. In a statement Wednesday, Perelman said Beitcher’s skills with both film and digital technologies “are exactly what Panavision needs.”

Beitcher has been president of Technicolor Creative Services, and previously was president and chief executive of Consolidated Film Industries, a Hollywood film processor bought in 2000 by Camarillo-based Technicolor, a unit of French media conglomerate Thomson.

Panavision also said it bolstered its balance sheet last week through a $100-million equity investment by Perelman’s firms. The stock is very thinly traded on the over-the-counter Bulletin Board; it last changed hands March 25 at $4.50 a share.