Universal Pictures announced Tuesday that Nikki Rocco, president of domestic distribution, will retire at the end of 2014 after 47 years with the company. In 2013 Rocco oversaw Universal’s all-time best year at the domestic box office. The studio’s hits included “Despicable Me 2” and “Fast & Furious 6.” Gross box office sales for the year totaled more than $1.4 billion. Rocco started at Universal in 1967, when she was 17 years old. She was hired in the company’s New York sales department after completing a paid training program. Rocco followed the sales department to Los Angeles in 1981. Promotions followed and she was named to her current position in 1996, which made her the first woman to head distribution at a major studio. NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Ron Meyer called Rocco, “one of the hardest working, most loyal people I’ve ever known.” After her scheduled retirement, Rocco will act as a consultant for Universal Pictures. The studio has yet to name her successor.
