Dreamworks Names New President

Dreamworks SKG, the Glendale-based entertainment company, has named Rick Sands its new president and chief operating officer. Sands had formerly worked as the COO of Miramax Films. Sands joined Miramax in 1990 as the company’s executive vice-president and chief financial officer. The executive played a major role in the negotiations surrounded Disney’s purchase of Miramax. Sands left Miramax in 1993, working for two years at RHI Entertainment, a company owned by Hallmark and known as a producer of movies-of-the-week, miniseries and other television programs. Sands returned to Miramax in 1995, becoming its president in charge of international matters. In 1997, he was named the company’s chairman of worldwide distribution and four years later he became its COO. In his new post at Dreamworks, Sands will be responsible for overseeing the management of day-to-day operations, reporting directly to principal partner David Geffen.