Emmy Award-winning television producer Robert Papazian has been named CEO of Hollywood's Sunset-Gower Studios, whose productions have included classic series I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched and, much more recently, Six Feet Under.
The announcement was made by GI Partners, a private equity fund that bought the studio in November 2004 for $110 million.
Papazian has also obtained an equity stake in the studio, as has his business partner, James Hirsch.
The two founded and run the production company Papazian-Hirsch Entertainment as well as Ray-Art Studios, an independent production facility with six sound stages.
Papazian's production credits include NBC's Inherit the Wind and ABC's The Day After.
The 17-acre studio was built as Columbia Pictures Studios, opening in 1921, a year after Columbia was founded Harry and Jack Cohn.
Columbia moved to Burbank in 1972 and the studio was later renamed Sunset-Gower (it's located in Hollywood at the intersection of Sunset and Gower*).
Although the studio is currently home to several television series, its roots are in film. It Happened One Night, From Here to Eternity, Dr. Strangelove, Funny Girl and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner are among the classics shot at the studio.
