TOLDJA! Focus Features Names Jeb Brody Production President

Deadline told you Aug. 15 that Focus Features would name Vendome’s Jeb Brody its new production president replacing John Lyons, who left to produce films and focus on philanthropic pursuits. Focus just made it official. Here’s the release:

LOS ANGELES (August 24th, 2011) –– Jeb Brody is joining Focus Features as the worldwide film company’s president of production. Focus CEO James Schamus and president Andrew Karpen, to whom Mr. Brody will report, made the announcement today.

Mr. Brody, who begins work next month, will be stepping into the production presidency post being vacated by John Lyons, who is returning to working as a film producer as well as devoting more time to his philanthropic endeavors. While Mr. Brody will be based in Focus’ West Coast offices, he will oversee the global Focus production team already in place in New York, London, and Los Angeles.

The executive is joining Focus directly from his position as president of production at Vendôme Pictures, the development, production, and financing entity. At Vendôme, he supervised production of, and was executive producer on, the company’s first two movies: Duncan Jones’ hit Source Code, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and Tom Hanks’ Larry Crowne, starring Mr. Hanks and Julia Roberts. Before joining Vendôme, Mr. Brody was one of the partners who successfully established Big Beach, the New York-based independent film production and finance company. In his years at Big Beach, he was producer or executive producer on such films as the multi-Academy Award-winning Little Miss Sunshine, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris; Laurie Collyer’s SherryBaby, starring Golden Globe Award nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal; and Christine Jeffs’ Sunshine Cleaning, starring Amy Adams and Emily Blunt.

Mr. Schamus and Mr. Karpen said, “Jeb is an exceptionally talented executive with great taste and instincts, with a genuine track record of making successful, smart movies. We’re thrilled to have found an ideal successor to John Lyons.”

Mr. Brody added, “I’ve long admired Focus; for close to a decade now, they’ve consistently made remarkable movies from visionary filmmakers. Under John’s leadership, the production team in place at Focus has already put together a terrific slate for next year, and I can’t wait to work with them to complete those projects and get new ones started.”

Earlier in his career, Mr. Brody was an executive at Ed Saxon and Peter Saraf’s Magnet Entertainment, working on such projects as Spike Jonze’s Adaptation. He previously was a curator at the Museum of the Moving Image; and was also editor and managing director at the celebrated film magazine Scenario.