Who is Kevin Tsujihara, the Hollywood exec in Dotcom's big reveal?

NZ Herald

15 Sep, 2014 02:41 AM2 mins to read

Kevin Tsujihara (nearest camera) leaves Premier house in October 2010 after meeting John Key to resolve a stand-off over the filming of the Hobbit films in New Zealand. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The studio executive named in the alleged email purported to be part of Kim Dotcom's big reveal is one of the most powerful men in Hollywood.

As chief executive of the Warner Bros, Kevin Tsujihara is in charge of one of the oldest and the largest producers of TV shows and movies in the world.

He's the man who persuaded Harry Potter author JK Rowling to agree to a new series of films based on her children's books and spearheaded the revival of Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman.

He is also one of the executives Warner Bros sent to New Zealand in October 2010 to resolve a union dispute that the studio said was putting at risk the filming of Peter Jackson's $670 million Hobbit movies in New Zealand.

The Government eventually secured the three movies by changing employment laws and beefing up the tax rebate sweetener for the productions, resulting in an additional $25 million in incentives for Warner Bros.

At the time Tsujihara was president of the studio's home entertainment and his involvement in the Hobbit negotiations and his anti-piracy efforts helped him to secure the CEO job last year.

He had been in a bitter three-way race for the job. His two rivals for the job, Warner Bros Pictures President Jeff Robinov and Warner Bros. Television President Bruce Rosenblum left soon after he was appointed.

Tsujihara is the first Japanese American head of the studio. He briefly addressed his ethnic background, saying "Obviously, I'm proud of my heritage. I don't think that that played a role."

He graduated from Stanford and founded the Web-based tax filing company QuickTax Inc. He joined Warner Bros. in 1994, at first to manage the company's interest in theme-park operator Six Flags. He later took executive roles overseeing its new media endeavors and corporate strategy.

Warner Bros has told the Herald that the alleged "extradition" email Dotcom is said to be using in his big reveal tonight is a fake. Paul McGuire, the movie studio's senior vice president for worldwide communications, told the Herald: "Kevin Tsujihara did not write or send the alleged email, and he never had any such conversation with Prime Minister Key."