New AMPAS President Hawk Koch Exits as PGA Co-President

Move was expected, given the high profile and heavy workload of the unpaid Academy position.

Hawk Koch, who was elected president of the Motion Picture Academy on Tuesday night, announced on Wednesday morning that he is temporarily stepping down from his position as co-president of the Producers Guild of America.

A PGA release said that Koch will take a temporary leave of absence from his position with the guild, and that co-president Mark Gordon will serve as sole president.

"There's no way I can do both," Koch told TheWrap on Wednesday morning. I've been talking to Mark and [executive director] Vance [Van Petten] about this for a while, and we were all aware that if the Academy happened I'd have to do this."

Also read: Hawk Koch Elected Academy's 1st 2nd-Generation President

Koch's term as Academy president will be up on August 1, 2013. At that point, he will rejoin Gordon as co-president of the PGA for the remaining 10 months of their two-year term.

Koch can only serve one year as Academy president, because term limits are forcing him off the AMPAS board next summer.

The move was expected, given the high profile and heavy workload of the unpaid Academy position. Koch had indicated to other governors before Tuesday night's vote that he would step down from the PGA if elected president of the Academy.

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