Hong Kong – William Pfeiffer, CEO of Celestial Pictures, has left the company on the expiry of his contract on March 9, 2008, to pursue new business ventures, according to a statement from Celestial’s board. The board also thanked Pfeiffer for his contributions to Celestial Pictures and parent company Astro Group over seven years, and is currently considering its options, with Pfeiffer’s replacement to be announced. Having led the Celestial as CEO since 2001, Pfeiffer formed and led a team to develop the company’s business plan. Celestial completed digital re-mastering and commercialization of the 760-title Shaw Library which is now distributed across 100 countries, and has extended its presence into songs, merchandise, and mobile content. He also launched the Celestial Movies Chinese movie channel which is now available in 12 Asian countries and is into its sixth year of operation. In addition, Pfeiffer developed Celestial’s businesses in China by setting a framework for origination and aggregation of Chinese content in association with local content producers. WaTV, a GE TV channel launched in 2005 to showcase China’s youth lifestyles is also distributed on Astro’s Malaysian and Indonesian platforms. Celestial Pictures is expected to continue exploring new and digital opportunities for the Shaw Library, to strengthen the Celestial TV channels for global distribution, and to work with talents in China, Hong Kong and elsewhere to create content for international markets.