-By T.L. Stanley

Marketing and publicity veteran Nancy Kirkpatrick has been named president of worldwide marketing at Summit Entertainment, one of the few independent Hollywood studios and home to the much-anticipated upcoming vampire flick Twilight.

Kirkpatrick, a longtime Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. executive, had been consulting for Summit. She now moves into a formal gig there, re-teaming with former Paramount honcho Rob Friedman, now Summit's co-chairman.

Kirkpatrick will oversee marketing and public relations for the studio's 10 to 12 films a year, as they go from feature release to DVD and other ancillary windows. The studio has a mix on its slate of acquisitions and homegrown productions. Among its projects are: the British comedy Happy Go Lucky, which has been garnering Oscar buzz on the festival circuit for star Sally Hawkins and is scheduled for a fourth quarter release; and a re-imagining of the '80s cult hit Highlander.

For about the last decade, Kirkpatrick has handled worldwide pr duties at Paramount Pictures, shepherding campaigns for the Mission Impossible franchise, War of the Worlds, Jackass, The Hours, Mean Girls and The Italian Job.