Steve Banfield has been brought on as sr. VP of technology at Sony Pictures Digital, an operating unit of Sony Pictures Ent. that oversees digital production and online assets including Sony Pictures Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Online Entertainment, and Sony Pictures Digital Networks.

Banfield joins the company from RealNetworks, Inc., where he served as VP of strategic relations. In the newly-created post, he will provide the senior leadership and strategic vision to Sony Pictures Digital's technology initiatives. In addition to developing platforms and identifying technology solutions for future consumer products and services, he will be responsible for building the infrastructure to support the company's consumer-driven digital entertainment businesses, including SoapCity and Screenblast.

Prior to his tenure at RealNetworks, the graduate of Transylvania University and Harvard Business School led product development and marketing initiatives at such leading technology companies as Microsoft, where he was involved in the development of Windows 95, NCR and IBM.