Sony Pictures Entertainment has tapped Ryan Doherty for the newly created role of v-p, literary development. Doherty, who will be based in New York City, will be tasked with, per SPE, "pursuing book-to-film-and-television opportunities."

Doherty, who arrives at SPE from Ballantine Bantam Dell, where he was a senior editor, will be looking for projects across the content divisions at his new company, which include Columbia Pictures, Tom Rothman’s TriStar Productions, Screen Gems, and Sony Pictures Television.

SPE is behind a number of recent and forthcoming book-to-film projects, including the 2013 Oscar nominee Captain Phillips, the miniseries Outlander (now playing on Starz) and the Fifth Wave franchise, which will debut in 2016.

Speaking to Doherty's hire, SPE Motion Picture Group president Doug Belgrad said the company is "strengthening our commitment to finding the highest quality and most commercial source material for each of our divisions." Belgrad added that Doherty is "a rising star in the publishing world, with great taste and strong relationships in that community."

Doherty oversaw film tie-in projects at PRH, and edited the 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner by Dan Fagin, Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation. He also edited the bestselling graphic novel by Bryan Lee O'Malley, Seconds.