Newsmakers—Executive Keeps Music Deals on Track

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Robert Allen may not have a household name, but the new vice president of business affairs for Universal Music Publishing Group is one of those who plays an important role in getting some of music’s biggest names into people’s homes.

Allen, 32, was formerly the senior director of business affairs for the unit of Vivendi Universal that owns or administers more than 800,000 music copyrights, writers and catalogs and is responsible for negotiating agreements between Universal Music Publishing and songwriters and artists in the United States and Latin America.

A graduate of the UCLA School of Law, he chose a career in entertainment law because “my philosophy was, if I’m going to do law, I want to do it in an area that I enjoy and love.”

But it’s more than love of music that keeps him working on as many as 20 deals a month, deals that may take as long as six months to hammer out.

“I really love the negotiating process,” Allen said. “It’s exhilarating. Sometimes, I feel like I’m an integral part of helping to get great music to people,” he said. “That makes me feel good.”

Group President David Renzer said that Allen was promoted to vice president because of his hard work and perseverance.

“He combines an excellent knowledge of our business with a demeanor that people find a pleasure to deal with,” Renzer said.

In addition to working on contracts for current artists Eve, 3 Doors Down and Blink-182, he has also helped to maintain and protect the rights of the catalog of the late rapper Tupac Shakur.

“I don’t think I’ve ever worked on anything that was as messy,” Allen said.

For more than three years, he has dealt with lawsuits and ownership issues surrounding use of the music by Shakur, who was killed in 1996.

Claudia Peschiutta


Accounting & Consulting

Rick Richman and Miles Jackson have both joined the Los Angeles office of Deloitte & Touche. Richman is a principal in the firm’s multistate tax services group. He will be serving the firm’s global strategic clients. Jackson is a senior manager in the federal tax controversy services group. He will focus primarily on the appeals aspect of federal tax controversy resolution.


Advertising & P.R.

Lane Bullard and Kris Embry have been promoted at the Weston Group, an advertising firm in Los Angeles. Bullard has been promoted to senior designer. She has been with the company for four years, most recently serving as junior designer. Embry has been named director of media and operations. She is responsible for supervising all internal job coordination and serves as a link between the client services and creative departments. In addition, Embry supervises all media planning, budgeting and placements. She was most recently the firm’s media director. Joining Bullard and Embry at the firm is Ahou Nabifar, who has been hired as controller of the Weston Group’s accounting department, responsible for managing the unit. She was self-employed before joining the firm.

Cynthia Ewell Clotzman has joined the Phelps Group, an integrated marketing communications firm in Santa Monica, as vice president, customer relationship management. She will be responsible for developing direct marketing acquisition, conversion and retention strategies. Previously, Clotzman was a marketing executive with two dot-com companies.


Banking & Finance

Jim Denver has been promoted to senior vice president at California Bank & Trust in Los Angeles. He will be responsible for leading the Los Angeles metro office in expanding its customer base and increasing deposits and fee income to boost company growth. Denver was most recently branch manager of the Los Angeles metro office.

Charles D. Kenny has been appointed president and chief operating officer of Manufacturers Bank in Los Angeles. He will be responsible for directing the daily activities of the bank and supervising the management of all bank divisions. Kenny has led the bank’s commercial banking division for the past year.

W. Scott Sanford has been named chairman and chief executive of Mellon West, a division of Mellon Financial Corp. based in Los Angeles. In this position, he joins Mellon’s senior management committee and will be responsible for coordinating all of Mellon’s business activities in the western United States. Sanford was most recently senior vice president and manager of the securities and investment management and energy services groups, a position he held since 1999. Joining Sanford will be Quinn R. Stills, who has been appointed president of Mellon West. He is currently the senior equity portfolio manager for the Boston Co. Asset Management on the West Coast and manager of its Los Angeles office. Stills will continue in his role with the Boston Co., but will also report to and work closely with Sanford to position the Mellon West franchise in the marketplace.

John C. Siciliano has been named vice president, international, by Dimensional Fund Advisors, an institutional money management firm in Santa Monica. His role will be to manage and expand DFA’s operations globally, building on the firm’s existing business in Australia, South America and Western Europe. Most recently, Siciliano was president and chief operating officer of Payden & Rygel Investment Group.


Entertainment

Patrick Fitzgerald has been named senior vice president, sales and distribution, for Buena Vista Home Entertainment in Burbank. In his role, Fitzgerald will be responsible for setting sales and distribution strategies. He most recently served as vice president of sales and distribution for Latin America at Citibank, a subsidiary of Citigroup.

Pamela Pickering has been appointed president, sales and distribution, at Initial Entertainment Group in Los Angeles. In her new role, she will be responsible for the international sales, distribution and marketing of the company’s production and co-financed productions. Pickering most recently served as head of Mutual Film International.

Peter D. Whitford has been named president of the Disney Store Worldwide. He will be responsible for overseeing all facets of the Disney Store’s global retail operation, leading the merchandising, planning and allocation, real estate, human resources, finance, distribution, marketing and store operations teams in the renewal of the Disney Store’s business. Whitford had served as president and CEO of Structure, a division of the Limited Inc.


Health Care

Sylvia Castillo and Alicia Dixon have recently been appointed as program officers at the California Endowment, the state’s largest health foundation. Based in Los Angeles, they will be working with community-based organizations in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties to identify and address their health-related needs. Castillo and Dixon will conduct outreach to these organizations to increase their awareness of funding opportunities, review health-related grant proposals, help to develop programs to assist under-served communities and monitor foundation grants. Castillo most recently served as research adviser for the James Irvine Los Angeles Urban Funders Fellowship. Dixon established the San Diego County Department of Health and Human Services office of violence and injury prevention, where she served as director.


Law

Ron Merriman has joined O’Melveny & Meyers as managing director of client services and development. He will be responsible for assisting in the formulation of strategies for identifying new market opportunities and developing existing ones, as well as serving as a member of the firm’s chair, the executive body that manages the firm. Merriman most recently ran the North American business of Carlson Wagonlit Travel.

Kim West has been appointed chairman of the Los Angeles and San Francisco offices of Arter & Hadden LLP. In his capacity as chairman, West will focus on strategic vision and business development activities for the two largest California offices of the firm. West also co-chairs the firm’s directors and officers liability practice group and will continue to serve clients from both Los Angeles and San Francisco.


New Media

Glenn Weisberger has been appointed president and chief executive of Peer2Media Inc., a peer-to-peer music network in Los Angeles. He was most recently executive vice president, general counsel and acting chief financial officer for the Harvey Entertainment Co.


Real Estate

Steve Bram has been promoted to president of George Smith Partners Inc., a real estate financing and consulting services company in Los Angeles. He will continue his production activities, in addition to assuming the responsibilities of chief operating officer. Bram has been with the company for 17 years, most recently serving as senior vice president. Lee Norman has been promoted to a partner and senior vice president at the firm. He is responsible for the underwriting and financial brokering of commercial real estate.

Reid McCartney has been appointed principal in charge of project management for the Los Angeles office of Cresa Partners, a national corporate real estate services advisory firm. Cresa Partners’ project management currently services corporate clients such as EMC and Yahoo through its 14 offices nationally. McCartney previously served as senior project manager for the Walt Disney Co. and AMA Inc. for multiple assignments throughout the United States, UK and Canada.

Michael T. Sidney has been promoted to senior director at Cushman & Wakefield, a real estate services firm in Los Angeles. He specializes in corporate and industrial real estate and has represented a wide range of clients, including Office Depot, Raytheon Co., United Parcel Service, the Carson Cos. and the Long Beach Unified School District. Sidney was director before being promoted.

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