John Cacavas is the numbers man. Recently promoted to vice president, worldwide distribution analysis at Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, Cacavas is responsible for analyzing the worldwide motion picture industry and in particular how the company’s different film genres perform during key holiday and vacation times.

“History is everything,” said Cacavas, who is based in Culver City. “I spend a lot of time looking at holidays and providing information on how they will play.”

When analyzing theatrical releases Cacavas said the two most important things to consider are, not surprisingly, size and competition. In analyzing weekend box office figures, Cacavas starts by looking at previous releases on a particular weekend. Studio higher ups take this data and other reports from Cacavas’ office into consideration when making a final release decision.

Competition doesn’t just come from the other studios in town. Besides the release dates slated for competing films, Cacavas considers everything from weather to school calendars. In addition to collecting data, Cacavas said he has to be on the lookout for changes in how people spend their leisure time.

“Summer seems to begin in the first week of May and end in the middle of August, whereas there was a time when summer began around Memorial Day,” he said. “These dynamics change, and the weekend (numbers) with them.” As an example, Cacavas cited the importance of summer data when considering the release date of a film geared towards children.

In addition to his analysis duties, Cacavas will be in charge of developing systems to monitor the global film distribution business.

Conor Dougherty

Accounting & Consulting

Herminey Pakhanians and Steven Singer have been admitted to the partnership in the Century City office of Ernst & Young. Pakhanians provides audit services to real estate companies, including real estate investment trusts, property owners, developers and property management companies. Singer is responsible for leading the internal audit team for the Walt Disney account.

Advertising & Public Relations

Brian Keenan has been appointed design director at Baker Designed Communications, a branding and marketing communications firm in Santa Monica. He will be responsible for spearheading all creative efforts at the firm. Most recently, Keenan was a senior designer at the firm.

Joshua Shea has been added as an account executive at Media Distribution Services, a public relations printing, mailing, fax and e-mail service in Los Angeles. He will be responsible for counseling clients and distributing press and marketing materials for roughly 60 active accounts. Previously, Shea coordinated press and consumer mailings at Disney Art Classics.

Architecture

Caroline Bang has been appointed vice president at Cannon Dworsky, an architectural, engineering and planning firm in Los Angeles. She will be responsible for advancing Cannon Dworsky’s health sciences practice on the West Coast as well as contributing to the firm’s marketing and business development efforts. Prior to joining the firm, Bang was a senior medical planner at Lee, Burkhart, Liu.

Dennis Tanida has joined WWCOT, a Santa Monica-based architecture and interiors firm. As an associate, he will focus on public assembly, entertainment and planning projects. Prior to joining WWCOT, Tanida was design principal with HNTB Architecture.

Education

Audre Levy has been appointed president of Los Angeles Southwest College, a community college with 6,500 students from Crenshaw, Watts, Willowbrook, Gardena, Carson and Inglewood. Most recently, Levy served as provost of Edison Community College in Naples, Florida.

Engineering

Roger Frank has joined the Los Angeles office of Korve Engineering, an Oakland-based civil engineering and planning firm, as business development manager for the Southern California region. He will be responsible for leading the marketing and business development efforts for Southern California and the Salt Lake City region. Previously, Frank was senior director of sales and marketing at Fluor Daniel Inc.

Entertainment

Angela Emery and Leslie Hollingshead have both joined the corporate communications department at Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing North America in Los Angeles. Emery has been named director, communications and will be responsible for corporate games communications as well as overseeing affiliate label product publicity. She was most recently director of Worldwide Communications at Fox Interactive. As senior manager, corporate communications, Hollingshead is responsible for managing VUIPNA’s internal and external communications activity. Previously, she handled corporate communications at Stamps.com.

John J. Garand has been promoted to executive vice president, planning and control, for Walt Disney Co. in Burbank. He will be responsible for developing the company’s operating profit, cash flow and capital spending plans as well as its external and internal financial reports and its internal audit and corporate travel programs. Previously, Garand was senior vice president, planning and control.

Randy Haberkamp has been named program coordinator of educational and special projects for the Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills. He will be responsible for Academy Foundation lectures and seminars, the visiting artists program and various Academy Awards-related projects. Haberkamp was previously employed by CBS as director of specials and feature films.

Stephen H. Powers has been named president of Miller & Kreisel Sound, a developer of home theater and professional speaker systems in Los Angeles. Since 1992 Powers has been chief executive of Drive Entertainment, which he founded.

Keith Walner has been appointed president and chief operating officer of the U.S. office of Milan Entertainment, a Paris-based record company. Based in Los Angeles, Walner will oversee all departments of the company’s U.S. office, including all creative, business and legal affairs matters. Walner previously ran the business and legal affairs department for Milan’s U.S. office. Michelle Denton has been promoted to vice president and chief financial officer at Milan. She will be responsible for handling all pecuniary matters as well as assist Walner in overseeing all aspects of the U.S. Milan office. Previously, Denton served as director of finance. Also Rene Klaasen, Ianthe Zevos and Heather Long have all joined Milan. Klaasen will be serving as director of sales, Zevos as creative director and Long as marketing manager.

Hospitality

Claude Boudoux has joined the Beverly Hills Hotel as food and beverage director. In this position, he will have responsibility for the daily operations of the hotel’s dining areas as well as oversee the room service and multi-million dollar catering and banquet operations. Most recently, Boudoux was vice president of food and beverage with Mirage Resorts.

Insurance

John Norfleet has joined Dodge, Warren & Peters, an insurance brokerage in Woodland Hills, as senior vice president branch manager. He will be responsible for daily internal management at the firm. Norfleet was most recently general manager of Royal/Sun Alliance Southern California.

Law

Greg Lapidus has joined Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld in Los Angeles as senior counsel in the firm’s entertainment practice group. Lapidus’ practice will focus on music industry-related matters, including the representation of music publishing companies; record labels; major motion picture studios; television, film and video production companies; recording artists; record producers; and composers in transactional and litigation matters. Lapidus was most recently a partner in the entertainment practice of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp.

New Media

Alex Godelman and Suzanne Stover have been appointed to new positions at B3 Corp., an e-business solutions provider in Sherman Oaks. Godelman has been named executive director of information technology-infrastructure. He will be responsible for managing the company’s e-commerce transaction processing and Web store hosting systems, communication networks and corporate MIS activities. Before joining B3, Godelman was senior director of technology infrastructure and change management at WHN.com. Stover has been named executive director of finance and controller. She will be responsible for directing financial planning and accounting functions for the company. Most recently, Stover was director of finance and controller and BizBuyer.com.

Professional Services

Bill Garcia has been named vice president of business development for the Los Angeles office of M2 Inc., a broker of consultants and interim managers. He will be responsible for building relationships with clients and consultants in Orange County and San Diego, with special emphasis in the areas of finance, healthcare and technology. Prior to joining the company, Garcia was a sales manager at Xerox Corp.

Real Estate

Christopher L. Stewart has joined Kosmont Cos., a real estate consulting firm in Los Angeles, as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He will be responsible for overseeing the development of public and private real estate partnership projects.

Retail

Gerald J. Siebel has been appointed general manager of the L.A. Mart. Most recently, Siebel served as executive vice president of the L.A. Mart, overseeing the leasing efforts of the building’s permanent showrooms.

Joanne Wells has been hired to spearhead the national and international licensing and negotiation efforts at Applause LLC, a gift and collectible company in Woodland Hills.