NEWSMAKERS – Warner Bros. Hire Strikes Tone With Wireless Ringers

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NEWSMAKERS

Warner Bros. Hire Strikes Tone With Wireless Ringers

Would you answer a phone whose ring sounded like Porky Pig’s “Th, th, th, that’s all folks?”

Warner Bros., which just formed a wireless division in its online group, is betting that millions of cell phone users around the world will.

The company has named Doug Dyer vice president in charge of the effort. Dyer joins the company from his post as general manager at L.A. videogame producer THQ Inc.’s wireless division, where he recently struck a deal with Twentieth Century Fox to bring “Simpsons” ring tones, screensavers and games exclusively to Vodafone customers in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

The deal brought him to the attention of Warner Bros., a Time Warner Inc. company, which is seeking to leverage its vast library of cartoon, TV and movie characters into new revenue streams.

“Warner’s brands are natural tie-ins with mobile operators,” Dyer said. “It’s a source of differentiation for wireless providers who are competing with similar prices and services.”

Warner has already made a deal to provide Looney Tunes ring tones and screensavers to Sprint’s mobile phone customers in conjunction with the release this month of its feature film “Looney Tunes: Back in Action.”

Dyer’s road to ring tones and cartoon characters was anything but preordained.

After studying English at Brigham Young University, he worked as a copywriter for software manufacturer WordPerfect Corp. in Orem, Utah.

“I left the company in 1994 and went to the competition at Microsoft as a product manager for their games division,” Dyer said.

Dyer, 40, is divorced and has two children. He lives in Calabasas, and in the rare moments he’s not traveling between Europe and Japan, he plays videogames.

Matt Myerhoff

Advertising and Public Relations

Baker Designed Communications has named Matthew Kruchko director of branding and marketing. Kruchko had been a senior account manager at an agency in San Diego.

3 Ring Circus, a branding firm, has named Danixa Diaz executive producer, responsible for new business development and global marketing. Prior to joining the firm, Diaz was director of business development with New York-based design studio FreestyleCollective.

Aerospace

Northrop Grumman Corp. has promoted John C. Golombeck to vice president, engineering and manufacturing western region, operating from its navigation systems division. He will have overall responsibility for the region’s engineering and manufacturing operations. He most recently served as director, advanced materials and semiconductor device technology center at Northrop’s electronic systems sector.

Automotive

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. announced that John Kramer, formerly corporate manager, private distributors, has been appointed corporate manager, global knowledge center. Ron Broughman, formerly corporate manager of fleet for Toyota Rent-a-Car and Toyota Certified Used Vehicles, replaces him in his old position. Al Smith, formerly corporate manager, strategic projects, takes Broughman’s former post.

Entertainment

John Daly has become chairman and president of Film and Music Entertainment Inc. He replaces Michael Meyer, who remains on the board and will become vice president of productions. Also joining the management team is Peter Beale, senior vice president and chief operating officer.

Finance

Chanin Capital Partners has appointed Steve Sebastian as a managing director. Sebastian was a partner at Ravenscourt Capital, focusing on financing for middle market companies.

Diamond Portfolio Advisors LLC has named Jay L. Rogers managing director. Previously, Rogers held positions with Bear Stearns, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley.

Veltex Corp. has hired Jameel Ahmad to lead the company’s marketing and sales activities. Ahmad is founder and operator of a financial services company specializing in estate and financial planning.

Insurance

Michael McGraw, president and chief executive of The McGraw Group of Affiliated Cos., has been named to the board of Employers Direct Insurance Co., a Westlake Village-based workers’ compensation insurance carrier.

Law

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP has elected Christopher Dusseault and Samuel Liversidge partners in its Los Angeles office. Both are members of the firm’s antitrust and trade regulation practice.

Littler Mendelson has hired Emanual Shirazi as an associate in its Los Angeles office. Prior to joining Littler Mendelson, Shirazi was an associate with Reich Adell Crost & Cvitan.

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker is pleased to announce today that Elena Baca has been named vice chair of the Los Angeles office of Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker. Baca is a partner in the firm’s employment law practice.

Media

Wendy Sterling has been named account executive at Radio Disney. She most recently worked at Horizon Media Inc., where she was an account supervisor.

Ariela Nerubay has been named vice president of marketing and sales for TuTv, a Univision Communications Inc. and Grupo Televisa S.A. joint venture created to operate and distribute a suite of Spanish-language television networks for digital cable and satellite delivery in the United States. Nerubay was account supervisor at Castells & Asociados.

Edulink Inc. has hired Harold Henke as a special consultant to implement its new publishing services applications.

Lightning Dubbs has hired Stephen Buchsbaum as chief executive to lead an expansion into new media. Previously, Buchsbaum started Creative Edge, a Web and software development company.

Mforma Group Inc., a provider of wireless entertainment content, has appointed Robert Tercek executive vice president of programming and Scott Jensen vice president of media and licensing.

Radiovisa Corp. named Zeke Chaidez as vice president and general manager of its pending acquisition, KPLS-AM (830) Los Angeles. Chaidez will oversee the day-to-day operations of the radio station and report directly to Radiovisa Chairman Steve Lehman. Formerly, Chaidez was general sales manager at KSCA-FM (101.9) in Los Angeles.

Non-Profit

The Prostate Cancer Foundation, based in Santa Monica, has named Robin Richards, Arthur Kern and James Allchin to its board. In addition, Allan Fox will begin serving as an advisor to the foundation focusing on accelerating the approval of promising cancer drugs. Richards is the former chief executive of Vivendi Universal Net USA and founder of mp3.com, Kern is founder and chairman of American Media, and Allchin is group vice president of Microsoft Corp.’s platforms group. Fox is the founding partner of FoxKiser, a firm specializing in biomedical research, law and public policy.

Hall-of-Fame baseball star and San Francisco Giants executive Willie Mays was named to the state board of the California African American Museum by outgoing Gov. Gray Davis.

Antonia Hern & #225;ndez, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, has been named president and chief executive of the California Community Foundation.

Irene Ibarra has been appointed executive vice president of the California Endowment. Ibarra is the former director of L.A. Health Action, established in July by the endowment to increase access to health care services among uninsured, low-income Los Angeles residents, and to promote viable solutions to improve the health system in Los Angeles County.

Real Estate

Jim Hamilton, manager of RE/MAX Execs in Redondo Beach, has been named president-elect of the California Association of Realtors. Hamilton is a past president of the South Bay Association of Realtors.

Mohr Partners Inc., a corporate real estate advisor, has added Christopher C. Leu as director, financial services, for its Los Angeles office. He joins Mohr from United Pacific Bank, where he was president and chief executive.

BentleyForbes, a Los Angeles-based national commercial real estate investment firm, named Keith Bjelejac executive vice president. Bjelejac most recently was chief financial officer of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts franchisee Great Circle Family Foods, and prior to that was chief financial officer of Office Depot’s international division.

Watt Commercial Properties has named John Wickser managing director of Watt Realty Advisors, a new position created to support the firm’s recently launched real estate advisory business and private retail REIT. Wickser was most recently managing principal and head of the West Coast office of ING Realty Partners.

James Rosenfield has been named senior managing director and head of Cushman & Wakefield Inc.’s national retail practice, based in Los Angeles and New York. Daniel Bercu will become director for retail services on the West Coast. Rosenfield was president and founder of J.S. Rosenfield & Co., where Bercu was also employed.

Services

Hairmax International Corp., an owner and operator of hair salons, has announced a number of changes to its board and executive structure. Jay J. Shapiro and Alex Hazan have been named to the board, replacing Edward Roth and Alisha Roth. Shapiro was also appointed to serve as chief executive, president and treasurer.

Technology

Capstone Turbine Corp. announced that Marty Segari had joined the company as vice president of quality. Most recently a quality management consultant, Segari was director of quality for avionics in-flight systems at Thales.

Mobile power firm Aura Systems Inc. has appointed Cindi Eagleton regional sales manager for California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska.

Digital Evolutions, a provider of Web services and security, has hired Paul Gigg president and chief executive. Gigg was most recently a vice president at IBM.

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