NEWSMAKERS – Tapping Data to Gauge Foreign Tastes for Fox’s Offerings

0

NEWSMAKERS

Tapping Data to Gauge Foreign Tastes for Fox’s Offerings





Jerry Lewis may be a god in France, but there’s no guarantee that Bernie Mac will have the same appeal. Enter Christopher Gerondale, recently named vice president of international television research at Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution.

In his new position, Gerondale, previously vice president of Vivendi Universal Entertainment’s international television group, has to overcome cultural barriers as he navigates volatile foreign economies and diverse media regulations in pitching Fox programming to foreign buyers.

Overseas buyers of American programming have become more sophisticated, and Gerondale’s appointment is part of Fox Television’s expanded research services to meet their demands.

“When you give foreign programmers rational reasons for showing shows at certain times and show them how to package them alongside their other shows, they can feel comfort going to their upper management to convince them to buy programs,” he said.

At Universal, he said he “learned to understand what the studios’ needs were by thinking in their research language.”

Gerondale, an unmarried 40-year-old native of Wisconsin who lives in West L.A., cultivated a fascination for mass marketing at California State University, Fullerton, where he received a bachelor’s in communications advertising and market concentration.

A particularly difficult part of Gerondale’s job is keeping an eye on the media regulations and the vagaries of foreign economies, since, if a channel in another country doesn’t code or scramble their transmission, Fox could lose their branding value to pirating.

“If you’re selling to the whole world,” he said, “you have to worry about everyone’s economy.”

Matt Myerhoff

Accounting

Weinberg & Co. has named Jim Tokryman and Bruce Weinberg equity partners and Victor Hollander and Don Seffinger as part of the firm’s non-equity partnership.

Advertising & Communications

Public relations firm Edelman has named Gail Becker and Patrick McGuire co-presidents of its Western region. Before joining Edelman, Becker was vice president of publicity and communications at Warner Home Video. McGuire re-joined Edelman in 1999 when the firm acquired WHaM, which he founded in 1992 after leaving Edelman’s Los Angeles office.

Roddan Paolucci Roddan Advertising and Public Relations has hired Monica L. Varley as account executive and Allison Cranford as public relations account executive. Varley had worked at HWY 111 Magazine in Rancho Mirage, and Cranford was a public relations account executive at Miller Geer Arizmendez Inc.

Weston Group has appointed Dan Keston to director of strategic planning and Laurel Anderson to account executive. Keston had been a copywriter for Foote, Cone and Belding and Anderson worked at Fifth Gear Advertising.

Architecture

Joseph Madda has joined Lee Burkhart Liu Inc. as a senior associate and project manager, where he will manage the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital project. Previously, Madda represented the architectural alliance HOK+LBL as project manager.

Biotechnology

Clearant Inc. announced the appointment of Larry A. Sternson as president and chief executive, succeeding company founder Terren S. Peizer, who continues to serve as chairman. Prior to joining Clearant, Sternson served as president of Elan Corp.’s drug delivery businesses and was the founder, president and chief executive of NanoSystems.

Construction

Oltmans Construction Co. has named Joseph O. Oltmans II chairman and chief executive and John Gormly president. Oltmans previously served as president and chief executive. Gormly had been senior vice president since 1985.

Entertainment

Nielsen EDI announced that Senn Moses, president of Nielsen Home Entertainment, has been named president of Nielsen Cinema and Home Entertainment, overseeing the company’s domestic business and operations.

Jordan Levin, WB Network entertainment president, has been elected president of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society. Levin succeeds Kevin Reilly, FX Network entertainment president, for a one-year term.

Finance

Janas Associates, a corporate finance and management consulting firm, has announced that Serina Yuan has joined its Pasadena office as a vice president. Yuan focuses on cross-border business transactions between Chinese and American companies.

Government

Mayor James Hahn has appointed Steve MacDonald neighborhood service manager for the South Valley. MacDonald, chief of the development services bureau for the city’s Department of Building and Safety, is the first service manager to be appointed.

The Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles has elected Paul Hudson chairman of the Board of Commissioners. Hudson is currently president and chief executive of Broadway Federal Bank.

Health Care

PTPN, a network of independent rehabilitation providers, has appointed Stephen Moore as director of sales and marketing. Before joining PTPN, Moore served as director of account services for the specialty insurance division of Aon Corp.

Dr. Ronald L. Moy, an associate professor at the UCLA Medical Center with a private practice in Los Angeles, has been named president of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.

Insurance

Keenan & Associates has appointed Mike Poland senior vice president, heading operations for the development and sales of proprietary property and casualty programs for California municipalities. Prior to joining Keenan, Poland worked with Illinois-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Law

Christopher R. Cheleden has returned to Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP’s land use and entitlement practice. He had been with the firm before becoming an assistant city attorney and City Planning Commission counsel for Santa Clarita and El Segundo.

Edward Casey, managing partner of Weston Benshoof Rubalcava & MacCuish LLP, has been elected president of the Los Angeles Headquarters Association. Sharon Rubalcava, a partner at Weston Benshoof, has been elected president of the Board of Information Technology Commissioners for the City of Los Angeles.

Media & Entertainment

Fremantle Media North America has named David Shall executive vice president, business and legal affairs. Shall worked at Fox for 10 years, most recently as executive vice president, business and legal affairs and new business development for Twentieth Television.

Publicly held online wagering company Youbet.com Inc. has promoted Joseph J. Hasson to general manager of mobile products for North and South America, Asia and Europe.

Computer graphics special effects shop Eden FX has hired Chris Zapara as supervising visual effects artist. Zapara comes from Zoic Studios, where he was a 3D supervisor on working on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Non-Profit

The Valley Economic Development Center has appointed Anthony Carrick to chief administrative and finance officer. Previously, Carrick held positions with Bari Management Inc., Herbalife International Inc. and Burger King Corp.

Loren Gonzalez, principal and owner of public relations and advocacy firm The Monarch Agency, has been elected vice president of public policy for the National Association of Women Business Owners, Los Angeles Chapter.

The Exceptional Children’s Foundation has appointed Judge Dickran M. Tevrizian of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to its board of governors.

The SCORE Foundation has re-elected Patty DeDominic as vice president. DeDominic is chief executive of PDQ Personnel Services Inc.

Real Estate

Peter Cossavella has been hired as senior vice president in developer Pacific Properties’ Los Angeles office. Previously, Cossavella held senior management positions at Camden Development and Fairfield Residential.

Laura Lee Anthony was named general manager at Troop Real Estate Inc. Anthony was previously branch manager for the company’s Westlake/Calabasas office. Earlier she was vice president and director of operations for Prudential California Realty.

Restaurants

Glendale-based IHOP Corp. has named Patrick Piccinino to the newly-created post of vice president, information technology. He comes to the firm from Intel Corp. where he served as director, information technology and chief information officer for Intel’s Platform Networking Group.

Technology

Tatum CIO Partners LLP announced that Jeff Kohan has joined the company to work with clients as a chief information officer or in executive roles. Over the past 25 years, Kohan worked at AT & T; as operations vice president and sales vice president.

Newsmakers

To be considered for publication,

Newsmakers entries must be mailed on company letterhead to:

Los Angeles Business Journal

Newsmakers

5700 Wilshire Blvd., #170

Los Angeles 90036

Only appointments of corporate

officers and their equivalents who work in Los Angeles County will be considered. Announcements of award recipients, civic appointments or appointments of outside directors will not be considered.

Submissions are evaluated on the basis of company size and prominence of

position. Due to space limitations, only a portion of the Newsmakers briefs meeting these criteria is published.

No posts to display