Accounting & Consulting

James A. Cordova, Donita M. Joseph and Peter J. Scribner have all been named partner at Windes & McClaughry Accountancy Corp. in Long Beach. Cordova is in the tax department and specializes in matters involving pass-through entities. Joseph is also in the tax department and has a professional focus in estate and trust services for high-net-worth individuals and business owners. Scribner was admitted to partnership in the audit department with a concentration in audits, reviews and related accounting services for manufacturing, construction contractors, retail, hospitality, banking and credit union businesses, as well as litigation support services.

Brad Mello has been named director of computer and information services for Torrance-based Zdonek & Wolowicz Accountancy Corp. He will be responsible for assisting the firm’s clients with technology issues such as hardware and software capabilities, Internet connectivity, network design and accounting and reporting systems. Prior to joining the firm, Mello was an independent computer consultant.

Advertising & P.R.

Carly Rondinelli has been promoted to partner at Urge Public Relations in Los Angeles. She will continue to oversee day-to-day operations, as well as assist in the acquisition of new business. Rondinelli joined Urge PR in March 1999 and has served as general manager since January 2000.

John Tellem has joined Tellem Worldwide, a public relations firm in Malibu, as vice president. He will be responsible for heading up the firm’s entertainment division. Tellem was previously a tour publicist at SFX Entertainment.

Architecture

Alexi Rappaport and Steve Lesko have been promoted to associates at Clive Wilkinson Architects in Los Angeles. Rappaport joined the firm in 1999 and has spearheaded the firm’s consulting work on strategic workplace design for Sapient, Avanade and Andersen Consulting. Currently she is providing management direction on Netlock Technologies and Foote, Cone & Belding projects. Lesko has background in research and design work and is currently managing design, production and construction administration on advertising agency projects, including the new 100,000-square-foot Foote, Cone & Belding Southern California headquarters facility.

Joseph R. Serar has been appointed principal in charge at the Glendora office of NTD Architects. He will lead and manage educational and institutional projects. He has been an associate with the firm since 1994.

Banking & Finance

Evon G. Rosen has been promoted to senior vice president and director of marketing for Celtic Capital Corp. in Santa Monica. She is responsible for all marketing efforts and will spearhead special projects designed to enhance business development throughout Southern California and the Western states. Most recently, Rosen was director of marketing.

Andy Yen has been appointed president of United National Bank, a medium-sized commercial bank with its head office in San Marino. He will be responsible for oversight of the banks operations and improving the bank’s overall profitability. He was most recently the bank’s executive vice president and branch administrator.

Construction

Dan A. Penn has joined Ray Wilson Co., a Pasadena-based general contractor, as president. He will be overseeing the company’s growth in its California and Nevada markets, as well as heading up operations and marketing. Penn was most recently president and CEO of Peck/Jones Construction Corp.

Entertainment

Wendy Kram has been named vice president, TV movies and mini-series, at Granada Entertainment USA in Los Angeles. In her position, Kram will oversee the company’s television movie and mini-series development. She was most recently executive vice president for Craig Anderson Productions.

Jim Packer has been named vice president-television sales, North America, at MGM Worldwide Television Distribution in Santa Monica. In his new position, Packer will be responsible for the licensing of all MGM programming to broadcast outlets in North America, including free television, basic and pay cable, as well as overseeing all of MGM’s regional syndication sales offices, including Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boca Raton and Toronto. He most recently served as senior vice president and general sales manager, West Coast, at the Walt Disney Co.

Health Care

Erika Laskey has been selected to be the director of sales and marketing at Chad Therapeutics Inc., a developer, manufacturer and distributor of oxygen-conserving devices and oxygen-delivery systems in Chatsworth. She will have primary responsibility for all areas of sales and marketing. She recently spent eight years at Mallinckrodt Inc.

Insurance

Jane Wilkens has joined the Los Angeles headquarters of Heritage General Agency as vice president. She will be responsible for producing new business in the Los Angeles and Tri-Cities areas. Most recently, Wilkens spent the last 17 years at another large brokerage firm.

Andrea Zenner has been appointed vice president at Western Security Surplus Insurance Brokers Inc. in Pasadena. She has been with the company for 12 years, most recently in charge of the contract facility.

Law

Sunny Brenner has joined the litigation department of Loeb & Loeb LLP as a partner in the firm’s Century City office. He represents clients in a broad range of commercial litigation, with particular emphasis on the entertainment industry, intellectual property, traditional and new media, and white-collar crime. Brenner was most recently a partner at Rosenfeld, Meyer & Susman LLP.

Robert A. Darwell, Rik Toulon and Benjamin R. Mulcahy have joined the entertainment and new-media group at Los Angeles law firm Katten Muchin Zavis as partners. All three were previously associated with the Los Angeles firm of Troop, Steuber, Pasich, Reddick and Tobey and will be practicing in the new-media group’s transactional practice.

Peter J. Gurfein has joined Akin, Gump, Strauss, Huer & Feld LLP as a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. He is practicing in the financial restructuring practice group.

Gary E. Klausner has been named partner at Stutman, Treister & Glatt, a Los Angeles-based bankruptcy law firm. Klausner specializes in bankruptcy, corporate reorganization and debtor/creditor issues. He was previously a partner at Troop Steuber Pasich Reddick & Tobey LLP.

Kimberly R. Wells has been named a partner in the Los Angeles office of Baker & Hostetler. Wells concentrates her practice in the area of employment litigation and counseling on employment issues.

Media

John A. Russell has been named chief engineer for Young Broadcasting’s KCAL-TV in Hollywood. He will oversee all technical aspects of KCAL’s operations. Russell most recently served as chief engineer for KLCS-TV.

New Media

Brian Dearth has been appointed CEO of Hollywood Stock Exchange, an integrated marketing research and technology company in Los Angeles. Steven Lehrhoff has been appointed to the position of president and COO. As a team, Dearth and Lehrhoff will work to establish strategic alliances with entertainment, new media and consumer product companies. The two will also assume responsibility for Hollywood Stock Exchange’s corporate organizational development and day-to-day operational management. Prior to his appointment, Dearth was HSX’s vice president of research, while Lehrhoff was senior vice president and general counsel.

Debra Valencia, Stanley Ng and Rob Bynder have all been appointed creative directors at Guidance, a convergent business studio in Marina del Rey. Valencia is in the consumer brands and retail group. Ng will be working with the media and entertainment group, while Bynder has been selected for Guidance’s e-business and exchange group.

Real Estate

John Miller has been appointed regional president for the southern region of Legacy Partners Commercial Inc., a commercial and residential real estate firm in Pasadena. Miller will manage all commercial real estate activities in Southern California and Nevada. He was most recently a partner with MaguirePartners.

Retail

William W. Beebe III has been appointed to senior vice president of sales and marketing at Bandai America Inc., a children’s toy manufacturer in Cypress. He will oversee all of Bandai’s North American toy division and is responsible for managing all sales, marketing, research and design, and new property acquisition efforts, as well as developing relationships with entertainment companies. He was most recently senior vice president of sales at Playmates Toys.

Thomas S. Paccioretti has been appointed president and chief executive for Strouds Inc. He has been actively involved in the direction and operation of Strouds since the company began its voluntary restructuring under Chapter 11 last September, and will be responsible for leading the company into the next critical phase of its restructuring.