Advertising & P.R.

Jennifer Burns was named vice president of strategy and planning for Pittard Sullivan, an entertainment marketing firm in Culver City. She will be responsible for developing clients’ strategic direction and advertising and promotions. Burns was most recently vice president of marketing with Jim Henson Co.

Renee Madrigal was appointed senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Tivix, a Los Angeles-based online marketplace for television programming. She will be responsible for global marketing strategies and coordinating advertising, publicity and promotional campaigns. Madrigal was previously vice president of worldwide marketing at MTM Enterprises.

Jane Mohon was named senior vice president and group director at McCann-Erickson in Los Angeles. She will be responsible for the Sony Pictures Entertainment media planning and buying group. Mohon was previously a partner and associate media director at J. Walter Thompson.

Susan M. Neisloss was named senior counselor at Pondel/Wilkinson Group in Los Angeles. She will be responsible for directing client media strategy. Neisloss was previously director of communications at KCBS-TV Channel 2. Also, Robert J. Jaffe was appointed vice president at the firm. He will focus on investor relations for middle-market companies. Jaffe was most recently director of corporate communications at IVAX Corp.

Banking & Finance

Debra Bordeaux was appointed senior vice president at Charter Pacific Bank in Beverly Hills. She will be responsible for marketing and business development. Bordeaux was most recently vice president and manager of corporate banking services for the Bank of Hollywood.

Harvey Collins, Richard Simenhoff, Steven Simenhoff and Harold Tennen were named senior vice presidents at the Century City branch of Prudential Securities. Collins specializes in building fixed-income portfolios, managing equity portfolios and estate planning for high-net-worth individuals. Richard Simenhoff specializes in managing money for high-net-worth individuals. Steven Simenhoff concentrates on managing fixed-income and equity portfolios for individuals and small businesses. Tennen focuses on managing and positioning portfolios for high-net-worth clients. All four were previously financial advisors at PaineWebber in Beverly Hills.

Matthew R. Niemann was appointed vice president at Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, a Los Angeles investment bank. He will be responsible for financial restructurings, divestitures, corporate finance, and merger-and-acquisition services. Niemann was previously director of distressed corporate finance and restructuring at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Melissa Lewis Wilson was promoted to senior vice president at Union Bank of California in Los Angeles. She will coordinate implementation of quality control and customer service improvements. Wilson was previously a vice president for the bank’s leasing division.

Entertainment

Nadia Bronson was promoted to president of international theatrical marketing, distribution and operations at Universal Pictures in Universal City. She will be responsible for international distribution and operations for all feature film releases, as well as overseeing overseas marketing. Bronson was most recently president of international marketing.

Anne Gates was named senior vice president and chief financial officer at Disney Consumer Products in Burbank. She will be responsible for all finance and accounting functions and will lead the division’s budgetary and strategic planning reviews. Gates previously headed up the operations planning and analysis group at Walt Disney Co.

James M. Kraus was promoted to executive vice president and general sales manager for Carsey-Werner Domestic Television Distribution in Studio City. He will oversee domestic sales operations. Kraus was most recently senior vice president and regional sales manager.

Jane Sanders was promoted to controller for Raleigh Film and Television Studios in Los Angeles. She will be responsible for all financial and accounting operations. Sanders was previously assistant controller for Raleigh Enterprises.

Geoffrey Wells was named vice president of information technology at ABC Broadcasting Group. He will oversee information systems for ABC’s television stations, national TV sales, and radio networks and stations. Wells was previously executive director of information technology and digital strategy for Buena Vista Television/ABC Information Technology.

Law

Richard Chernicoff and Douglas Rawles were elected partners at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison in Los Angeles. Chernicoff specializes in mergers and acquisitions and was previously of counsel. Rawles focuses on intellectual property and insurance coverage litigation and was most recently an associate.

Brian M. Hoye was named partner at Katten Muchin Zavis in Los Angeles. He specializes in corporate finance, initial public offerings and Internet startups. Hoye was previously an associate with the firm.

Thomas Mackey was named partner at Carroll, Burdick & McDonough in Los Angeles. He specializes in employment and labor law and will serve as co-chair for the firm’s employment practice. Mackey was previously with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Michael J. Plonsker was named partner at Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan in Los Angeles. He specializes in entertainment litigation and represents entertainers, writers, directors and independent production companies. Plonsker was most recently with Lavely & Singer.

Catherine Rivard was elevated to partner at Troop Steuber Pasich Reddick & Tobey in Los Angeles. She represents clients in insurance product disputes concerning asbestos personal injury, environmental pollution, products liability, and white-collar crime. Rivard was previously a principal at the firm.

Media

Mary Ann Fialkowski was promoted to executive vice president of business development at Deluxe Video Services in Los Angeles. She will be responsible for developing new product lines and services, and sales and marketing. Fialkowski was most recently executive vice president of finance and planning.

Robert Karcher was appointed director of circulation at La Opini & #243;n in Los Angeles. He will oversee marketing, sales, distribution and home delivery for Southern California. Karcher was previously a sales manager at the Los Angeles Times.

New Media

Bill Keenan was appointed chief executive of Swap.com, a Pasadena-based goods and collectibles trading site for children and young adults. He will oversee business development and growth. Keenan was previously chief financial officer for E! Entertainment Television.

Daniel Kelly was appointed vice president of strategic development at Acacia Research, an Internet and technology incubator in Pasadena. He will identify and evaluate new business opportunities. Kelly was previously director of business development and licensing at Disney Interactive in Burbank.

Marla Messing was named vice president at Broadband Sports, a Los Angeles Internet content provider. She will be responsible for partner marketing. Messing was previously president and chief executive for the 1999 Women’s World Cup.

Retail/Restaurants

Bonnie Glassco was promoted to director of catering for the Patina Group’s restaurants at the Music Center in Los Angeles. She will oversee the sales staff and be responsible for marketing and coordination of all special events at the Music Center. Glassco was previously special events manager for the firm.

Jim O’Day was promoted to group vice president of warehousing and distribution at Ralphs Grocery Co. in Compton. He will oversee warehousing, transportation and fleet services. O’Day was most recently vice president of transportation. Also, Dave Ackerman was named vice president of produce and floral. He was previously director of produce merchandising.

Alan S. Unger was appointed vice president of finance and chief financial officer at IHOP Corp. in Glendale. He will be responsible for financial matters and act as treasurer for the firm. Unger was most recently chief financial officer and vice president of mergers and acquisitions for Four Media Co. in Burbank.

School Board Member Has New Position at Dot-Com

L.A. school board member Caprice Young is a busy woman these days after giving up an e-commerce job at IBM to become director of corporate business development at Peoplelink.com in Santa Monica.

Her move comes at a time when the school board is wrestling with major reforms and a push to build 100 or more new campuses in the years ahead.

At PeopleLink, Young will work to expand into the business-to-business market; the company currently provides online messaging and chat services for Web sites targeted at the consumer market.

“We’re not just computers talking to each other,” said Young. “You want to keep the human interaction in the business context.”

The company was founded in 1997 when instant messaging and chat room technology was just being developed. In the past three years, it has hosted online communities for customers like MTV.com, Times Mirror and GTE that allow Web surfers to communicate on issues of interest.

Peoplelink.com was established by e-commerce incubator Idealab and is backed with capital from AT & T; Ventures and Goldman Sachs. Young said an IPO is in the works.

The new strategy calls for client firms to use PeopleLink.com services to host online communities focusing on industry-wide issues or to contact related companies. An example would be auto sellers connecting with an auto repair shop, through instant messaging and real-time chat.

Young was most recently manager of the strategy consulting group at IBM’s e-Business Innovations Design Center in Santa Monica. In the public sector, she previously served as assistant deputy mayor of Los Angeles.

Holding down corporate and civic positions means that Young usually works a six-day week. In her previous stint at IBM, she handled corporate business on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday. She was reachable by pager while performing school board duties on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

She’ll keep to that plan at PeopleLink.

Jennifer Smith