NEWSMAKERS
Argentinian Architect Falls for L.A.’s Siren Song
In 1979, at the height of the Dirty War in Argentina that saw tens of thousands of people killed or driven into exile, Jorge Sciupac left Buenos Aires for the security and opportunity of Los Angeles.
His work for the J. Paul Getty Trust as a senior project manager in historic urban conservation took him to Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina and Europe, but Los Angeles always called him back.
“I always wanted to live here because L.A. is the ultimate twenty-first century city in terms of urban uses and disuses, and the social interaction of different cultures and ethnic groups,” he said.
Sciupac, who became an American citizen in 1989, has just been appointed director of the Los Angeles office of architecture firm Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn. The firm has worked frequently with Trizec Properties, creating master plans for its Hollywood & Highland and Paseo Colorado projects. It is also the planner for Queensway Bay, a 300-acre, $120 million commercial and residential project linking downtown Long Beach and Long Beach Harbor.
“Los Angeles is an imaginary city because if you come to Los Angeles, you can choose any lifestyle you want and find a place that fits with it. You have beaches, mountains, valleys, rivers, all geographic conditions, manmade and natural environments. Plus you have all the economic bases here.”
Once here, Sciupac went on to graduate from Pepperdine University with a master’s in history, later opening his own practice, managing large-scale projects for real estate developers and architectural firms.
“I was always driven by an interest in history and urban fabrics that’s how people relate to the landscape, how the physical texture of cities affect our human lives,” Sciupac said.
The 2001 terrorist attacks have created what Sciupac called one of the company’s greatest challenges: paying attention to security without turning a building into a fortress.
Sciupac is married and has lived in Santa Monica with his three children for five years.
Matt Myerhoff
Architecture
MCG Architecture has promoted Philip Fraser-Andrews to managing principal and Greg Lyon to director of design, both at the Pasadena office. Fraser-Andrews was previously a principal of his own firm in Guam and Lyon had been senior project designer at Landmark Entertainment Group.
Banking
The Private Bank at Bank of America has hired Todd D. Quinn as vice president and relationship manager. Quinn was previously a private advisor in the private client services group of Credit Suisse First Boston in Los Angeles. On the consumer side, Bank of America has appointed Ronald J. Martinez to senior vice president and consumer market executive for the Los Angeles mid-cities region, where he will oversee 37 banking centers. Previously, Martinez was regional manager of the corporate alliance division at Milliken & Co. in South Carolina.
Consulting
Management consulting firm Jefferson Wells International has appointed Scott Robinson Los Angeles practice director for finance and accounting. Previously, Robinson was president of the consumer broadcast group and chief financial officer of CareerPath.com.
Education
Barbara Boyle has been named department chair of UCLA’s department of film, television and digital media. Boyle was most recently president of film and television producer Valhalla Motion Pictures.
Entertainment
Ticketmaster has promoted Susan Bracey to chief financial officer. Prior to joining Ticketmaster in 2000, Bracey worked for Fox Broadcasting Co., most recently as vice president of finance and controller.
Megatrax Production Music, which provides music for film, television, advertising and multimedia, has named Debra Grobman and Steve Sackett account managers in its new radio division. Grobman previously developed the radio market for Groove Addicts and Sackett worked as a corporate and entertainment sales manager in the hospitality industry.
Kim Hatamiya has been named senior vice president, sales and marketing at Sony Pictures Television International. Most recently, Hatamiya was senior vice president and general manager of television and film for Mindrocket Media/JP Kids Inc., an independent producer.
Health Care
Tammie McMann Brailsford has been named clinical planning executive for MemorialCare Medical Centers, which includes Long Beach Memorial, Anaheim Memorial, Miller Children’s Hospital, Orange Coast Memorial and Saddleback Medical Centers. Brailsford had been executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
Dr. Michael A. Friedman has been named president and chief executive officer of the City of Hope National Medical Center. Friedman, a cancer specialist, is a former acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration under President Clinton and was most recently a senior vice president at Pharmacia Corp.
Hospitality
Mitch Jucha has been appointed spa director of the Century Plaza Hotel & Spa’s Spa Mystique. He had been leisure service manager at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Law
Manny Abascal and Jay L. Pomerantz have been named partners at Latham & Watkins LLP. Abascal, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, practices in the white collar, intellectual property and business litigation groups; Pomerantz is a securities litigator.
Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP has hired Douglas W. Beck as counsel. Before joining Manatt, Beck was a partner at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps in Los Angeles.
Loeb & Loeb LLP has named Carolyn A. Hunt partner in its Century City entertainment group. She comes from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.
Hamid R. Namazie has been hired as associate in the real estate department at Pircher Nichols & Meeks. He had been an associate in the finance group of Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw.
Manufacturing
Amada Cutting Technologies Inc. has named Ecliserio De Santiago foreign marketing manager. The La Mirada company sells cutting machines to the metalworking industry.
Marketing
Brien Scott has been named head of casting of SGI Marketing, where he will oversee feature film casting, production coordination and marketing. Scott was formerly creative director of Kent & Spiegel Direct Inc. in Culver City.
Media
Riot Santa Monica, an Ascent Media company, has hired Scott Klein as director of long form imaging. Klein formerly worked for Modern VideoFilm in Burbank.
Cliff Lachman has been named senior vice president of production and development for VH1. He had been head of first-run programming development for Twentieth Television.
Non-Profit
Gregory McGinity has been named director of policy for the Broad Foundation, an organization working to improve K-12 education. McGinity formerly was as senior policy consultant for the California State Board of Education.
Shelley Freeman, regional president for Wells Fargo’s Los Angeles area, has been elected to the board of directors of the Center Theatre Group, the non-profit organization that supports the Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre.
TreePeople has named Christopher Minnes director of development, where he will oversee all fundraising and membership activities. Prior to joining TreePeople, Minnes worked in fundraising for the Arts Consulting Group.
Mark Mullinix, executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, has been named to the board of trustees of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute in Claremont, which researches educational, political and cultural issues facing Latinos.
Real Estate
Newhall Land and Farming Co. has promoted Donald L. Kimball to vice president and chief financial officer and Vicki M. Stiller to controller.
Kathryn McDermott has been appointed director of properties for the Port of Long Beach where she will oversee lease negotiations. She previously coordinated the sale of transportation corridors in the real estate department of Southern Pacific Railroad.
Technology
AVHQ Show Solutions, a provider of staging and audiovisual technology, has appointed John Paul Brozyna national account manager for the Western region. Brozyna had been was vice president of sales for AGF Media Services.
Hoffman Video Systems has hired Daryl M. Nishimiya as senior systems designer. Nishimiya previously worked as a sales engineer at Commercial Sound in Seattle.
Software company iRise has named Dean Terry executive vice president, global sales. Most recently, Terry served as executive vice president of sales at Heartlab Inc.
Alpha Virtual Inc., which develops international defense industry software, has elected Faysal Al-Zarooni chairman of board. Al-Zarooni was previously chairman of the board EssTec Inc. and is the managing director and chairman of the Al-Zarooni Group of Cos. in the United Arab Emirates.
Tourism
The West Hollywood Convention & Visitors Bureau named Devin Lewis director of sales. Lewis had been national sales manager at House of Blues Entertainment Corp.
