SFV newsmakers

Associations Judy Kessler Block has been named chief executive officer of the Encino Chamber of Commerce. She was most recently chief operating officer. Entertainment Janet Bonifer has been named director of creative services for Carsey-Werner Co. in Studio City. She will be responsible for the production of on-air, radio and print campaigns and sales materials. Bonifer was previously vice president of creative services at MTV Television. Also, Barron Postmus has joined the company’s creative services division as director of station relations. He was most recently manager of station relations for “Access Hollywood.” Jim Cora has been promoted to chairman of Disneyland International in Burbank. He was previously president of the company. Also, Jim Thomas has been promoted to president. He was most recently senior vice president and general manager of Tokyo development for Walt Disney Imagineering. In addition, Byron Pollitt has been promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer for Walt Disney Co. He will be responsible for all financial matters for the attractions division, including Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Walt Disney Imagineering. Pollitt has been with Disney since 1990. Curt Eddy has been appointed senior vice president of sales and distribution for Universal Music & Video Distribution in Universal City. He will coordinate audio sales functions for the division. Eddy was most recently senior vice president of field marketing for PolyGram Group Distribution. Health Care Christopher Ciano has been named senior vice president and general manager of Health Net’s Southern California division in Woodland Hills. He will be responsible for day-to-day operations and financial accountability. Ciano was most recently national vice president of delivery system management for United Healthcare. Also, S. Lin Yong has been named chief medical officer of Southern California for the hospital. He will be responsible for medical management. Yong was most recently assistant executive director and medical director at Humana Health Plan in Kansas City. Manufacturing Makoto Aoki has been named chief executive officer of Vivitar Group Worldwide in Newbury Park. He was formerly president of Vivitar Japan. Also, Gary Carleton has been named chief operating officer of Vivitar USA. He was previously a managing director for Vivitar Canada. In addition, Terry Carey has been named chief operating officer of Vivitar International. He was previously managing director of Vivitar United Kingdom. Media Jim Huntington has been named managing editor of KNBC-TV Channel 4’s “Channel 4 News” in Burbank. He will supervise the reporting team and assignment desk. Huntington was most recently producer of the 5 p.m. newscast. New Media Mark R. Goldston has been named chairman and chief executive officer of NetZero Inc. in Westlake Village. Goldston was most recently co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of the Goldston Group and was previously president of Faberge. Post Production Carrie Bissell has been promoted to marketing director of Technicolor’s packaged media group in Camarillo. She is responsible for day-to-day development and implementation of marketing efforts for video duplication and optical disc replication and sales. Bissell has been with Technicolor since 1995. Andrew Mutter has been named head of Foundation Imaging’s new sound design, editorial and effects division in Valencia. He was previously a studio producer and musician. Chris Thompson has been promoted to president of Wexler Video Inc. in Burbank. He will be responsible for expanding the HD film and TV production and post-production divisions. Thompson was most recently vice president of rentals and sales. Real Estate Trude A. Tsujimoto has been appointed secretary and general counsel of the Newhall Land and Farming Co. in Valencia. She will be responsible for all corporate secretarial, risk management and security exchange/New York Stock Exchange related functions. Tsujimoto was most recently vice president, senior counsel and secretary at CB Richard Ellis. Telecommunications Tom Greene has been appointed vice president of engineering of Vertel in Woodland Hills. He will oversee all research and development of the newly combined Vertel and Expersoft Corp. Greene was most recently with Expersoft. Ron Weaver has been named vice president of worldwide sales for Franklin Telecom and FNet Corp. in Westlake Village. He was most recently vice president of worldwide sales for NeTrue Communications.