SFV Newsmakers

Banking Robert Boyle has been appointed vice president of Industrial Bank’s banking services. He will be serving small to mid-sized companies. Boyle has 28 years of banking experience, most recently with Trans Bank in the San Fernando Valley. Pamela De Shields has been promoted to assistant vice president of human resources for Los Robles Bank in Thousand Oaks. She currently works out of the main office of Los Robles Bank in Thousand Oaks and is responsible for recruitment of new employees, employee benefits and employee relations. Shields has 18 years of banking experience, specializing in human resources. Los Robles Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Los Robles Bancorp, a bank holding company. Entertainment Andi Copley has joined North Hollywood-based Film Roman Inc. as vice president of development. Copley will oversee prime-time animation as well as live-action television. She has produced and developed television programs for the past 15 years and comes to Film Roman from the Disney Channel. Most recently, she executive produced 100 half-hour episodes of “Adventures in Wonderland.” In addition, Danica Katz has joined Film Roman as vice president of development. She will be responsible for animation projects for Saturday morning, cable, late night and direct-to-video. Most recently, Katz was director of programming at Fox Children’s Network. Prior to Fox, she was a production executive at Longview Entertainment involved in feature development. Film Roman Inc. is an independent animation studio. Tim Zuckert has been appointed vice president of sales and marketing for Disney Interactive. He will oversee all marketing operations, including product management, advertising, publicity, promotions, strategic product planning and research. Zuckert previously was vice president of marketing at The Palace Inc. In addition, Pam Weisberg has been named vice president of business and legal affairs. As head of Disney Interactive’s legal department, she will be responsible for all aspects of business and legal affairs relating to product development, talent and rights acquisitions and new business development. Weisberg, a 17-year veteran of the legal industry, previously was senior vice president of business and legal affairs at FX Networks, a cable channel owned by Twentieth Century Fox. Disney Interactive develops, publishes and markets a wide variety of interactive family-oriented entertainment and educational materials, including CD-ROMs and video games. Health Care Marc Nathan has been appointed vice president of compensation and benefits in the human resources department at Woodland Hills-headquartered Wellpoint Health Networks. Nathan will be responsible for total compensation policies and programs including executive-compensation-package design, employee incentive programs and salary administration. Additionally, he will oversee the planning, development and implementation of overall job evaluation and salary management programs for WellPoint. He will also direct WellPoint’s employee benefits programs, including health, life, disability insurance, pension and retirement programs and executive benefit packages. Prior to joining WellPoint, Nathan was vice president of compensation and benefits for Tennessee-based Service Merchandise Company Inc. WellPoint Health Networks Inc. is a publicly traded managed care company. Frederick E. Raach has been appointed general manager of customer development of Blue Cross of California, a subsidiary of Woodland Hills-based WellPoint Health Networks Inc. Raach will report directly to Ron Williams, BCC president, and will be responsible for developing consumer term-life products, catastrophic and specific disease management products, and voluntary benefits. Prior to joining Blue Cross, Raach was a senior consultant at Philadelphia-based Strategic Marketing Consultants. Stephen Synott has been appointed to the position of vice president of finance for Blue Cross of California’s individual, small group, and senior services division. Synott will be responsible for directing the accounting, analysis, controls and support functions for the division. His background is in finance and strategic planning. Prior to joining Blue Cross, he held senior management positions at Aramark Services, such as CFO of the magazine and book division, regional vice president of operations at magazine and book, and controller at the uniform services division. Jeffrey J. Bairstow has been named executive vice president of finance and administration, and chief financial officer at Woodland Hills-based Health Net. In his position at Health Net, he will be responsible for all aspects of financial operations. Bairstow comes to Health Net from America Service Group Inc. where he held the dual position of chief operating officer and president and chief executive officer of the operating subsidiary of this provider of managed heath care services. Health Net is a network model health plan serving more than 2.3 million members statewide. High Tech Robert Lango has been appointed to the new position of director of business development for Litton Industries Inc.’s electronics components and materials group. Previously, Lango served as president of the company’s Airtron division. Lango joined Airtron in 1950. The electronic components and materials group provides electronic components for telecommunications and computer applications. Dr. David C. Miller replaces Lango as president of the Airtron division. He joined Litton in 1981 as program manager, gallium arsenide. Prior to joining Litton, Miller held technical positions at Bell Laboratories and General Electric’s research and development center. Airtron provides solid-state laser materials, optical components, microwave components and subsystems, and is a supplier of gallium arsenide materials for the electronics industry. Litton is a major designer and builder of surface combatant ships for the U.S. Navy and allied nations. Hospitality Juan Aquinde, general manager of the Universal City Hilton and Towers, has announced several new appointments. Shawn Gracey has been named reservations sales manager. He will oversee all operations of the reservations department. Previously, he served as director of reservations for Beverly Garland’s Holiday Inn. Susan Kaplan has been named director of human resources. She is in charge of the human resources department and is also responsible for training, safety programs and management of the hotel’s security department. She comes to Universal City Hilton and Towers from the Sheraton Grande Hotel, where she served as director of human resources since 1993. Catherine Dietzen has been named purchasing director and has full responsibility for all purchasing, receiving, storage and delivery for the hotel. Previously, she was director of purchasing at the Westwood Marquis Hotel and Gardens. Shellie Morgan has been promoted to head the hotel’s profit center rooms. She will oversee all aspects of marketing, front office operations, housekeeping services and room sales. She has served as director of catering and convention services for Universal City Hilton and Towers since January 1990. Non-Profits Ken Bernstein has been appointed director of preservation issues for the non-profit Los Angeles Conservancy. Bernstein will spearhead the conservancy’s advocacy efforts in preserving and revitalizing historic buildings and historic districts throughout the Los Angeles region. He hopes to help the Conservancy further broaden its agenda, making preservation a critical part of urban planning, economic development, tourism, affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization. Bernstein previously served as City Councilwoman Laura Chick’s planning and transportation deputy. The Los Angeles Conservancy is the Los Angeles area’s premier historic preservation organization. Real Estate Douglas P. Marlow has been promoted to senior vice president at Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis. Marlow is based in the Glendale office where he has represented the interests of building owners and tenants in the Tri-Cities area since 1988. Marlow has participated in transactions totaling more than 3,000,000 square feet during his tenure with CB Richard Ellis. He has been one of the top five brokers in the Glendale office for the last seven years. Doug Wolfley has joined Sherman Oaks-headquartered Lee & Associates L.A. North/Ventura County as a broker. He previously was the director of real estate for the West Coast for American Express and, prior to that, spent 10 years running the West Coast region for Prudential Insurance Co. of America. Also, Matthew Cusumano has joined the company as a broker. He previously was with GEM Realty in Burbank where he specialized in office and industrial sales and leasing in the East San Fernando Valley.