Alexander Seropian was appointed to the newly created role of vice president of creative at Disney Interactive Studios. He will oversee creative development across Disney Interactive Studios’ portfolio of video games. Seropian joined Disney Interactive following the acquisition of Wideload Games Inc., a video game developer he founded in 2003. Prior to Wideload, he had been with Bungie Software. Why did Disney Interactive Studios create this new position? Disney has been in the video game business for a while. It started by licensing Disney properties to other video game makers, and then began developing and publishing in-house. Looking into the future, the next step is creating more original content (intellectual property). As the vice president of creative, it’s my job to foster an environment and culture to succeed at creating new and original games. What is the focus of the company you founded, Wideload Games Inc.? The company is a small video game developer with a mission of focusing on original games that have a sense of humor. We started with games for the Xbox that were rated “M” for mature. But we gravitated to more family oriented games. I think that’s where the market is going. Video games should be something that you can do with the whole family, and I think Disney is so well positioned to take advantage of this market. What are some games we can expect to see in the near future? Disney Sing It: Pop Hits it will come out October 6th; “A Christmas Carol,” which is based on the movie that will be coming out this year with Jim Carrey; Split/Second, an arcade racing game will be released in 2010; and “Alice in Wonderland.” We’re also planning on launching a role playing game next year based on “Pirates of the Caribbean.” All of the games are rated “E” for everyone, or “T” for teen. —Eric Billingsley Aviation BBA Aviation appointed Peg Billson president, BBA Aviation Legacy Support. She replaces Jim Gerwien. In her new role, Billson will assume overall leadership responsibility for Ontic and International Governor Service and the continued development and growth of the Legacy Support group. She will also serve on the BBA Aviation Executive Committee. She began her career at Douglas Aircraft Company (now Boeing) before moving to Honeywell, Inc (previously Allied Signal, Inc) in various senior engineering and business leadership roles. Billson was COO of Eclipse Aviation Corp., taking it from start-up to rate production of the Eclipse Jet. Banking First California Financial Group, Inc. promoted Edmond R. Sahakian to executive vice president of First California Bank. His expanded responsibilities include leadership of all of First California’s banking offices in Southern California. Sahakian joined First California Bank as senior vice president and manager of the retail banking division. Previously, he served as vice president of California Federal Bank. Following the acquisition of California Federal Bank by Citibank in 2002, he led the successful integration of the two banks in the central coast region. Prior to that, he held management positions at Countrywide Home Loans and California Federal Bank. California United Bank plans to open its new South Bay Commercial Center on September 21, and has appointed Kim Defenderfer as regional manager of the office. Defenderfer joined the bank in April 2009 as senior vice president to lead the planned expansion in the South Bay and oversee all the banking functions and work with the production team to establish and build customer relationships. Kim has more than 22 years of experience in middle-market banking, and prior to joining California United Bank, served as executive vice president for 12 years at Mellon 1st Business Bank, based in both the South Bay and Central Los Angeles areas. Non-profit Villa Esperanza Services hired Charles E. Bloomquist as director of the West Region. He will oversee five programs in Ventura County that serve adults with developmental disabilities – Employment Services, Integrated Work Program, Adult Residential and Independent Living Skills. Bloomquist has worked in this field for 15 years and is a strong advocate for maximizing independence for people with developmental disabilities like Downs Syndrome and autism. He is also currently president of the Rotary Club of Van Nuys. Real Estate Kelly Betpolice joined the Sherman Oaks office of Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura as an associate specializing in investments. He was most recently an investment associate at Marcus & Millichap, Los Angeles, where he analyzed property assets and developed hold/sell recommendations leading to profitable dispositions. Betpolice has specialized in asset management for private and corporate clients since 1994 including sourcing and evaluating opportunities, preparing financial analyses and underwriting transactions, conducting due diligence and raising capital. Gary Wagmeister joined Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura as senior vice president and principal. A 27-year commercial real estate veteran, he specializes in representing buyers of office properties and tenants in identifying, evaluating and transacting office relocation and expansion opportunities and consolidating or renewing lease agreements. For the past 18 years, Wagmeister was founder and principal of Corporate Real Estate Services and Corporate Realty Consultants, two boutique firms that specialize in advisory/brokerage services for corporate tenants and purchasers. He has assisted entrepreneurial firms as well as Fortune 500 companies and negotiated more than $1 billion in sale and lease transactions over his career. David Pinsel has been promoted to managing director of Colliers International’s Greater Los Angeles operations. He was recruited to Colliers as a director in May of 2008 to grow the firm’s investment platform for the region. As managing director, Pinsel will further develop and oversee Colliers’ investment platform by recruiting new and experienced talent. Under Pinsel’s direction, several established investment professionals have joined Colliers International, including Jereme Snyder, Mehran Foroughi, Pat Swanson, Ian Schroeder and Maurice Nieman. Most recently, Pinsel recruited an elite office investment team specializing in the San Fernando Valley region. The team is led by Jeff Albee, formerly of Sperry Van Ness. Marcus & Millichap hired Raymond A. Rodriguez as senior associate in the Encino office. As senior associate, he will focus on brokering the sale of multi-family properties on behalf of private and institutional investors. Rodriguez has been in the commercial real estate industry since 2003. Before joining ReMax Commercial, he was a multi-family specialist with Coldwell Banker Commercial. North American Property Preservation Corporation, a full service distressed real estate property preservation and management company, appointed Patricia Hamilton to head the company’s government and municipal sales initiative. She will be responsible for the creation of the company’s public services program including account management, partner relationships and government sales. Hamilton has more than 20 years of government agency sales experience at Freddie Mac, where she served as National Account Manager. After her tenure at Freddie Mac, she served as National Account Manager at Opteum Funding (now Prospect Mortgage). Technology Move, Inc. appointed David Story as chief technology officer and Scott Boecker as chief product officer. Story will lead all elements of the company’s tactical and strategic technology development, and Boecker will lead the company-wide development of the organization’s product strategy, product lifecycle planning and product design for all business functions. Story most recently served as vice president of product development and product management at Adobe Systems, and as chief technology officer of Intuit’s Small Business and Personal Finance business unit. Boecker brings 10 years of product development leadership experience to Move, most recently as vice president, European product development at Ticketmaster. While in this role, he led the strategic development and operations of all consumer applications, client applications, and ticketing systems across 10 European markets. THQ Inc. appointed Edward L. Kaufman as executive vice president, business and legal affairs, and corporate secretary. His career includes more than 15 years in senior legal management roles at leading media, entertainment and consumer product companies. Most recently, Kaufman was executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE). He joined the WWE in 1997 from Hanna-Barbera, Inc., where he was director, business and legal affairs. Prior to Hanna-Barbera, Inc., Kaufman was with National Broadcasting Company. He is licensed to practice in Connecticut and California. Youbet.com appointed Susan Bracey as interim chief financial officer. Bracey fills a position that has been open since the departure of Jim Burk at the end of March. Prior to joining Youbet, she was CFO and executive vice president of Ticketmaster where she managed all aspects of global finance and accounting for the company. Prior to Ticketmaster, she was CFO and senior vice president of finance at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago and vice president of finance and controller at FOX Broadcasting Company. Bracey started her career at Ernst & Young. Encino-based United Sample made some key additions to its executive team. Robyn Tas is now senior vice president of business development, Daniel Ross is vice president of information technology, and Edward J. Russo is vice president of marketing. Brad White is director of business development, Lisa Wilding-Brown is director of online panels, and Dennis Uhlir joined the sales team as senior director survey solutions.