Who Was Who in Hollywood

The just-published 1992 edition of “Who’s Who in the Motion Picture Industry” notes that its cover photo of four Hollywood insiders includes a first for the publication: “The heads of two major studios are represented.”

Well, sort of.

Shown standing in the picture is TriStar Chairman Mike Medavoy. Seated in a director’s chair next to him is Frank Price, who, at least until Thursday, was a studio head.

In a saga that played out for weeks in public, Price was finally replaced as chairman of Sony’s Columbia Pictures by former Warner Bros. executive Mark Canton.

Nonetheless, Editor Rodman Gregg said he is glad Price is on the cover.

“It’s a little bit of support for the guy. I’m glad he is there because he’s a filmmaker and a guy I respect,” Gregg said.

How About VP, Channeling?

When it comes to New Age-sounding titles, Walt Disney Co. is going to be tough to beat.

Last month, the Burbank entertainment giant announced that it was naming a “vice president of corporate synergy.” Can “Synergyland” be next?

Some other titles come close. Producers of “Marketplace,” the public radio business program based at USC, compile an ongoing list of quirky job titles. They’ve discovered some that need a New Age interpreter to decipher:

* Director of Fulfillment.

* Interdepartmental Interface Responsible for Matrix Management Activity.

* Director of Business Simplification.

* . . . and the executives who work for the Apple Computer’s Paleomorphic Technology Suppression area (whatever that is).

Did ‘Answer Surveys’ Rank?

Attracting attention last week was a survey by the International Facility Management Assn. on workers’ most common gripes about their offices. The main complaint was that offices are too hot, and the second biggest was that offices are too cold.

But that wasn’t all. Some unpublicized complaints passed along to the association included:

* The company doesn’t provide blenders for people on liquid diets.

* A bag of chips from the vending machine was lighter than usual.

* Someone is barbecuing on the floor.

* A person requested canvas to put over an open workstation.

* A woman lost a bracelet, and her psychic told her it was in the building’s elevator shaft.

Briefly . . .

Welcome to Capitalism: Los Angeles District Internal Revenue Service Director Michael J. Quinn spent two weeks last month conducting seminars in the Soviet republics of Russia, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan to teach IRS tax techniques and policies to authorities there. . . . Sign of the times: A Rosemead real estate office has a sign that reads: “We Need Listings.” . . . Canadian film officials are making “The Chain Store Massacre,” a documentary on Toronto financier Robert Campeau’s disastrous takeovers of retailers Allied Stores and Federated Department Stores in the 1980s.