Gary J. Matus and Terry E. Van...

Gary J. Matus and Terry E. Van Gorder were appointed to the board of directors of Burbank-based Iwerks Entertainment Inc.

Matus is executive vice president of Bank of America in Los Angeles, and Van Gorder is president and chief executive of Knott’s Berry Farm.

* Bernard P. Vanderfin was named executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Universal Studios Consumer Products Group, a part of Universal City-based MCA Inc., a unit of the Seagram Co. Ltd.

Previously, Vanderfin was senior vice president of finance and administration for MCA/Universal Merchandising.

* House of Fabrics Inc., the struggling Sherman Oaks-based retailer that recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, has appointed R.N. Hankin as chairman of the board.

Gary Larkins remains the company’s chief executive.

Hankin, 49, is chief executive of Hankin & Co., a management consulting firm. Before starting his own company, Hankin was a general partner with Price Waterhouse accounting firm. He was named to the board of directors of House of Fabrics in 1995.

* ACT Networks has named Steve Blasingame director of channel programs and Roland Glines director of customer service.

Blasingame recently served as director of private Internet hosting services for AT & T. He also has held various other marketing positions, and developed partner programs for leading telecommunications and computer companies.

Glines brings more than 15 years experience in management positions for international high-tech companies. Most recently, he was customer service director for ComStream, a San Diego-based satellite communications systems company.

* June Lindstedt Siva has joined Camarillo-based ENSR, a national environmental services firm, as a senior consultant.

A biologist and environmental scientist, she has worked in both industry and academia. Her primary areas of expertise are environmental planning and management, and oil-spill issues.

* Janis Flippen, owner of Janis Flippen Public Relations in Camarillo, has been accepted into the Society of American Travel Writers, an organization of top travel writers and public relations professionals throughout the United States.

She will have the opportunity to network with top travel writers and promote her clients through the organization. Flippen has worked in the tourism industry for 13 years.

* Fariba M. Neese of Oxnard has joined Seneca Resources Corp. in Santa Paula as a petroleum engineer. She will be responsible for providing engineering support for the company’s West Coast operations, particularly its oil production facilities in the Sespe, Ojai and Temescal fields.

Neese comes to Seneca from the California Department of Conservation, where she worked for four years as an energy and mineral resources engineer in its Ventura division of oil, gas and geothermal resources.

* Linda Loftis, president of Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura, has been named president of the Assn. of California Cremationists. She is a founding member of the association, which began in 1993 and has 65 members.

The group works closely with the California Department of Consumer Affairs, which inspects all crematories in the state, and provides risk assessment and other services to individual crematories.

* Scott Samsky has been named chairman of the technical advisory committee for the Ventura County Community Foundation. The committee is made up of attorneys, CPAs and financial planners who are professional advisors involved in estate and financial planning in the community.

Samsky is a partner at the Oxnard law firm of Nordman, Cormany, Hair & Compton.