Ex-TriStar President Favored for Universal Post

Former TriStar Pictures President Marc Platt is the preferred candidate of MCA Inc. to replace Hal Lieberman as head of production for Universal Pictures, according to sources close to the studio. Lieberman left the post this week to become an independent producer at the studio.

Sources said Platt could enter formal talks with MCA brass as early as this weekend. He had been in serious negotiations with DreamWorks SKG to head up the production division, but sources indicate that those talks fell apart.

It is unclear whether Platt’s former TriStar associate, production President Stacey Snider, would eventually join him at Universal. MCA has also been courting Snider, who is now on maternity leave, but sources said her current employer, TriStar parent Sony, has so far refused to let her out of her contract, which has 2 1/2 years to run.

Platt--a well-regarded executive with strong talent and filmmaker relationships--last month was forced out of TriStar, where he worked since 1992.

* Noted entertainment analyst Jeffrey B. Logsdon has left Los Angeles securities firm Seidler Cos. to join Cruttenden Roth, an Irvine-based investment banking and brokerage company that plans a major move into entertainment.

Logsdon, 44, will be managing director and director of research. A research analyst since 1984, Logsdon has been named a Wall Street Journal “All-Star Analyst.” In addition to entertainment, Logsdon specializes in broadcasting, cable and the gaming business.

Joseph Santaniello

* Joseph Santaniello has been named senior vice president and assistant general counsel of Walt Disney Co.

* John Fremes has been promoted to president of Le Monde Entertainment, an Alliance Communications company.

* Eleo Hensleigh has been named senior vice president of marketing for the Disney Channel and Disney/ABC Cable Networks.

* Steven S. Spira was named Warner Bros. executive vice president of theatrical business affairs.

Susan Fleishman

* Susan Nahley Fleishman has been appointed vice president of corporate communications and public affairs of MCA Inc.

* Eve Szurely has been named vice president of creative affairs and Kimberly Johnson, vice president, of C3.

* Maureen Smith has been named vice president of planning and program scheduling, and Donna Cunningham has been named vice president of business affairs for Fox Children’s Network.

* Paul Buccieri and Robert Weiss have been named senior vice presidents of nonfiction programming for All American Television Production.