2 Entertainment Lawyers Form Music-Related Firm

Entertainment attorneys Ken Hertz and Fred Goldring have announced the formation of a music-oriented Los Angeles law firm, Goldring, Hertz, Lichtenstein & Haft, after 10 years as partners at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman & Warren, where they founded the firm’s music practice. Goldring Hertz will share offices with Hansen Jacobson and co-represent such film and television clients as Will Smith and Mark Wahlberg, who also have music careers.

Other clients of the firm include Alanis Morissette, Courtney Love, No Doubt, Destiny’s Child, Patty Loveless and Herbie Hancock. Technology clients include MP3.com. Separately, the partners have a consulting company whose clients include Napster and Uprizer, a new venture founded by FreeNet creator Ian Clarke.

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Sony Corp.’s highest-ranking Japanese executive at its U.S. film unit is leaving, promoted to a senior corporate post with Sony in Tokyo. Masayuki “Yuki” Nazo, who was a co-president of Sony Pictures Entertainment, was transferred by Sony to its Culver City lot in 1996 after a series of management and financial troubles. He served as liaison with Tokyo and helped build the studio’s digital ventures. No replacement is being named.

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Suzanne Brown has been named vice president of finance at B3 Corp., a Burbank unit of Time Warner’s Warner Music Group that markets a business-to-business e-commerce platform. She was formerly vice president of strategic planning for Warner/Elektra/Atlantic Inc. record labels.

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Darcy Fulmer has been tapped as senior vice president of music programming and talent at Jimmy & Doug’s Farmclub.com, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group that makes a weekly show for USA Network. She was formerly a vice president of music content at MTV.

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Kenneth Williams has been named chief executive of Stan Lee Media Inc., the Encino-based Internet licensing and marketing company for comic book characters such as Spider-Man and the X-Men. Williams, previously head of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s digital studios division, replaces acting CEO Devendra Mishra, who has been named president of the company’s international unit.