Allen Quits Fox to Join Virgin Games, Parent Company

Tom Allen, senior vice president of finance and administration at Fox Broadcasting Co., is resigning to become chief operating officer of Irvine-based Virgin Games and executive vice president and chief financial officer of its parent company, Virgin Interactive Entertainment.

Film

Rae Sanchini, former senior vice president at Carolco Pictures, has been named president of Lightstorm Entertainment, the movie production company headed by director James Cameron. Sanchini succeeds Larry Kassanoff, who resigned last month over reported policy differences with Cameron.

Nickelodeon Pictures, the recently launched movie production company jointly owned by cable TV channel Nickelodeon and 20th Century Fox, has named Adam Merims to head its West Coast operations.

Savoy Pictures named Christie Allen director of creative affairs. Allen will work to bring acquisitions to the film producer. She previously worked at Columbia Pictures Entertainment International.

Merchandising

Dell Furano has been named president and chief executive of Sony Signatures, the new merchandising division of the entertainment and electronics giant. Furano has a long career in the merchandising business and was an executive at Winterland Productions.

Video

Gene Silverman has been named president and chief executive of New York-based Polygram Video. The move comes as entertainment giant Polygram prepares to make a major move into the video rental business. Silverman previously was vice president of sales at Orion Home Video. Polygram said that under Silverman, it intends to bring top-quality products to market in a customer-friendly manner.