Jan. 22, 1998
Contact: Mayerene Barker,
(818) 677-2130
mbarker@exec.csun.edu
Daniels, 45, currently manager of the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills, was selected for the job from among five finalists following an industry-wide search.
"We all agreed she was terrific," said Michael Hammerschmidt, CSUN associate vice president for development and a member of the committee that interviewed the finalists. "The search committee was unanimous in their opinion. Lani was a very strong candidate and clearly the strongest candidate we interviewed."
Daniels, who has a varied background in the entertainment field dating back to 1975, will report to work on the Northridge campus Feb. 2. "I'm excited about the opportunity to work at CSUN," she said. "I like the challenge of developing something new."
Daniels will oversee much of the organization of the institute, which seeks to take educational advantage of the region's exploding entertainment industry.
"The entertainment industry is replacing the aerospace industry as the leading employer in Southern California," Daniels said. "There are entertainment-related jobs in almost every field, even the phone company."
The entertainment institute was established last year with $200,000 provided by CSUN President Blenda J. Wilson to promote, coordinate and provide oversight for campus programs involving the entertainment industry.
It is a collaborative effort involving the College of Arts, Media, and Communication, the College of Business Administration and Economics and the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
The institute's organizers also are working with the CSUN Career Center to develop student internships and the College of Extended Learning in developing certificate programs in various technical jobs such as in audio technology.
Eventually, the institute hopes to offer bachelor's and master's degrees in interdisciplinary programs including journalism, broadcasting, film, theater, music, business, engineering and computer science. It will begin by offering a minor.
"We educate a great portion of the entertainment work force in Southern California on this campus, so by focusing, by organizing ourselves and working in partnership with the entertainment companies, we can be more effective at opening up career opportunities for our students," said Phil Handler, dean of the College of Arts, Media, and Communication, where the institute will be located.
Because of technological advances such as in digital animation, Daniels said, the institute will be training workers in a job market that is constantly changing.
"Skills needed in the future may be for jobs that don't even exist now," she said.
"The demand in the future is going to be for people who can cross over into different disciplines," Daniels added. "Technical jobs are becoming creative jobs and vice versa."
At the Museum of Television and Radio, Daniels manages the daily operations of a nonprofit entity that hosts more than 30,000 patrons a year. Previously, she was an arts management consultant at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and School in Becket, Mass.; vice president, creative affairs, Jones Entertainment Group Ltd., Los Angeles; a development executive, Procter & Gamble Productions, West Hollywood, and director of development for Tomorrow Entertainment Inc., Burbank.
She also has held various positions with Embassy Television, Hollywood; Aaron Spelling Productions, Spelling-Goldberg Productions and other companies and was a special projects assistant at the Inner City Cultural Center, Los Angeles.
Daniels holds a bachelor's degree in theater arts/dance at Loyola Marymount University and a master's degree in arts management from the Anderson School at UCLA.
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