Arts Manager to Lead New CSUN Institute

Veteran arts manager Lani Daniels has been appointed head of the new Entertainment Industry Institute at Cal State Northridge, campus officials announced.

Daniels, who assumes the post Monday, has more than 23 years of experience in the entertainment field.

“I like the challenge of developing something new,” said Daniels, 45, who currently manages the daily operations at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills.

She has also held positions with Embassy Television, Aaron Spelling Productions and Spelling-Goldberg Productions.

Daniels was selected for the job in December among five finalists following an industry-wide search, according to Michael Hammerschmidt, associate vice president for development at CSUN.

The institute was created last year in 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 to establish a program involving the entertainment industry, Hammerschmidt said.

As director, Daniels will coordinate and organize the various activities of the institute, said Phil Handler, dean of the College of Arts, Media and Communication, where the institute is located.

The institute’s main goal is to educate students for a job market that is constantly changing, such as the technological advances in digital animation, Daniels said.

“I like to make the entertainment industry aware of the resources that the university has to offer,” Daniels said. “Universities are often on the cutting edge of technology that entertainment companies don’t have access to, so I would like to act as an intermediary.”