EXECUTIVE TEAM

It's no surprise that Robert Yallen was a collegiate All-American sprinter. Keeping up with him today is definitely a challenge. As president and CEO of the Inter/Media Group of Companies, he oversees ten different units that all operate individually, but can also synergistically combine to offer a variety of services to the company's clients.

The $500-million Inter/Media Group of Companies® have sprinted to the top on innovation, initiative, creativity, clout and sheer drive…the same drive that powered Yallen to the top of the All-American rankings. The cornerstone of the company's business has been blending direct response advertising with general market resources and techniques.

Yallen, who resides in Hidden Hills, CA, was one of the first to perceive the value of direct response advertising—which requires an 800-number and/or website call-to-action—for major brands as a cost-effective marketing strategy and then began mining that territory for business. Until then, direct response was solely perceived by business and the TV viewers as late-night sales of slicers and ab rollers—the home of pitchmen such as Ron Popeil. But Yallen had a bigger vision. He perceived that traditional advertising failed to ask for the sale in strong enough terms and that direct response could be adapted for major advertisers to deliver powerful and media-efficient brand messaging, as well as product sales.

What began as one single advertising agency founded by Robert's father Sydney Yallen in 1974, has now morphed into 10 unique business units, including Inter/Media Advertising®, Inter/Media Time Buying®. Inter/Image Productions®, InterPost Productions®, Media Point Network®, InterQuantum®, Inter/Media Interactive®, InfoTech Development®, Inter/Media Properties® and Bellatrix Media®. Combined they offer full-service advertising (strategic leadership, creative, production, post production, research, online and offline media buying and media optimization/tracking), retail brokering, performance-based advertising, and aggregated media buying.

Using proprietary technologies, cost-efficient direct response buying strategies and mainline advertising production and practices, Yallen has made Inter/Media a leader in product sales, brand recognition and retail advertising. His pioneering vision and media knowledge have allowed him to introduce numerous new and innovative media strategies to the industry.

Over the past years, he has guided highly successful campaigns for the U.S. Army, Johnson & Johnson, Neutrogena, GMAC Insurance, Armor All, Public Storage, ditech.com, Discover Card, Budget Blinds, Glad, Clorox, Black & Decker, Vonage, Emson, Sanyo, Ubisoft, Auto Insurance Specialists, Biotabs Nutraceuticals, Video Professor, Corinthian Colleges, Marinello Schools of Beauty and Fly.com.

Yallen first began working for Inter/Media in 1981 while attending Southwestern University School of Law, where he ultimately received the highest achievement granted in Mass Communication Law. In 1984, he received his Juris Doctor degree and in 1985 was admitted to the state and federal bars of California. Specializing in entertainment, advertising and business law, he initially worked as an associate for a small law firm.

But with Inter/Media poised to grow, Yallen was lured back to rejoin the company in 1985, where his unique skills made significant contributions to the company's growth and strategic re-positioning. Yallen became President, demonstrating exceptional proficiency in new business development, operations and the ability to create additional revenue-generating business units. After his father's death in February 2009, Robert also assumed the role of CEO.

Today he has evolved into one of the leading experts and authorities on direct response advertising. He sits on the editorial board of Response Magazine, one of the nation's leading direct response industry trades. He has been profiled in a Smart Business cover story, in Chief Executive Magazine and in C-Suite Quarterly.

In addition to his corporate duties, Yallen handles certain responsibilities within the Inter/Media Advertising® subsidiary—the recruiting and contracting of celebrity endorsers, managing all of the company's contractual and legal matters, supervising media relations—and pursuing business development, and developing the creative and media buying strategies for many of the clients.

As an entertainment lawyer, he has negotiated celebrity endorsement agreements with Jimmy Johnson, Rod Carew, Alan Rachins, George Kennedy, Elliot Gould, Judge Joseph A. Wapner, Shari Belafonte, Donald O'Connor, Cindy Williams, Fran Tarkenton, Kate Jackson, Arsenio Hall, Chuck Woolery and Katherine LaNasa among others.

Yallen has also recently taken the company into real estate with the creation of Inter/Media Properties®, which does real estate development and residential leasing.

He has a Bachelor of Science in Business with a marketing emphasis from California State University, Northridge and a Juris Doctor from Southwestern University School of Law.

Prior to joining Inter/Media, Tim served as CFO for Herbalife International, a multi-national direct sales organization for health and nutrition products. He was with that company for 17 years and instrumental in its expansion and success. Herbalife was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange and operated in more than 50 countries.

Gerrity was also a Director of Management Consulting for the Wickes Companies during its Chapter 11 reorganization and was part of a team that successfully restructured the company. Highly regarded as a strong financial hand for major enterprises, Gerrity has also served as a Management Advisory Services Consultant for Deloitte LLC, one of the world's largest international accounting firms.

"Tim gives us superior financial acumen at a time when Inter/Media is focusing on growth and innovation as the nation comes out of the recession. We're poised to win a greater share of advertising by companies that know this is the right time to jump back in. Bringing Tim on board, provides more freedom for the executive and business development team to concentrate on serving and increasing our client base of leading brands and companies," said Robert Yallen, CEO of The Inter/Media Group of Companies, the $500 million advertising and marketing organization. "Additionally, Tim's responsibilities will include acquiring companies that are complimentary to our existing lines of business, as well as identifying other business categories for acquisition that are outside of our core competencies, but will add value and long-term growth to our organization." 

Gerrity will be responsible for all aspects of finance, accounting, tax, treasury and financial planning for the Inter/Media Group of Companies, which now encompasses 10 separate, but synergistic business units. He will oversee the financial operations of the company to ensure the timeliness, accuracy and integrity of financial transactions. His responsibilities also include the development and implementation of strategic initiatives and systems that maintain the company's growth and serve its clients needs.

Gerrity is a CPA who holds a Bachelors Degree from California State University at Northridge, as well as an MBA from the University of Southern California.

Hunington Sachs has been a media and entertainment attorney for almost 20 years, with experience managing and representing companies in video game development, television, media, advertising, film, digital media, music, advertising and sports.

Most recently he was Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel for WXP Games, an Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation video game developer most notable for Platinum hits Scene It? Lights Camera Action, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, and Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball.

Previously, he was Interim General Counsel for public television station KCTS Channel 9 in Seattle, and General Counsel for the Pacific Rim Sports Summit, a U.S. Olympic Committee-licensed multi-sport event.

Sachs was formerly in private practice with the nationally-recognized Seattle law firm Foster Pepper PLLC, where he was Co-Chair of the Media, Sports & Entertainment Group and practiced in the company's Emerging Companies/Venture Capital and Intellectual Property Law groups.

He is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and the National Association of Recording Industry Professionals.

Prior to law and business, Sachs was a captain in the U.S. Army Military Police, commanding troops in West Germany. He holds undergrad and law degrees from Creighton University, where he was an editor on law review.

"Hunington Sachs is a key addition to our Inter/Media executive team," said Robert Yallen, CEO of The Inter/Media Group of Companies, the $500 million advertising media and marketing organization. "We are developing a highly sophisticated management team to lead this company into our next phase of growth, and Hunington's strength and experience in media law is a significant asset."

Joseph Poulose is Chief Information Officer for the Inter/Media Companies and oversees InfoTech Development™, the organization’s new technology unit. InfoTech Development’s mission is to design cutting-edge reporting and analytic tools for media, advertising, marketing and retail sales.

Poulose spent 10 years at Carat USA, rising from software engineer to systems engineer to information technology manager. He served both the agency itself and provided a technology interface with many of Carat USA’s clients.  

He has also served as an application layer architect for Lamps Plus in Chatsworth, CA.

In addition to developing new analytic tools and systems, Poulose will be working to enhance Inter/Media’s already-acclaimed proprietary technologies Accutrak®, used to evaluate efficient and smart media buying strategies for media optimization with both product sales and lead generation; IQ Plus™, which optimizes media and retail distribution, and MTrak™, an optimization tool that enables Inter/Media’s TV, radio and print affiliates to evaluate and maximize per-inquiry campaigns where advertisers and media share in the revenue from sales and leads generated by the effort.

Poulose explains his job as maximizing automation and creating new one-touch methods that give the account managers and the clients less time on assembling and analyzing information and more time on revenue-generating strategy and tasks.

Lucy St. George is a key player in the agency’s growth. She shepherds operations and sales, key clients and new business development for Inter/Media Advertising®. She has supervisory responsibilities over most of the company’s advertising functions.
With 20 years of experience, St. George was in on the inception of the direct response advertising medium and has become an authority on integrating and combining direct response advertising into the general advertising market landscape.

St. George joined Inter/Media from Initiative Media North America, where she was Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the Direct Response Division, overseeing $200 million in billing. She provided leadership for the national staff of 60, while managing key accounts and supplying top management attention to Fortune 500/1000 clients. New business was also a major focus of her efforts during her 10 years with Initiative. Prior to joining Initiative Media, St. George was sales manager with Direct Response Marketing, charged with business development. She added more than 20 television stations and syndicated shows to the company's account base.
Beginning her career at KCOP-TV where she worked in both the traffic department and advertising sales, St. George then moved on to serve 10 years managing accounts at Petry Television.

Richard Pike oversees the research and media planning for Inter/Media Advertising®.
Pike is a veteran with more than 25 years experience in advertising and media. He has held senior management positions on both the client and agency side of the business. Prior to joining Inter/Media, Pike was in charge of the media, client service and research departments of Buckley/Friedman Marketing Communications in Costa Mesa, CA. Previously, he was Vice President, Media Director of J. Walter Thompson in San Francisco. Pike has also held media positions at agencies in Chicago and New York.

Pike also spent a number of years at Hunt-Wesson Foods in Fullerton, CA, serving more than 12 years as Director of Advertising Services, where he established and supervised an in-house advertising and media department, servicing the needs of 14 brand marketing groups and supervising the activities of outside advertising agencies and a media buying service.
One of Pike’s strengths is a thorough understanding of the most current media data processing systems, and he has conducted numerous primary marketing research studies for clients, both qualitative as well as quantitative.
Serving on committees for both the American Association of Advertising Agencies, as well as the Association of National Advertisers, Pike has also been a National Advertising Review board panelist.
Pike has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.

Grant Rosenquist has dual skills that make him a valuable addition to Inter/Media’s team. Not only is he a skilled media planner and ad campaign director, but he is also an expert in ad industry analytic data systems. Thus, he is charged with creating, enhancing and managing the company’s proprietary technology systems, developed to manage and track media efficiency.

Grant came to Inter/Media after 17 years specializing in research, planning and managing media advertising campaigns.  That includes nine years with KSL Media West in Seattle, and five with Western/Initiative Media in Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Along the way he’s worked with clients such as BellSouth, Coors, Jenny Craig, Revlon and Viacom.  Rosequist has managed direct response campaigns for Starbucks and Sony.  And, at Initiative, he spent a year formulating the company’s corporate POV on the emerging media marketplace, thoroughly immersing himself in Internet and digital technologies. He also applied his talents at CBS’s Television Stations Group. Rosenquist developed campaign and response tracking and management systems for marketing elective medical procedures with The Hillside Group in Florida, as well as working on the direct-to-consumer Corian 123 program for DuPont at Doner in Detroit.

Donna Wald oversees all media planning, media buying, optimization of client dollars on the ditech.com account. Wald has more than 25 years of advertising experience, having served in both client service, client management, and media planning and buying capacities on a broad array of clients.

Prior to joining Inter/Media, Wald was Executive Vice-President, Group Account Director at Initiative Media, Los Angeles. Wald had been a key member of Initiative Media's client service team for 15 years, with experience in virtually every major client category. She led the media planning and buying groups on The Walt Disney Company, Bally Total Fitness, Jenny Craig, E*Trade, Gerber Foods, Novartis Consumer Health, and Clint Eastwood accounts. In doing so, Wald worked closely with advertising agency Presidents, Chief Financial Officers and all media personnel on marketing and media objectives. Her media management experience includes heavy retail, blended general media and direct response, as well as a proven track record of growing the clients' business and maintaining strong client relationships. Wald began her career at Lintas in NY and then moved to J. Walter Thompson. She opened the Dallas office for J. Walter Thompson, where she worked on Burger King and Ford Dealer accounts. The Fox movie account drew her to JWT/LA where Wald became Vice President, Regional Broadcast Director, managing a staff of 17. Wald earned a Bachelor of Arts from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and a Master of Arts from Hunter College in New York.

Kevin began his media career handling all aspects of advertising for an Independent Record Label based in Los Angeles. From there, he joined Premiere Radio Networks and was the liaison between Premiere and Clear Channel operated radio stations.

Kevin came aboard Inter/Media in 2001 as an Account Executive. In his current roll as Vice President Client Services and Vice President Paid Programming he manages some of Inter/Media's key accounts, including It's Just Lunch, Corinthian Colleges, Dish Direct, Auto Insurance Specialist, Emson & Wellquest, as well as several clients in the legal and home-based business space. Additionally, Szymanski oversees Inter/Media's long-form (infomercial) department.

James Christensen is Vice President, Group Account Director at Inter/Media Advertising®, supervising the agency’s clients in the educational field.

He is responsible for developing strategic media plans -- utilizing Inter/Media’s unique brand of direct response tactics -- to optimize client expenditures for maximum return investment. Christensen oversees the creative strategy, media buying, spot testing and all other aspects of media stewardship. Christensen had previously served as Account Director.  

Prior to joining Inter/Media in 2007, he was Vice President, Account Director at Carat USA, where he worked on such accounts at Mercedes-Benz, Taylor Made Golf, Village Inn Restaurants, Bakers Square and Boost Mobile. Before assuming that position, Christensen had risen from Account Supervisor to Account Director at Carat, an agency he initially joined in October 1999.

Christensen started his career in Direct Response advertising in 1990 with Western International, where he served as Assistant Media Planner/Print Buyer, Junior Media Planner, Media Planner and Account Executive.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California State Polytechnic, Pomona.

Tracy Lehmann had been a senior media planner and supervisor at G2 Direct & Digital (formerly Grey Direct West) since 2005, working on the AAA account. Prior to that, she was a senior media planner at Colby and Partners, a division of Dentsu in Santa Monica, supervising work on the Beverly Center, Japan Airlines, Sutter Home Wines, Sharp Solar, Calpis/Ameal, House Foods and Hoyu America.

From 1998-2004, Lehmann worked at Team One Advertising, handling planning for the Lexus Dealer Account, Lexus Factory, Lexus Certified Pre-Owned Division, Air New Zealand and City of El Segundo. She advanced from administrative assistant to media planner and finally to communications supervisor.

A graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in journalism and communication, Lehmann also holds a certificate from the Institute for Advanced Advertising Studies.

Oscar Bassinson is the chief creative force behind all of Inter/Media’s client advertising campaigns. He serves in many capacities throughout the company. As Vice President of Inter/Media Advertising®, he conceptualizes and writes the client TV and radio commercials and print ads. As President of Inter/Image Productions®, he produces and directs them. As head of InterPost Productions®, Bassinson then supervises the company’s post-production services for both Inter/Media clients and the advertising/entertainment community at large.

Bassisson came to Inter/Media as a highly regarded and award-winning TV commercial producer with a pedigree that included McDonald's Restaurants, CoCo’s Restaurants, Wolfgang Pucks’, Betty Crocker, Salada Tea, Taco Bell, Pam Cooking Spray, and Cool Whip and more. Bassinson’s work has won Clio, Addy, Telly, Aurora, Axiem, MarCom Awards, as well as The National Restaurant News Annual Award for Excellence in Advertising.

Since Bassinson started working with the Inter/Media and Inter/Image Productions, he has brought a vast amount of experience and savvy to the Direct Response arena. His responsibilities include: contributing to brand strategies; overseeing all creative and production endeavors.

Although Bassinson began his career as a producer at a small Midwestern agency, his talents ushered him through the many creative areas of the business. Through the years, he has worked as a copywriter, art director, and eventually moved to Los Angeles in 1982, as a commercial film director/owner of a multi-director film production company.

Over the years, Bassinson has created many national campaigns, both from the production and the agency sides of the business. He has directed such film luminaries as Gregory Peck, Jack Lemmon, Donald O'Connor, Rosemary Clooney, and many more. His facility and understanding of the underpinnings of the broadcast medium make him a vital component to any creative endeavor.

He has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism specializing in advertising from the University of Kansas, 1970.

The founder of Breath Asure, Inc., Anthony Raissen shepherded his product development and marketing company from concept and start-up in 1992 to a global, multi-million dollar entity. Raissen was primarily responsible for product development and advertising, including special events and cross-promotional opportunities, as well as the establishment of international business and retail relationships. Raissen’s key relationships strengthened the company’s abilities from a strategic standpoint, as well as financial standpoint. His advertising agency partner in that venture with Inter/Media Advertising®, whose strategies and media buying savvy were the catalyst for the product’s success.

Now he has come back to join with Inter/Media to put all of those talents to work in the new Inter/Media business unit InterQuantum™, chartered to help companies plan and manage their growth from direct response or Internet sales to retail. He assists them with evaluating the market, positioning their products, leveraging their assets, navigating the retailer relationship and insuring sell through.

Raissen began his first entrepreneurial ventures in his youth while growing up in South Africa. Upon graduating from Technikon, Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg with a degree as an “Illumination Engineer”--an electrical engineer specializing in lighting design--he joined with his older brother to form Raissen’s Electrical, a consulting and installation company whose clients included banks, art galleries, malls, and custom homes. Finding Southern California, the hub of the entertainment industry, a hospitable environment for lighting designers, Raissen moved to the U.S. and opened an office in North Hollywood, CA.

Ever the inventor, in the late ‘80’s Raissen was challenged by his wife, Lauren, who confessed that she was sensitive to his strong breath.  Her husband’s daily habit of eating pickled cucumbers and spicy foods seemed the likely source.  Determined to find a solution, Raissen reasoned that since bad breath is natural, it seemed that a remedy would also be natural. So in 1991, the Raissens teamed with researchers to create a perfect product to bring to the consumer market.  The result: a tiny golden capsule which the couple introduced at a local garlic festival.  A blend of all-natural sunflower and parsley seed oils in a gelatin capsule soon won over skeptics and became the hit of the festival.  Anthony and Lauren went on to found Breath Asure and make it a nationwide phenomenon and multi-million dollar success.

Having established himself as a business innovator in both hemispheres, Raissen has lectured before the Entrepreneurial Program at the University of Southern California, among other business and academic audiences, and in June 1998 was elected to the Board of Directors of the Southern California Entrepreneurship Academy. 

Former President, Chief Financial and Operating officer of Breath Asure, Inc., Lauren Raissen brought a bottom-line perspective to the California-based product development, manufacturing, and marketing company.

Under her management, Breath Asure grew exponentially from sales of $40,000 in 1992 to over $30 million. Raissen managed all financial, operational and administrative areas of the company and was involved in developing strategic direction for new products and new business opportunities.

Rick Sax is responsible for managing and growing MediaPoint Network’s® existing network of media outlets that partner with MediaPoint Network in its performance-based advertising programs and to increase reach and revenue for the company’s advertising partners. MediaPoint’s growing network consists of hundreds upon hundreds of TV networks, broadcast stations, local and national cable networks, syndicated national TV, syndicated national radio, local radio and selected print media.

“We are thrilled to have Rick Sax join MediaPoint Network at this timely point in our expanding growth cycle,” said InterMedia Advertising’s President and CEO, Robert Yallen. “He comes to us from a group of heritage companies, having established a superb reputation for his affiliate-management skills, integrity, savvy, commitment and reliability. We know that both our media partners and our ad clients will benefit from adding his knowledge and expertise to our capabilities. Rick’s joining MediaPoint Network represents a real time win-win for both sides of the advertising equation, media partner affiliates and advertising clients alike.”

Before his six years at Katz Direct, where he oversaw $20 million/year infomercial sales for 180 stations across the U.S., Rick served as sales manager of paid programming and direct response at Millennium Television Sales. From 1995 to 2000, he was an account executive at SelTel, selling national spot TV advertising for more than 40 network affiliates. Prior to that, Rick was a local ad sales account executive with Comcast Cable.  Rick began his career at Blair Television in 1994 as a sales assistant. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California.