Sucherman Consulting expands in L.A.

Stuart Sucherman's consulting and executive search firm has expanded its Los Angeles office and hired Angela Gardener, a seasoned exec and former senior VP for Talent Acquisitions at Fox Entertainment Group. ''This is an incredibly interesting time and the world is changing at a very rapid pace,'' Sucherman told Variety. ''The question is, do you have the right people in the right job?'' as the media biz grows more complex by the day and companies are constantly seek advice and execs who are creative and digitally savvy. Sucherman Consulting, a small eclectic shop with decades-long relationships with leading media and entertainment companies, also said chief operating officer Erik Sorenson, who joined in 2010, has become an equity partner. Gardener started late last year based in Los Angeles with Matthew Wagner, who heads the West Coast operation as well as SGC Industry Intelligence, a new business offshoot ''to bring thorough industry analyses to its clients using confidential, highly-placed contacts within the media and entertainment landscape,'' the company said. It now has five employees in Los Angeles and 15 in NY. Clients include divisions of NBC Universal, Walt Disney and Viacom, AOL and the NY Mets. It's placed executives at ABC, AandE, CNN, CNBC, Comedy Central, Endemol, Food Network, Fuse, Fox, Game Show Network, MTV, NBC, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Sundance, Telemundo, Tennis Channel, VH1, the NY Mets and the NY Jets. Sucherman was a colleague of broadcast legend Fred Friendly, and has worked for the Columbia School of Journalisml, WNET/ Thirteen NY, CBS News and as a lawyer for the FCC. Sorenson president of MSNBC from 1998 to 2004, was exec producer of ''CBS This Morning'' and ''The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.'' He has won more than 20 Emmys and a Peabody. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com