Hal Katersky

  • Chairman, Pacifica Ventures

Biography

Hal Katersky is the Chairman & CFO of Pacifica Ventures, LLC a developer and manager of commercial real estate headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Pacifica develops and manages movie and television studios and the surrounding real estate in states and countries that provide financial incentives for the production of movies and television shows. See www.pacificaventures.com for details on specific projects. Some of the largest movies (The Avengers for example) have been produced on Pacifica’s stages.

Katersky served in the US Army where he designed and implemented production planning and control systems for the maintenance of equipment used by troops in combat. He then was a management consultant and Partner at Touche Ross Management Consulting in Detroit specializing in mergers, acquisitions and corporate turnarounds. Clients included real estate developers, auto manufacturers, manufacturing companies and government entities. He then moved to one of his biggest clients as Senior Vice President & CFO of The Taubman Company, (one of the largest developers and managers of shopping malls). He has also served in the same capacity for R&B enterprises in Los Angeles. He then formed Katersky Financial, a developer and manager of shopping centers in Los Angeles. He hosted both radio and television shows in southern California. For the last 15 years his real estate activities have centered on the entertainment industry.

Achievements and Awards

  • Charles H Miller Memorial Award, University of Rhode Island
  • Graduated with Honors, Boston University School of Management (MBA)
  • Army Commendation Medal
  • One of the youngest professionals to become a Partner at Touche Ross
  • Chairman of the Board, Culver City Chamber of Commerce
  • President, Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks, California
  • Advisory Board, Ilan Ramon Day School

Advice for Students

One of the most critical tools to achieve success is your ability to communicate your ideas, convictions, programs and arguments. This includes both orally and in writing. Good preparation is public speaking debating and all kind of writing skills. Just as important are your analytical abilities from statistics to accounting to finance.