American Vantage Companies Announces Appointment of Paul J. Buonaiuto as Chief Executive Officer of Candidates on Demand Group, Inc.

LAS VEGAS & NEW YORK -- American Vantage Companies ("AVCS" or the "Company") (Pink Sheets: AVCS) (www.americanvantage.com), today announced that the Company's Board of Directors has appointed Paul J. Buonaiuto as the Chief Executive Officer for Candidates on Demand Group, Inc. ("COD"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. The appointment concludes an executive search process that began in January 2008.

Until assuming the CEO position, Mr. Buonaiuto was the Practice Lead for CDI, Corp. (NYSE: CDI), a $1.18 billion engineering and information technology recruitment firm. At CDI, Corp. Mr. Buonaiuto was responsible for day-to-day management of a recruitment team of 40+ individuals and expansion efforts in Asia Pacific and Japan. From 1995-2007, Mr. Buonaiuto served in various roles including Vice President, Global Relationship Management and National Recruiting Director for the publicly traded company CA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CA).

Mr. Buonaiuto said, "I am extremely excited about the prospects that lie ahead for Candidates on Demand. Fueled by a world-class organization of in-house talent with a commitment to excellence, coupled with a proactive business model, COD is continuing to position itself to be a recognized industry leader in the war on talent. The pervasive goal of providing cutting-edge staffing and recruitment solutions and services to some of the world's most prestigious companies is strategically viable and in our line of sight."

"Paul's strong operational experience makes him extremely well suited to lead Candidates on Demand, as it continues to focus on profitable growth across its core markets and strategizes on new products, markets and potential acquisition opportunities," commented Ronald J. Tassinari, the Company's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

COD's extended customer base includes Fortune 500 companies with operations in the IT, legal, accounting, financing and engineering disciplines. For 2005, Crain's New York Business Magazine ranked COD as one of the fastest growing recruiting firms in New York. COD currently operates from its corporate office in New York City, as well as regional offices in North Palm Beach (Florida), Dallas (Texas), Lyndhurst (New Jersey) and Melville and Westchester County (New York).

As previously announced, COD was acquired from its founder and sole shareholder, Michael C. Woloshin, on September 15, 2007. In January 2008, Mr. Woloshin stepped down from his COD-Chief Executive Officer responsibilities to focus on his business strengths (servicing and maintaining current clients), as well as business development. The Company had appointed Anna M. Morrison as COD's Interim Chief Executive Officer.

American Vantage Companies is pursuing potential strategic acquisition and development strategies, which are in various stages of discussion, in industries that include recruiting and/or temporary placement, casino gaming and lifestyle. However, no assurance can be given that the Company will successfully acquire other businesses or, if acquired, that such businesses will prove to be profitable.

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "anticipates," "believes," "can," "continue," "could," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "potential," "predicts," "should," or "will" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Such statements and all phases of American Vantage Companies' operations are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including overall economic conditions and other factors and uncertainties as are identified in American Vantage Companies' Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2005 as well as the company's filings under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. American Vantage Companies' actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements may be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements in this press release.