BRIEFLY VALLEY FIRM TO SELL LAS VEGAS TICKETS.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

STUDIO CITY - Studio City-based Cinema Ride Inc. announced Monday that it is planning a new venture to market and sell show tickets in Las Vegas.

The venture will be operated by Cinema Ride and owned by Cinema Ride and a third-party marketing company.

``Cinema Ride has been actively involved in the Las Vegas market for the past seven years because our flagship motion-simulator attraction is located in The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace,'' said Chief Executive Officer Mitch Francis.

``As a result, we have been able to identify a niche show ticket marketing program that has been completely untapped,'' he said. ``We feel there is an excellent potential for increased shareholder value by diversifying into this new arena beyond our core business.''

Cinema Ride develops, owns and operates motion-simulation theater attractions at destination tourist sites in the United States and Canada.

Jackson and Patel to produce films

Michael Jackson's Neverland Entertainment and film producer Raju Sharad Patel plan to partner with MDP Worldwide Entertainment Inc. to produce films, it was announced Monday.

Under the proposed deal, Neverland will invest $15 million to $20 million and become a major shareholder in MDP.

With the investment by Neverland Entertainment, MDP will operate a new division called Neverland Pictures, which will be the production arm of MDP, and all feature films produced will carry the Neverland Pictures banner.

Shatner won't sing for Priceline.com

William Shatner has agreed to resume his role as a spokesman for Priceline.com, but will not be singing in the next generation of ads for the name-your-own-price Internet company.

Shatner, the former star of the Star Trek TV series and movies, will be teaming up with what Priceline.com calls its super computer that locates airline tickets, hotel rooms and other travel products at discounts.

Earlier this year, Shatner renewed his contract to appear in Priceline.com radio and television advertisements.

Universal Orlando headed by Gault 

UNIVERSAL CITY - Universal Orlando theme park named Bob Gault Jr. on Monday as its president and chief operating officer, positions he's held for three months on an interim basis.

Before his promotion, Gault was executive vice president for operations planning at Universal's theme parks worldwide.

Gault was head of Universal Studios Hollywood, as well as CityWalk operations and Universal City Cinema management in California prior to serving as executive vice president of Universal Studios Japan from 1996 to July 2001.

Irwin new veep of Health Net Inc.

WOODLAND HILLS - Health Net Inc. announced that it has named Robert D. Irwin to the new position of senior vice president and chief information officer.

He will be responsible for all information technology and information systems at one of the nation's largest publicly traded managed health care companies.

Irwin, 41, is based in Woodland Hills, and reports to Marvin P. Rich, executive vice president of finance and operations.

USA promotes Goldhill to COO

USA Entertainment announced on Monday the appointment of David Goldhill as chief operating officer.

Goldhill will oversee finance, legal affairs, ad sales, affiliate sales, distribution and strategic planning. He'll report to Michael Jackson, chairman and CEO of USA Entertainment, and will be based in Los Angeles.

Goldhill previously served for six years as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Norman Lear's company, Act III Communications, which held interests in television and film production and syndication, TV stations and cable programming, among other media.

Creditors resist infusion of cash

Global Crossing Ltd.'s plans to emerge from bankruptcy after a $750 million cash injection from two Asian firms is encountering growing resistance from the company's creditors, published reports said Monday.

Competing interests among bank lenders and other creditors could eventually lead to a liquidation of Global Crossing assets, The New York Times reported, quoting unidentified bankruptcy experts familiar with the proceedings.

The former high-flying fiber-optic network firm listed $22 billion in assets and $12 billion in debt when it filed for bankruptcy protection Jan. 28, making it the fourth-largest filing in U.S. history.

The company owes $2.5 billion to banks, which are in the unusual position of having to line up with other creditors because the banks opted for stock instead of secured assets as collateral for loans, the Times said.

Short-term T-bill rates rise Monday

WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities rose in Monday's auction.

The Treasury Department sold $15 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.735 percent, up from 1.730 percent last week. An additional $14 billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 1.850 percent, up from 1.830 percent.

Both the three-month and six-month rates were the highest since Nov. 26 when the bills sold for 1.920 percent and 1.990 percent, respectively.

In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, held steady at 2.24 percent last week, unchanged from the previous week.