ASTRA welcomes back their new, and returning staff member, Katie Cooley (Marso). Katie will be working part-time as ASTRA’s Education Coordinator, getting their education programming back on track!
Just Play, a leading global play company behind several best-selling toy lines including Disney Doorables, Moonbug Entertainment’s CoComelon, Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues & You, and Slinky announced the appointment of Sujata Luther as the company’s President.
Mattel, Incorporated has announced that Mike DeLaet has been appointed Global Head of Digital Gaming, effective July 25. DeLaet brings more than two decades of gaming expertise to Mattel, most recently serving as SVP, Strategic Partnerships for Scopely, a global interactive entertainment and mobile-first games company.
Arcade1Up has announced three new additions to the company’s senior leadership team to support its growth, expanded product offerings and global expansion. Tom Lyons, Adriana Vila Soto and Chris Cardenas have been hired as Chief Marketing Officer, SVP, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships, and Vice President of Sales respectively, rounding out the senior team for the leader in at-home retro arcade game entertainment.
Award-winning global independent animation studio ZAG has announced the appointment of Luca Bonecchi, formerly an executive with Entertainment One, to the position of Head of Consumer Products, Europe (excluding Germany and France). The announcement was made by Julian Zag, EVP Global Operations and Head of Consumer Products, to whom Bonecchi reports.
TOMY has announced several key leadership changes to position them for expanded global growth. Pete Henseler is moving to the role of non-operating Chairman of the TOMY International Board. In his new capacity, Pete will remain a key advisor to TOMY International. Pete’s career spans over 40 years in the children’s consumer products industry at companies like Hasbro, McDonald’s and RC2. For the last 26 years Pete has been in various executive management roles at TOMY. In addition to his numerous business contributions, Pete also served as a board member for the Toy Industry Association for 3 terms, as well as Board Chairman of the Toy Industry Foundation.
Fred Rogers Productions, the award-winning children’s media organization behind multiple well-loved, Emmy-winning PBS KIDS series, has named Gabrielle Howard to the newly created position of Creative Development Manager. In her new role, Howard will manage the company’s growing portfolio of IP in development. She will report to Ellen Doherty, Chief Creative Officer.
Nintendo of America has named Devon Pritchard Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Communications, following her tenure as the acting executive in that role since November 2021. A member of the Nintendo of America team for 16 years, Pritchard previously served as Executive Vice President of Business Affairs and Publisher Relations. While serving recently as the acting head of Sales, Marketing and Communications, Pritchard has overseen major Nintendo Switch game launches like Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Nintendo Switch Sports. Moving forward, Pritchard will oversee strategy and execution across the U.S. and Canada.
Carlos Biern joins the DeAPlaneta Entertainment team as Content and Distribution Director of the Kids & Family division. Reporting directly to Diego Ibañez, Chief Brand Officer, Carlos Biern will accelerate the company’s trajectory, enlarge the DeAPlaneta Kids & Family portfolio of quality animated series with original productions, coproductions and acquisitions and position the brand on TV channels and OTT platforms globally.