ABC (Sydney, Australia, 61-2-9950-3999): The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has appointed Helen Thwaites head of acquisition business management. Thwaites previously served as GM of prime-time sales at Southern Star.

Cartoon Network Italy (Rome, Italy, 39-64-470-2322): Jaime Ondarza joins as marketing manager from an account director post at the Rome office of Young & Rubicam. Andrea Castellari, who joins as sales director, was previously sales director of female magazines at Hachette-Rusconi. Teresa Numerico moves up from marketing to interactive manager.

Ciné-Groupe (Montreal, Canada, 514-524-7567): Isabelle Marin joins the company as director of international presales (excluding the U.S.) from a post in presale and co-pros at MegaFun. Michèle Dal Cin has been appointed director of international sales, focusing on finished products. Prior to joining Ciné-Groupe last April, Cin was an international sales exec at Canamedia.

Columbia TriStar International Television (Culver City, California, 310-244-4000): Alejandro Garcia Ramon has been named VP of international networks, Latin America and will be based in CTIT’s Miami office. Prior to joining CTIT, Garcia served as VP of international TV, Latin America for Universal Studios.

DC Comics (New York, New York, 212-636-5450): Cheryl Rubin has been named VP of licensing and merchandising for DC Direct, the company’s exclusive collectible products business for specialty. Rubin, formerly VP of licensing, has managed DC licensing for 13 years.

Disney/ABC Cable Networks (New York, New York, 212-456-7777): Wendell Foster is Disney Channel’s new VP of scheduling and planning. Foster recently served as executive director of program planning and scheduling for ABC Entertainment. Lou Fazio has been named director of scheduling and planning for Disney/ABC Cable Networks. Prior to joining Toon Disney, Fazio was director of program acquisitions for USA Networks in New York. Andrea Taylor also joins the company as senior VP of on-air promotions from a post as senior VP of creative services for TNT.

Disney Interactive (Burbank, California, 818-553-5000): Shuji Utsumi has signed on as managing director for Disney Interactive Asia Pacific. Utsumi comes to Disney from Sega Enterprises, where he was executive officer of the contents and media division.

Fox Family Channel (Los Angeles, California, 310-235-9739): Todd McNulty has been promoted to VP of on-air promotion, but will continue to oversee the creative production staff, which he supervised most recently as director.

Fox Kids Europe (London, England, 44-207-554-9000): Shari Donnenfeld joins the company as director of research and planning. Donnenfeld was previously Nickelodeon UK’s planning and research head.

Fox Kids Network (Los Angeles, California, 310-235-9600): Robin Lia Whitaker has been upped to VP of national promotions and sales development. Whitaker has been with Fox Kids since 1992, most recently as director of national promotions of Fox Kids and executive producer of Fox Family Countdown Radio Show.

Funschool.com (San Jose, California, 408-453-7280): Rié Shigematsu has been promoted to VP of marketing and global educational outreach from director of marketing.

Granada International/ITEL (London, England, 44-207-620-1620): As a first step in the merger of Granada and ITEL, the companies have made two key appointments. Nadine Nohr carries over her position as managing director of Granada to the new company, and Ian Jones becomes deputy managing director from his position as sales director at ITEL.

Infogrames (New York, New York, 212-726-6500): Dave Gatchel has been appointed senior VP of development. Gatchel is president and CEO of Paradigm Entertainment, which Infogrames Entertainment acquired earlier in 2000. Cathy Tische has been appointed VP of licensing from a post as senior director of licensing and new business development at the 3DO Company. Nancy Griffen joins Infogrames as VP, responsible for publishing in New York. Griffen has extensive sales, marketing and publishing experience with several companies, including Time-Warner and Special Print International.

Nickelodeon (New York, New York, 212-258-8000): Newly appointed president of Nickelodeon, TV Land and TNN Herb Scannell has named Jeffrey Dunn COO of Nickelodeon, TV Land and TNN, as well as president of Nickelodeon Enterprises. TNN is being repositioned as a general entertainment service under Scannell’s care, and he recently announced the grouping of Nick’s on-line, consumer products, magazine, recreation and new media ventures business units under the Nickelodeon Enterprises banner. Dunn most recently served as COO of Nickelodeon.

Porter Novelli (Los Angeles, California, 310-444-7000): Donna Sabino has joined the company’s youth marketing team as VP. Sabino previously served as Nickelodeon’s director of research and planning. In her new role, Sabino will lead PNLA youth campaigns and provide strategic counsel across PN offices on marketing strategies to kids. Mimi Schulte also came on-board as a VP. Before joining PN’s youth marketing practice, Schulte ran her own consulting firm, Oslo & Associates.

Saban Consumer Products (Los Angeles, California, 310-444-7000): Maribeth Towers-Toth has been hired as VP of retail development. Before joining Saban, Towers-Toth was a senior account executive at Warner Bros. Consumers Products, handling the apparel category.

Saban Consumer Products UK (London, England, 44-207-554-9000): Ian Downes has been promoted to managing director from his post as director of video, interactive publishing and promotions for Saban Consumer Products Europe (Fox Kids Europe’s consumer products division). downesi@foxkids.co.uk

Sextant International (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Canada, 514-421-1772): Deborah Drisdell has joined the new global distribution company as VP of sales, co-productions and acquisitions. Drisdell was at Telefilm Canada for 16 years, most recently as director of international relations, responsible for co-pro treaties between Canada and various international partners, as well as for Telefilm’s international strategic development.

Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (New York, New York, 212-842-3776): Ginee Seo joins as VP and associate publisher of Atheneum Books for Young Readers from a post as VP and editorial director of paperback books at HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Toymax (Plainview, New York, 516-391-9898): Lawrence Richards has been appointed the company’s VP of creative and research development. Previously, Richards was VP of marketing, design and development at Arcotoys, a division of Mattel. James Graves joins Toymax as VP of sales and marketing, responsible for managing product development and sales of the company’s non-promotional product line. Prior to joining Toymax, Graves was national sales manager at Artin U.S.A.

Universal Studios (Universal City, California, 818-777-1000): Brian Pope has been promoted to VP of marketing services for Universal Studios Hollywood. Pope has been with the company since 1997, serving most recently as director of brand marketing.

Walt Disney Internet Group (Burbank, California, 818-553-5000): Scott Schiller has been named the company’s senior VP of strategic partnership marketing. Prior to this new role, Schiller led all advertising and e-commerce sponsorship efforts for The Walt Disney Company’s branded web properties: ABC.com, ABCNEWS.com, Disney.com, ESPN.com and Family.com, as well as its entertainment properties such as Mr. Showbiz and Wall of Sound. scott.schiller@dig.com

Walt Disney Television International (London, England, 44-207-605-2400): David Hulbert has been named president of a new WDTV-I unit headquartered in London. The unit represents a combination of WDTV-I’s existing European operations (which also encompass Africa and the Middle East) with its operations in Asia Pacific. Hulbert had previously been president of WDTV-I for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. And Howard Meyers has been appointed production director for Disney UK Branded TV. Meyers was previously a freelance commissioning editor with Disney.

Please send your people news (including the person’s photo and e-mail address) to Amanda Burgess at KidScreen, People in New Jobs,

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fax: 416-408-0870; e-mail: aburgess@brunico.com.