Acclaim Entertainment (Glen Cove, New York, 516-656-5000): The vid game studio has hired Edmond Sanctis as its new president and COO. Sanctis hails from NBC, where he most recently served as president and COO of NBC Internet. esanctis@acclaim.net

Bandai America (Cypress, California, 714-816-9500): Michael Riley joins as VP of marketing, with a remit that includes acquiring new properties, securing licensing agreements and R&D responsibilities. Riley previously served as VP of strategic marketing for film and television in Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Consumer Products division.

Bradford Licensing Associates (Upper Montclair, New Jersey, 973-509-0200): The agency that reps brand icons like PEZ and Pepsi, as well as Asian kids TV properties Panschel’s World and Milo’s Bug Quest, has marked the new year with a couple of key promotions. Former account executive Paul Zimmy has been upped to director of licensing, and Christopher Ursin moves up from manager to director of product development.

Burger King (Miami, Florida, 305-378-3000): On the heels of shifting the entire marketing staff over to its 12-year-old Burger King Brands subsidiary, the fast-food giant has named executive VP and chief marketing officer Chris Clouser president of the division, which will build on recent partnership initiatives with AOL-Time Warner and eBay. Richard Taylor has also been upped from VP of global advertising and promotions to VP of alliances and partnerships; and Craig Braasch, ex-managing director of worldwide advertising and sponsorships for Northwest Airlines, has stepped into Taylor’s old position.

Cartoon Network UK (London, England, 44-207-693-1000): With a background in the club scene that he cultured while serving as director of programs for Brit teen culture channel Rapture TV, Richard Kilgariff has joined Cartoon as channel manager and VP. As such, Kilgariff will oversee programming, presentation and interactive marketing. richard.kilgariff@turner.com

Chatsworth Television Distributors (London, England, 44-207-734-4302): Cynthia Kennedy, who formerly served as sales manager at Link Entertainment, has signed up as head of international sales and acquisitions. She is joined by sales and marketing executive Rebecca Channon, who recently left her sales and marketing assistant post at Pepper’s Ghost Productions. Together, the dynamic duo will bolster worldwide sales for Chatsworth’s portfolio, which includes preschool CGI short series Busy Buses and live-action comedy Sir Gadabout, The Worst Knight in the Land.

Cinar (Montreal, Canada, 514-843-7070): Hoping that a familiar face will help quell shareholder skittishness, which kicked into gear again with the recent exit of Cinar Entertainment president Peter Moss, the troubled production company has rehired Louis Fournier as head of distribution. Fournier, who has more than 18 years of kids biz experience under his belt, left Cinar in March 2000 to head up TVA International’s new youth animation unit as president. During his previous stint at Cinar, Fournier played a integral role in marketing kids series like Arthur, Caillou and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. lfournier@cinar.com

Corus Entertainment (Toronto, Canada, 416-534-1191): Susan Schaefer’s VP of marketing role has expanded beyond YTV and Treehouse TV to include diginet Discovery Kids, as well as a host of other adult-skewing channels within the Corus broadcast family. Similarly, as creative head of Corus Television, Dolores Keating-Mallen will now be responsible for guiding the on-air and off-air brand development for the same expanded roster of channels.

DreamWorks SKG (Universal City, California, 818-733-7000): Gearing up to fulfill a CGI development slate that includes the May release Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, as well as Madagascar, Tusker and a Wallace & Gromit feature co-pro with Aardman, Matt Davis has been promoted from feature animation coordinator to production supervisor of animation.

Entertainment Rights (London, England, 44-208-762-6200): Coming off a brief stint as Chatsworth Television’s head of sales and acquisitions, Sital Haria has joined ER as a sales executive for the Australasian region.

Hallmark Channel U.S. (Los Angeles, California, 818-755-2400): TV veteran David Kenin has taken the reins at the family net as executive VP of programming. He will oversee all aspects of the channel’s schedule, including development, acquisitions and programming strategy. Prior to joining Hallmark, Kenin ran his own media consultantcy firm in L.A.

To help Kenin manage the programming remit, Maura Dunbar has been brought aboard as VP of original programming and development. Hailing from ABC, where she served as VP of miniseries and specials, Dunbar will oversee story development and production for all long-form movies, miniseries, dramas, comedies, reality series and specials.

Primedia Enterprises (Los Angeles, California, 714-769-2304): The licensing arm of magazine publishing company Primedia has promoted Sean Holzman from senior director of licensing sales to VP. Holzman, who played an integral role in negotiating the relationship between Primedia’s Gravity Games extreme sports event and Toys ‘R’ Us and Kids ‘R’ Us, will now oversee the procurement of all licensing deals and business development. Karen Cahill has also been upped from senior director to VP of retail and product development.

Ragdoll U.S. (New York, New York, 212-966-4477): The company behind the Teletubbies has opened up a U.S. office manned with ex-itsy bitsy Entertainment Company staffers in order to manage its State-side licensing and broadcast relationships. The most significant property in the new unit’s portfolio is Teletubbies, the North American rights to which Ragdoll took back from itsy in Q4 2001.

David Levine, who previously served as itsy’s general counsel, has been named VP of corporate and business affairs; and Andrew Kerr left his director of retail relations position at itsy to join Ragdoll U.S. as VP of marketing and strategic alliances.

Sony Pictures Consumer Products (Culver City, California, 310-244-7788): Grace Ressier has been upped from senior account manager to director of publishing.

Suzy’s Zoo Studios (San Diego, California, 858-452-9401): Former Golden Books director of licensing Paula Miller will spearhead the global launch of the indie outfit’s Little Suzy’s Zoo property as VP of licensing and brand development.

Warner Bros. Online (Burbank, California, 818-977-7900): As the division’s new VP of strategic marketing, Brian Moreno will tout the wonders of the unit’s entertainment website, in addition to overseeing all strategic partnerships and advertising/promotional initiatives. Moreno’s colorful employment history includes a recent chief marketing officer position at the affluent lifestyle website Style365.com as well as a stint as executive VP of worldwide video for the Playboy Entertainment Group.