The entertainment company has promoted content distribution vet Deb Pierson and longtime licensing exec Lloyd Mintz to SVP positions. 

Genius Brands International (GBI) has elevated Debra Pierson  and Lloyd Mintz  to SVP positions. Pierson has been named SVP of global content distribution and marketing, while Mintz will serve as SVP of worldwide consumer products at the California-based entertainment company. Both Pierson and Mintz will report directly to Genius Brands chairman and CEO Andy Heyward.

In her new role, Pierson will oversee Genius Brands’ global content distribution business for its catalog of animated properties, including music-based YouTube brand SpacePOP, upcoming Netflix series Llama Llama and new preschool brand Rainbow Rangers. She will also handle distribution for new properties currently in development.

Pierson will also identify potential co-pro partners and advise on the development of new and acquired properties for both international and domestic distribution. She remains president of Genius Brands’ Kids Genius Cartoon Channel (a role she took on last December) and will continue to work in collaboration with the channel’s executive chairman, Margaret Loesch.

Before joining GBI in March 2016 as GM of Kid Genius, Pierson spent six years as VP of sales and marketing for multiplatform kids entertainment channel Kabillion. She was also previously VP of specialty merchandise for Neopets, where she created the independent retailer merchandise and licensing strategy for the virtual brand.

Mintz, meanwhile, will boost global awareness for GBI’s roster of IPs, including the implementation of global licensing and merchandising programs for signature brands. He was appointed Genius Brands VP of consumer products in August 2014. Previously, he served as VP of domestic corporate licensing for Hasbro and managed his own licensing consulting business.

Earlier this year, Nickelodeon scooped up GBI’s preschool series Rainbow Rangers for Nick Jr. US. Mattel-owned Fisher-Price has also signed on as the brand’s global master toy partner. The 52 x 11-minute series—currently in development—follows Earth’s First Responders, a group of seven girls who save the environment with their unique personalities and powers.