Tel Aviv-based toyco PMI Kids’ World has hired former Viacom and ZAG consumer products exec Mark Kingston as a consultant to guide its expansion into preschool brands. 

Kingston will head up licensing and business development in an advisory role, helping to steer the direction of PMI’s licensed brand portfolio, including recent additions such as Toikido’s buzzy Piñata Smashlings and Kitka Games’ Stumble Guys. 

PMI also inked its first preschool master toy deal in June for Creature Cases, which is owned and produced by Sony Pictures Television–Kids (formerly Silvergate Media). The manufacturer is gearing up to launch a toy line based on the Netflix animated series sometime next year. 

Other preschool IPs in PMI’s stable include PAW Patrol and Peppa Pig, and it also makes and markets toys based on WildBrain’s Sonic Prime series and popular video game Among Us. 

Based in London, Kingston started in his new role on October 1 and reports to Omer Dekel, PMI’s COO. 

Before establishing his own consulting firm (Libertas Brands) in September, Kingston worked at ZAG as an SVP of global consumer products, and he previously held senior-level positions at Paramount Global (SVP of international consumer products) and Disney, where he managed the company’s licensed business with retail chain Tesco.