* Veteran broadcasting executive Len Cochrane has been appointed to replace John Riley as the new president of Teletoon.

President of The Family Channel for the past 11 years, Cochrane began his career in 1983 as the regional manager of Cancom, where he held progressively more senior positions until his departure in 1990.

* Paul de Silva, VP of programming for Vision TV, has been appointed special executive in charge of production for the network. He will kick start his new role on the half-hour sitcom Lord Have Mercy, currently in development, and the 13-part doc series Sex and the Sacred.

De Silva will also proceed as chair of the International Council for Cultural Diversity in Film and Television and be a spokesman for Vision on issues pertaining to cultural diversity and independent production.

Chris Johnson, currently chief strategist for Vision and former director of TVOntario, has been named to replace de Silva as VP of programming, effective immediately. De Silva’s tenure ends Dec. 31.

* Mainframe Entertainment is expanding its presence in L.A. with the appointment of Mark Fleischer as president of Mainframe USA.

‘It it is especially fitting that the grandson of the great animation pioneer, Max Fleischer, take the reins of our Los Angeles-based animation studio,’ says Brett Gannon, newly appointed president and COO of the Vancouver-based parent company.

As president of Fleischer Studios in Los Angeles, Fleischer worked with Mainframe to develop a new animated television series based on the cartoon icon Betty Boop, a creation of Max Fleischer’s. For the last two years, he has also served as managing partner of the Los Angeles office of the New York law firm Squadron, Ellenoff, Plesent and Sheinfeld.

Previously, Fleischer was executive VP, entertainment business development at MGM.

* Denise Cooper has been appointed to the newly created position of VP, business and legal affairs, CHUM Television.

Cooper joined the company in 1993 as legal counsel.

* Rudy Buttignol has been re-elected for another two-year term as chair of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

An eight-time Gemini Award winner, Buttignol has been a presence in Canada’s film and television industry for more than 25 years. He is the creative head of documentaries, drama and networks at TVOntario, chair of the Toronto Documentary Forum, and represents the Association of Educational Broadcasters on the board of the Canadian Television Fund.

* Joelle Levie has been appointed director-general of the cinema and television production unit for sodec. Since 1997, Levie was director of Quebec operations at Telefilm Canada.

City of Montreal government relations administrator Pierre Major is named director-general of administration, while SODEC administrator Gilles Corbeil moves to the new position of director-general, recordings and variety performances, books, and arts and crafts unit, formerly called the support program for cultural businesses. Levie and Major begin their new duties Nov. 5.

* At the Vancouver office of the CFTPA, Neil Haggquist is the new VP industrial relations, replacing Richard Longpre who moved to law firm Heenan Blaikie.

Haggquist spent 18 years negotiating collective agreements at the Directors Guild of Canada’s B.C. District Council and was commissioner of the Compensation Fairness Program, which regulated public sector wages in B.C. Haggquist, who began Oct. 1, brings with him Andrew Williamson, his assistant at the DGC.

In other CFTPA B.C. news, Leanore Copeland has been promoted from director of external relations to VP external relations and operations and will oversee administration at the Vancouver office.