ACE Taps GRB Alum to Drive New Push for Family-Adventure TV Movies

ACE Entertainment Films has launched a new strategic initiative to develop, produce and distribute original adventure-family movies, with former GRB Studios executive Marielle Zuccarelli on board to lead the effort.

The company has named Zuccarelli to the newly created position of president of global sales. She will be based in Los Angeles.

ACE already has distribution agreements in place and original content in the pipeline, including The Adventures of Jurassic Pet, which has wrapped production. The story of an adventurous teenager who must find the courage to help a friendly dinosaur escape from the clutches of a mad scientist, the film has been pre-sold to Grindstone Entertainment Group, a Lionsgate Company, in North America, France Television in France and Kew Media in the U.K.

Two films now in post-production include A.R.I. and The Adventures of Rufus The Fantastic Pet. In A.R.I., a friendly robot is kidnapped by a ruthless and powerful corporation seeking to turn him into a dangerous weapon. The Adventures of Rufus features two teenagers who discover a mysterious creature; working with a wizard, they must make a magic dust to save her, while battling evil forces who want to steal the dust. These films have also been pre-sold to Grindstone Entertainment Group in North America, France Television in France and Kew Media in the U.K.

Additionally, two other films currently in development—Joey & Ella, the story of the friendship between a teenage girl and a talking kangaroo, and CIA Chimp, about the first chimp to join the CIA—have also been pre-sold to Grindstone Entertainment Group in North America.

These productions and others in development or pre-production will be featured at the upcoming American Film Market in November. ACE Entertainment Films retains licensing and merchandising and secondary rights for all of its original IP.

Zuccarelli was previously COO and head of global television and distribution for GRB, where she led P&L efforts for the company and drove organizational and profit growth across domestic television, digital, brand partnerships, international distribution and program acquisition. Prior to that, she was executive VP of program distribution for Sonar Entertainment. She led the company’s sales division and was responsible for all media sales, co-productions and program acquisitions.

“We have embarked on an ambitious program for growth and expansion centered around developing our own content and owning our IP,” said Sebastien Semon, co-founder and managing partner of ACE. “The adventure-family space is an underserved market niche and, with Marielle now a key part of our leadership team, we are perfectly positioned to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities going forward.”

“Marielle’s expertise and experience will help us reach markets and buyers keen for the types of productions we are creating—family-friendly films with sophisticated CGI elements that have a U.S. look but a European touch to the storytelling and artistic point of view, as well as a subtle prosocial message,” added Jerome Reygner-Kalfon, ACE co-founder and managing partner.

“ACE has identified a tremendously exciting marketplace opportunity with a huge upside,” added Zuccarelli. “I am excited to join the ACE team. I’m looking forward to contributing to making this vision a reality and helping to expand the presence of ACE worldwide as we go forward.”