Cosmos-Maya Taps Former Disney & Viacom18 Exec

The animation studio Cosmos-Maya is further expanding its senior team in Mumbai with the appointment of Priti Karandikar as senior VP of new business.

Karandikar’s immediate focus for growth will be in licensing and merchandising, EdTech content creation and new digital media. She will report to Cosmos-Maya CEO Anish Mehta.

Priti has over 15 years of sales and marketing experience and has held senior positions in the consumer products divisions at The Walt Disney Company and Viacom18. At Disney, where she worked for close to a decade, she was part of the brand building efforts in India right from the start-up phase in 2004. Karandikar has been a part of the core L&M team at Viacom18 as a sales director, managing five key categories for the entire kids’ portfolio across India and servicing brands including Colgate, Kellogg’s, Perfetti and ITC for Viacom18’s promotional licensing portfolio.

Commenting on the appointment, Mehta said: “It is a very exciting time to be in the kids’ audiovisual space. With the sheer increase in consumption, proliferation of platforms and new technology coming in every day, the market is robust and full of opportunity. My hearty welcome to Priti, as she joins us in a new growth phase as a business. With Priti heading up business development, we envisage a more holistic approach to brand monetization, with all divisions working in tandem to drive revenues.”

Karandikar added: “I thank the Cosmos-Maya family for making this transition so seamless. Cosmos-Maya has some of the most established kids’ brands in its portfolio, those which lend themselves beautifully to licensing and brand extensions. My immediate focus areas are L&M, EdTech content creation and new digital media with the aim to further strengthen the value chain right from content creation to content monetization for the next cycle of growth.”

Devdatta Potnis, senior VP of revenue and corporate strategy, said: “Priti is an astute salesperson with the right blend of enthusiasm, passion and diligence. She is a welcome addition to the sales force, which has now become stronger and more diversified.”