Xilam Appoints Head of Business Development for China

Xilam Animation has tapped former Amuse executive Manya Zhou for the newly created position of head of business development for China.

Zhou will be responsible for developing Xilam’s strategy in China, including managing local linear and digital distribution, licensing and marketing and potential co-production opportunities. Additionally, Zhou will forge strategic partnerships and build awareness in the market across Xilam’s IPs, including Oggy and the Cockroaches, Zig & Sharko, Paprika, Mr Magoo and Moka.

Zhou will be based in Xilam’s head office in Paris and report to Morgann Favennec, executive VP of global sales development.

Zhou joins Xilam from Amuse, a subsidiary of Millimages dedicated to digital production and distribution, where she was manager of the Asian market and handled co-production, investment and licensing opportunities for the company’s IPs with Chinese partners. Zhou also managed distribution of Amuse’s animated properties across major local digital, OTT and IPTV platforms in addition to creating and launching new IPs in China.

Prior to this, Zhou held roles at Spideo, in addition to the Festival National du Film d’animation and Festival Ciné-Jeune de l’Aisne in France.

Favennec said: “I’m delighted to welcome Manya to the Xilam Animation team. China represents a huge growth opportunity for us and with her wealth of experience and comprehensive knowledge of the market, we’re confident she will play a pivotal role in not only maximizing the local potential of our existing IPs, but also forging new partnerships to deepen our presence in the region.”

Zhou added: “I’m thrilled to join Morgann and the team to further fuel the success that Xilam has achieved in China already. With its fantastic and rapidly growing slate of animated content, I look forward to building awareness of Xilam’s properties in the region and embarking on this exciting new chapter in the company’s international growth.”