Los Angeles/Paris – Gaumont, the studio behind the Netflix hit series, Narcos, is adding several new executives to its global distribution team following the appointment earlier this year of Vanessa Shapiro as President of Worldwide TV Distribution & Co-Production.
In Paris, France, Cecilia Rossignol has been appointed Vice President, International TV Sales, Drama, responsible for selling and pre-selling Gaumont’s U.S. and French television programming within the EMEA territories, as well as solidifying partnerships for European co-productions. In Los Angeles, California, Cherie Johnson has joined as Vice President of Marketing to develop strategic marketing initiatives for international TV sales; and Robby Amar has joined as Vice President, TV Acquisitions & Distribution, to focus on acquiring new TV series from third party producers for worldwide distribution. Each report directly to Shapiro. Rebekah Zarbarsky also joins Gaumont as Manager, Marketing, reporting to Johnson. The new appointments are in addition to the recently announced appointment of Laura Laas to the post of Vice President, International TV Sales, Animation, who is based in Paris.
“2017 will be a year of significant growth for Gaumont with over 40 drama series across multiple genres in development between our Los Angeles and Paris offices, and our new focus on acquisitions from third party producers,” commented Shapiro. “The appointment of these highly respected and accomplished executives will be of paramount importance as we move into the production of new content over the next few months both in the U.S., and with our European co-production partners.”
Rossignol joins Gaumont from FranceTV Distribution where she was in charge of TV sales for France Télévision’s catalog toNorth America and several European territories. From 2014 to 2016, she was Head of Sales & Acquisitions at 100% Distribution; and previously, she served at Newen Distribution. Johnson previously served as West Coast Managing Director for outdoor media planning and buying agency, Kinetic; and prior, was Executive Director, Media Marketing, Promotions, and Partnerships at Game Show Network from 2009 to 2013. Amar most recently served as Executive Director of International Sales for MarVista Entertainment, joining in 2009 to oversee sales for numerous territories from his previous role as Director of International Sales at Rive Gauche Television. Zarbarsky joins from leading talent management agency, The Digital Brand Architects.
