Following the recent fusion of Sphere Media and Zone3, leading UK-based distributor Sphere Abacus (SA) has announced Mélanie Ratté will assume the role of Head of Sales for Formats and French Programming & Content Partnerships. Effective immediately, Ratté will report to Jonathan Ford, Managing Director, Sphere Abacus.
In this new created role, Mélanie will be responsible for establishing and managing, within Sphere Abacus, a scripted and unscripted format/remake sales function, leveraging the diverse range of IP from the Sphere Media, Zone3 and Sphere Abacus libraries. She will also lead worldwide sales of French Canadian programming across all genres from Sphere Media, Zone3, as well as selected third-party acquired titles. In addition, Mélanie will spearhead sales of the Sphere Media and Zone3 French programming libraries within Canada. The sales effort for the Sphere Abacus non French Programming scripted and unscripted slate continues to be led by Head of Sales Hana Palmer, reporting to Jonathan.
Patrick Di Lalla is also joining the team as Project Manager and will report directly to Mélanie.
Jonathan Ford comments, “We are delighted to have a highly regarded and specialist talent such as Mélanie to take on this new and significant role. Working alongside the continued efforts of Hana Palmer and her sales team with our English language programming slate, it is an important appointment for us and reflects our commitment to maximizing the value of our combined content portfolios, while continuing to strengthen the global positioning of our content, talent and brand.”
