The kid’s animation producer and distributor appoints Laurence Barret, Stéphanie Legraverant, and Andreas J Carlen to key production, development, and R&D positions.
Kids’ animation production and distribution company Cyber Group Studios has named three industry veterans to lead its production, development, and R&D. With 10 series in production and 10 more in development this year, the studio continues to expand and is now at its largest size ever.
The newly named executives are Laurence Barret, appointed Vice President Studio Operations (Paris); Stéphanie Legraverant, promoted to Managing Director of CGS’ Roubaix studio (Hauts-de-France); and Andreas J Carlen, promoted to Chief Technology Officer for the entire group. All three will report to Dominique Bourse, COO and company co-founder.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after the company’s acquisition of a majority stake in the award-winning Italian animation studio Graphilm Entertainment. The strategic partnership should expand Cyber Studios’ creative and production capabilities, increasing its ability to meet increased demand for content across Europe and the rest of the world.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with such a talented team of executives at an exciting moment of growth for our company, where new opportunities are constantly arising in this very fast-evolving industry worldwide,” said Bourse.
Barret, in her new role as Vice President Studio Operations, will manage the Paris studio. She will also supervise all production budgets and the allocation of resources for all company studios. In addition, Barret will determine and allocate production resources to new projects in development. She was previously Head of Production & Studio Director at Ellipse Studio and Head of Production at TeamTO.
Legraverant, previously Production Director at Cyber Group Studios’ Roubaix (Hauts-de-France), has been promoted to Managing Director, Roubaix Studio, in charge of developing the company’s facilities and resources. During her tenure, the Roubaix studio developed a unique 2D production expertise that included expansion into real-time production with the development of an Unreal native pipeline, used for the studio’s first digital program, Giganto Club (26x11’). Produced in 2021/2022, the digital series, produced exclusively for AVOD platforms and social networks, launched worldwide in partnership with YouTube, on February 3, 2022.
Carlen, a veteran software engineering and Technical Director with more than 25 years of experience in the animation production and videogame industries, has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer of the group. Together, Carlen and his team will be responsible of furthering the real-time production pipe initiated in 2021 to create the Giganto Club, as well as industrializing the production process while keeping it creative-driven for the entire group worldwide. Earlier this month, it was announced the company received an Epic MegaGrant to fund further development of its virtual production and real-time animation platform.
Source: Cyber Group Studios
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
