Folks are on the move - Cécile Hergaux-Essame has been upped to General Manager of Cube Creative, Caterina Gonnelli-Linden to Chief Content Officer, and Guillaume Jallot to Chief Technical Officer.
Award-winning production studio Xilam Animation (Oggy and the Cockroaches, Zig & Sharko) has announced the promotions of Cécile Hergaux-Essame to General Manager of the Xilam Group's subsidiary, Cube Creative; Caterina Gonnelli-Linden to Chief Content Officer (CCO); and Guillaume Jallot to Chief Technical Officer (CTO).
Hergaux-Essame, previously Production Manager at Cube Creative, was promoted following the departure of Cube Creative founders Lionel Fages and Majid Loukil. In her new position as General Manager, she will supervise current productions and develop new properties for the company, as well as secure premium projects from third parties. Hergaux-Essame will report to Marc du Pontavice, President of Xilam and Cube Creative.
After graduating Gobelins (LGPA) Hergaux-Essame started her career working on internationally recognised programs such as the animated series Totally Spies, before joining Cube Creative in 2014 as Director of Productions. She then became Studio Director, overseeing both internally produced projects, such as Kaeloo, Athleticus, Tangranimals, Pfffirates, as well as third-party titles including Mush-Mush for La Cabane and Brawl Stars for Supercell.
Gonnelli-Linden joined Xilam in 2020 as Head of Editorial, with a goal of steering the continuing growth of Xilam’s portfolio. She now takes on the role of CCO for the newly created content division, which will bring together several departments: literary development, graphic development and the management of editorial supervisors. Gonnelli-Linden will oversee sourcing of all of Xilam Group's content, including editorial supervision of both development and production, and she serve as first point of contact for the group's clients across these services. She will also report to du Pontavice.
Prior to Xilam, Gonnelli-Linden held a number of positions, including Director of Development and Line Producer at various independent French production companies. In 2012, she joined The Walt Disney Company, where she managed acquisitions and co-productions for the French market, before extending her remit to include pre-buy and co-productions in EMEA for Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior, and identifying and negotiating content developed by third party producers.
Jallot joined Xilam in 2019 and has since boosted the company’s use of 3D animation technology, most notably with the development of Oggy Oggy and Karate Sheep. In his new role of CTO, Jallot leads a newly formed department which brings together the R&D, IT and technical departments. He will manage the group's technological investments and strategy, with the goal of offering Xilam's talent the most effective and ergonomic tools to drive innovation at each stage of production. He will report to Dorothée Lanchier, COO of the Xilam Group.
A DNSEP graduate from the Beaux-Arts d'Angers, Jallot began his career as a 3D animator and has since held numerous positions in animation production. After five years as technical director at Moonscoop, he managed the Ellipses studio in Angoulême for two years before joining Xilam to lead the development of 3D production expertise at the company’s Angoulême site.
“Through these three very well-deserved promotions, we are structuring our organisation and positioning ourselves to respond creatively and reliably to the evolving demands of major digital platforms,” said du Pontavice. “We are pleased to entrust these responsibilities to these highly talented executives who have already proven themselves within the group over the past few years.”
Source: Xilam Animation
Whitney is a freelance writer focusing on VFX-driven fantasy film & TV as well as preschool animation.
