Award-winning French animation studio Xilam Animation has appointed Charles Courcier to Head of Digital Production. In this newly created position, Courcier is responsible for sourcing, developing, financing and producing original web series to expand Xilam’s presence on YouTube, in addition to growing the studio’s presence across AVOD platforms. Additionally, Courcier will develop animated web series targeted at adult audiences. He is based in Xilam’s head office in Paris and reports to Morgann Favennec, EVP Global Sales Development.
Courcier joins from Amuse, a subsidiary of Millimages dedicated to digital production and distribution, where he served as Head of Digital Production. He was responsible for progressing the company’s global business strategy, setting up the internal studio and developing Amuse’s production pipeline. In four years, the Amuse team grew from three to 70 people, producing content and sharing it across video platforms where it notches up over 600M monthly views. Prior to then, Courcier held positions at Gaumont Animation and Sacrebleu Productions.
Xilam’s presence in the digital market continues to accelerate and the company recently hit a new milestone in its digital growth, reaching 10 million subscribers across its YouTube channels. This increase has been fuelled by the launch of a dedicated YouTube channel for Xilam’s hit preschool series Paprika in May called “Learn and Play with Paprika Twins!” featuring bespoke ‘learn and play’ content for pre-schoolers. Alongside this, Xilam launched a local channel for Oggy and the Cockroaches in India where the show is hugely popular among kids. In just a few weeks, the channel amassed 600k subscribers and over 150 million views.
Morgann Favennec, EVP Global Sales Development at Xilam Animation said: “We’re delighted to welcome Charles to the Xilam Animation team. His arrival comes at a hugely exciting time for our company as we continue celebrating success and growth in the digital arena. Charles’ wealth of experience in identifying original IPs which will engage international audiences, alongside effectively managing the production process, will enable us to significantly expand our online content offering for both young and adult audiences.”
Charles Courcier added: “As a leading animation studio with a fantastic portfolio of award-winning animated properties, I’m thrilled to join Xilam Animation and help build upon the studio’s success in the digital space. I look forward to working closely with the hugely talented team to develop a pipeline of strong, original IPs and engaging digital content which will not only resonate with Xilam’s existing fan-base but also with new audiences around the world.”
