E1 Entertainment Taps Dumont to Lead E1 Kids
09 June 2010
Industry veteran to oversee rapidly expanding global operations -
LONDON/TORONTO/LOS ANGELES – JUNE 8, 2010 – E1 Entertainment, a leading international TV and film company, has announced that Olivier Dumont has been named Managing Director, E1 Kids. In this new role, Dumont will report to the E1 Television CEO, John Morayniss and will oversee and unite all the commercial and creative activities of E1 Kids' combined operations including development, production, sales, licensing and merchandising.
"I've watched E1 closely over the past several years and have been impressed with its rapid growth in the Kids arena and generally as a major international entertainment group," said Dumont. "I look forward to further integrating E1 Kids' global operations as well as adding new hit series to its existing list of properties including such gems as 'Peppa Pig®' and 'Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom.'"
"With a wealth of experience in the production and marketing of Kids content as well as licensing and merchandising, Olivier was the obvious choice to lead E1 Kids," said Morayniss. "His international experience will be especially useful as we strive to maximize the synergies among our London, Toronto and LA operations."
For the past five years, Dumont has been Managing Director at Paris-based TV Loonland, splitting his time between France and the UK, overseeing all creative and commercial activities including sourcing and development of Kids and family entertainment properties. He was also responsible for developing those properties into global TV, Home Entertainment, New Media and Licensing & Merchandising brands. One of the key properties he was involved with co-producing and distributing was the hit pre-school series 'Little Princess' which currently airs in more than 185 markets worldwide and has an accompanying Licensing and Merchandising program rolling out.
Along with supervising all E1 Kids' UK, Canadian and U.S. activities, Dumont will assist in fulfilling E1's objective to continually add new children's content and brands to its portfolio by continuing to oversee development and production at Frog Box, a company he founded that now has an exclusive distribution agreement with E1.
"Our Kids division is an important engine of growth for E1, as part of our television activities", said Patrice Theroux, President Filmed Entertainment with E1. "We have gained significant expertise from our tremendous pre-school success 'Peppa Pig' and it has allowed E1 to develop strong production, sales, licensing and merchandising divisions. This appointment will allow us to streamline our resources in the UK, Canada and the U.S. which will position E1 as a truly unique partner for the continued creation and management of brands and franchises in the Kids programming sector."
Prior to joining TV Loonland, Dumont served as MD of SIP Animation where he was responsible for development, financing, production and distribution of animated series. At SIP, he was also executive producer on several programs including the hit action adventure comedy series 'W.I.T.C.H.', co-produced with Super RTL, Jetix Europe, ABC USA and France Televisions, and 'A.T.O.M. Alpha Teens on Machines' with Hasbro and Jetix Europe.
His career in television and kids programming began in 1993 when he joined Europe Images International – a major distributor of live action, documentary and animation programming. He also worked at French broadcaster Canal J where he was responsible for acquisitions and co-productions and oversaw the complete revamping of the broadcaster's line-up in terms of programming genre and programming scheduling.
Dumont studied French and Anglo American law at the Université Paris X Nanterre and intellectual property law at Université Panthéon Assas (Paris II).
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About E1 Entertainment
E1 Entertainment (AIM: ETO) is a leading international independent entertainment group of companies that specialises in the acquisition, production and distribution of film and television content. The Group's comprehensive network extends around the globe including Canada, the U.S., the UK, Ireland, Benelux, France, Australia, and New Zealand. Through established Entertainment and Distribution divisions, the company provides extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production, kids programming and merchandising and licensing. Its current rights library is exploited across all media formats and includes more than 20,000 film and television titles, 2,400 hours of television programming and 45,000 music tracks.
For more information:
Scott MacFadyen
E1 Entertainment
Tel: 416-646-4450