Experienced television executive Vanessa Shapiro has been appointed as President of Worldwide Distribution at Gaumont Television; Vice CEO Christophe Riandee made the announcement Wednesday. Based in Los Angeles, Shapiro will report directly to Riandee and split her time between the company’s LA and Paris offices.
Shapiro will be responsible for the worldwide sales and distribution of Gaumont Television’s entire catalogue, including drama series, animation titles (new projects: Do, Re & Mi and Herself the Elf), and French series. She will oversee new and existing business development; spearhead all sales, pre-sales and co-productions liaising closely with the development department; and manage marketing needs, including the promotion and exploitation of Gaumont’s content for all programming initiatives.
Shapiro will work closely with Gene Stein, President of Gaumont Television US; Nicolas Atlan, President of Gaumont Animation; and Isabelle DeGeorges, SVP, France. Reporting to Shapiro will be Elizabeth Dreyer, SVP European Co-Productions; Hana Zidek, VP of International Distribution; and Nicola Andrews, VP of International Distribution.
“Given all of our recent activity on both the drama and animated fronts, coupled with the fact that Gene and Nicolas are both in Los Angeles, we decided to move our sales and distribution from London to Los Angeles,” said Riandee. “Vanessa is the perfect hire for this position given her outstanding track record and 20-plus years of experience, her solid and longstanding relationships around the world, and her strong financial background.”
Shapiro joins the company from MarVista Ent., where she had served as EVP of Distribution since 2007. There, she led sales, marketing and contract administration departments while overseeing all revenue streams reporting to the CEO. Prior to this, Shapiro held numerous positions at Sony Pictures Ent. from 1997 to 2007, ultimately serving as Director, Worldwide Pay Television (2001-2007).
Fluent in English and French, Shapiro holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science and International Finance from Institut d’Etudes Politiques d’Aix-en-Provence (Sciences Po Aix) in France.
