Cyber Group Studios ups Michèle Massonnat for sales & recruits WB exec Ben Abrass for digital

L-R: Ben Abrass & Michele Massonnat

French animation producer and distributor Cyber Group Studios has made a pair of new senior appointments with Michèle Massonnat promoted to VP of sales and acquisitions and Warner Bros. exec Ben Abrass named head head of digital.

Massonnat is elevated from her previous role as senior sales manager and will now take charge of the company’s sales in French, German, Spanish, and Dutch-speaking European countries in addition to Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, the Middle East, Africa, and Canada.

She reports directly to Raphaelle Mathieu, EVP of Cyber Group Studios, who was promoted to oversee global commerical activites for the company last year. Together they will establish the company’s global sales strategy.

Abrass, meanwhile, joins Cyber Group Studios from his role at a creative strategist at Warner Bros. In his new role, he will oversee the company’s digital strategy, developing native content, creating new revenue streams with a focus on D2C and Web3 and finding “new and innovative ways to engage and inspire viewers.” He will also report directly to Mathieu.

At Warner Bros, Abrass worked on digital-first projects and while there was selected to be part of Hatch, WarnerMedia’s talent program for the launch of HBO MAX.

“This is a very exciting time for us,” said Mathieu. “I am proud to strengthen our team with these two exceptional talents. More than ever, we are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in animation and in the digital space.”

Cyber Group was founded in 2005 and has offices in France, the US, the UK, Italy and Singapore. It took a majority stake in UK outfit A Productions and Italy’s Graphilm Entertainment last year.

More recently, the company picked up exclusive distribution rights to North American animation studio Splash Entertainment’s entire catalogue, including Chloe’s Closet, Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch and Norm of the North.