Pierre Belaisch has been promoted to Chief Creative Officer of Cyber Group Studios, succeeding Pierre Sissmann, and reporting to Dominique Bourse, Chairman and CEO.
“I’m thrilled about this promotion and grateful to Dominique for his confidence in me,” said Belaisch. “Our industry is going through a very tough period of disruption. These moments are both difficult and exciting because they expand the field of possibility. With our exceptional team, we’re going to turn this into an opportunity and make sparks fly!”
In his new role, Belaisch will oversee the creative affairs of Cyber Group Studios. He will set the vision and strategy for the company’s series development slate, and is tasked with ensuring that the projects developed convey the creative signature of the company’s productions: “great and meaningful stories that engage and entertain children around the world, sparking their imagination.”
Belaisch will also be responsible for ensuring that the shows are developed within the market’s ability to finance their budgeted production costs. He will oversee creative continuity from the development stage through the production process, ensuring that each series meets client expectations and resonates with its target audience. To that end, he will have a coordination dotted line with Raphaelle Mathieu, COO, who is notably in charge of financing the new series, overseeing their production, and selling them to hundreds of broadcasters and streamers worldwide.
Overall, Belaisch will work with the top creative talent to make each project unique, innovative, purposeful and memorable, and with the company’s production teams to ensure that each series’ creative ambition remains within its production budget.
The new CCO will also supervise the company’s North American development, led by six-year company veteran Ira Singerman, and support and coordinate the creative development strategies of the company’s partner studios: A. Productions in Bristol, Graphilm Entertainment in Rome and Scrawl Animation in Singapore.
“Pierre’s immense talent lies in his unique artistic intuition, a rare alchemy resulting from his long experience as a broadcaster and producer,” Bourse pointed out. “His role in the growth of the company is crucial, because at Cyber Group Studios, everything stems from artistic creation. I have no doubt that Pierre and his team’s developments will win over broadcasters and streaming platforms around the world. His experience in the advertising field will also be valuable in developing high-impact content for social networks.” said Dominique Bourse.
Belaisch spent five years as Senior Vice President of Creative Development at Cyber Group Studios. During his tenure, series such as 50/50 Heroes, Press Start, Alex Player, Final Fantasy IX and The McFire Family, were developed to delight millions of children around the world.
Prior to Cyber Group Studios, he spent six years at Gaumont Animation as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, where he produced famous animated series such as Calimero, Noddy, Belle and Sebastian, Dude That’s My Ghost and Furry Wheels; 11 years at Lagardere Channels as General Manager, Programming and Broadcasting, where he created and managed Canal J, Tiji, Filles TV, Virgin17, MCM and Gulli; two years at TF1, where he contributed to the creation of TFou !; and eight years at Leo Burnett as a media planner and key account manager.
