Former head of studio's IP development takes on broader strategic role heading up Jellyfish Pictures’ children’s animation production division, as the company pushes to increase its international profile and expand its programming slate.
LONDON -- Jellyfish Originals, the children’s animation production division of Jellyfish Pictures, has announced the appointment of Natalie Llewellyn to managing director. Originally joining the company in 2018 as head of IP development, she will now take on a broader strategic role and head up the company’s Originals division.
Llewellyn will lead the creative and commercial efforts of Jellyfish Originals and drive the development, distribution, rights negotiation, financing, and commercial strategy of its originals slate. The move signifies the company’s commitment to original children’s content and sees the company expand its overall offering to provide end-to-end production services as well as rights management for its in-house projects and third-party IP, under the Jellyfish Originals umbrella.
Llewellyn’s 10 years’ plus experience in the children’s production and distribution sector has enabled her to build the IP arm of Jellyfish, to extend its commercial remit, raise its international profile and grow and diversify the Original’s slate.
In the spring of 2018, Llewellyn launched an in-house creative scheme aptly named the ‘Jellyfish Creative Bloom’, encouraging Jellyfish talent to present their original ideas for a kid’s animation show. Two successful ideas were taken into active development as part of the Jellyfish Originals slate and have since been picked up by strategic commercial partners. The latest round of Creative Bloom pitches is being launched next month.
“Since joining Jellyfish Pictures, Natalie’s eye for creative brilliance and commercial savviness has propelled our Originals brand to new heights,” commented Jellyfish Pictures CEO, Phil Dobree. “Thanks to Natalie and her extensive global network of contacts across the children’s media industry, we have a solid slate of kids’ animation projects with an exciting amount of potential. Partnering us with toy manufacturers, negotiating rights with international broadcasters and entering us into strategic co-productions has positioned Jellyfish Originals as a leading player in the industry. Now as managing director, I have full confidence that Natalie will take us even further as we step into the next phase of our Jellyfish Originals journey.”
“It’s an exciting time for children’s content creation and I’m delighted to be taking the helm at Jellyfish Originals - boosting our development slate, and further strengthening our commercial efforts in both distribution and rights management,” shared Llewellyn. “I’m incredibly proud of the projects we’ve nurtured and the industry partners we’ve collaborated with to date. The future for Jellyfish Originals promises tremendous growth and that’s incredibly exciting for all involved.”
Source: Jellyfish Pictures
