Xilam Animation has announced the promotions of Cécile Hergaux-Essame to general manager of the Xilam Group’s subsidiary, Cube Creative; Caterina Gonnelli-Linden to chief content officer and Guillaume Jallot to chief technical officer.

Cécile Hergaux-Essame, Xilam Animation

Following the departure of Lionel Fages and Majid Loukil, the founders of Cube Creative, Xilam has upped Cécile Hergaux-Essame to the position of general manager of the subsidiary company, which Xilam acquired in January 2020. Hergaux-Essame has held the position of production manager at Cube Creative for six years and then as head of Xilam Group's studios for a year. In this new role, she will be supervising current productions, developing new properties for the company and securing premium projects from third parties. Hergaux-Essame will report into Marc du Pontavice, president, Xilam and Cube Creative. 

Hergaux-Essame is a graduate of Gobelins (LGPA) and started her career working on internationally recognized programs such as Totally Spies, before joining Cube Creative in 2014 as director of productions and then becoming studio director, overseeing internally produced projects, such as “Kaeloo,” “Athleticus,” “Tangranimals,” “Pfffirates” and third-party titles including “Mush-Mush” for La Cabane and “Brawl Stars” for Supercell.

Caterina Gonnelli-Linden, Xilam Animation

Caterina Gonnelli-Linden joined Xilam in 2020 as head of editorial, with a goal of steering the continuing growth of Xilam’s portfolio. She now takes on the role of chief content officer for a newly created content division, which will bring together several departments: literary development, graphic development and the management of editorial supervisors.  

Gonnelli-Linden will be responsible for sourcing all Xilam Group content, including editorial supervision of development and production, and she will be the first point of contact for the group's clients across these services. She reports to Marc du Pontavice, president, Xilam. 

Prior to Xilam, Gonnelli-Linden held several positions, including director of development and line producer at various independent French production companies. In 2012, she joined The Walt Disney Company, where she managed acquisitions and co-productions for the French market, before extending her remit to include pre-buy and co-productions in EMEA for Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior, and identifying and negotiating content developed by third-party producers. 

Guillaume Jallot, Xilam Animation 

Since joining Xilam in 2019, Guillaume Jallot has propelled the company’s use of 3D animation technology, notably with the development of “Oggy Oggy” and “Karate Sheep.” In his new role of chief technical officer, Jallot is leading a newly formed department which brings together the R&D, IT and technical departments. He will be responsible for managing the group's technological investments and strategy, with the goal of offering Xilam’s talent the most effective and ergonomic tools to drive innovation at each stage of production. He will report to Dorothée Lanchier, chief operating officer, Xilam Group.  

A DNSEP graduate from the Beaux-Arts d’Angers, Jallot began his career as a 3D animator and has since held numerous positions in animation production. After five years as technical director at Moonscoop, he managed the Ellipses studio in Angoulême for two years before joining Xilam to lead the development of 3D production expertise at the company’s Angoulême site. 

“Through these three very well-deserved promotions, we are structuring our organization and positioning ourselves to respond creatively and reliably to the evolving demands of major digital platforms,” says Marc du Pontavice. “We are pleased to entrust these responsibilities to these highly talented executives who have already proven themselves within the group over the past few years.” 

In December, Xilam added to its digital team, with the appointment of Jérôme Lacarrière as vice president, business development.