Xilam Animation appoints Caterina Gonnelli-Linden as co-Chief Executive Officer alongside Marc du Pontavice
Xilam Animation announced on October 6, 2026 a new management structure, effective immediately: the studio's executive leadership is now shared between two executives, and two operational managers have been promoted to Deputy Chief Executive Officers.
According to the group, this shared leadership should allow Marc du Pontavice to focus fully on strategy and diversification, particularly the development of feature film production.
A co-Chief Executive Officer responsible for children's programming
On the recommendation of the president, the board of directors appointed Caterina Gonnelli-Linden as co-Chief Executive Officer. She also becomes an authorized representative alongside Marc du Pontavice, to whom she reports. She assumes operational responsibility for the development and production of children's programs intended for television and digital platforms, of which she will also be the producer.
She shares with Marc du Pontavice editorial responsibility for series intended for adults, which he continues to oversee personally. From a functional standpoint, she supervises four departments: content, operations, distribution, and human resources.
Having joined Xilam in 2020 as editorial director, she had been leading the Content division since February 2023, during which time the studio produced the series Piggy Builders and Submarine Jim. She previously spent thirteen years at France Animation, which became Moonscoop, and then eight years at Disney, where she managed acquisitions and co-productions for Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior. In the press release, Marc du Pontavice presents this new governance as "an investment in the future," as the group indicates it is turning the page on the crisis that affected the animation sector.
Two Deputy Chief Executive Officers, Marc du Pontavice retains strategy
Camille Wiplier and Safaa Benazzouz have been promoted to Deputy Chief Executive Officers, both reporting to Caterina Gonnelli-Linden. Camille Wiplier, who has been at Xilam for nearly twenty years, heads the Operations department, which she has overseen since January 2026, as well as the Information Technology and Technical Services department.
Safaa Benazzouz, who has led the Distribution department since September 2023, drives the distribution and marketing strategy for content: international sales, marketing and communications, digital publishing, and merchandising. The catalog in question comprises more than 3,000 episodes, broadcast in over 190 countries.
Marc du Pontavice retains responsibility for strategy, shareholder relations, supervision of financial and legal services, and oversight of diversification into cinema, with a target of one film release per year starting in 2026. The executive committee now has eight members, of which 60% are women, and the group indicates that the daily contacts for teams remain unchanged.
