The French animation studio behind The Smurfs series is expanding its production team with three new hires. Gaëlle Guiny (pictured bottom right), Pierre Reyssat (pictured left) and Audrey Serre (pictured top right) will join as producers, working with an existing team that includes Aubane Fillon, Katell France and Maia Tubiana to create new content. 

Guiny joined Média-Participations on February 1 and hails from Gaumont Animation, where he was a director of development for 2D and 3D animation. Reyssat followed suit on February 7, fresh from a stint at Onyx Films/On Entertainment, where he worked as a producer on projects such as Le Petit Prince and Popples. And starting on April 12, Serre is a former deputy director of development for Groupe Xilam/Cube and has worked on Angry Birds Stella and Pfffirates. 

The new producers were all brought in to help the company turn its comic book IPs into new TV content. This adaptation strategy has paid off for Média-Participations and its subsidiaries recently, with M6 ordering both Kid Lucky and Living with Dad.

Guiny, Reyssat and Serre will report to former M6 Group director Lila Hannou, who joined Média-Participations in September as VP of creative development and strategy, with a focus on building out the company’s co-production portfolio.