Dandelooo sales maven Melissa Vega has left the company after 10 years to head up Paris-based Folivari’s new distribution arm, Folivari International. 

Vega, who is based in Barcelona, is currently working on setting up the division with Folivari’s management team (Damien Brunner, Sarah Delmas and Thibaut Ruby). And the first two projects it will sell are original animated series Nino Dino and Kiki & Alien. 

But Vega has also been charged with building a third-party distribution business, so she is looking to acquire animated TV series to sell internationally. 

Launching a distribution division will help the studio keep control over its international sales and strengthen its relationship with buyers, a spokesperson tells Kidscreen. 

Nino Dino, presented at Cartoon Forum 2022, is a 2D/CG-animated preschool series about a small T-Rex who—despite not being very fierce—is always up for exploring the wilderness with his prehistoric friends. This 52 x seven-minuter for five- to six-year-olds is still in development.  

And 2023 Cartoon Forum selection Kiki & Alien is a CG-animated series (52 x 13 minutes) for six to nines about two know-nothing aliens who come to Earth to learn about humans. Comedy ensues when they misunderstand pretty much everything they encounter (thinking a vacuum is used for massages, for example). 

Vega joins Folivari from Dandelooo, where she spent the last decade managing acquisitions and international sales. Some of the titles she sold there include Royals Next Door (RTP) and Pompon Little Bear (Apple TV+). 

Folivari also owns Samsam: Cosmic Adventures (which France Télévisions picked up in June 2023) and Ernest and Celestine, The Collection (which Vega previously distributed when she was at Dandelooo).