Paris-based studio Cottonwood Media (Find Me in Paris) has recruited Manon Ardisson as its first head of fiction to support more primetime and YA-skewing content production.

Hiring Ardisson will help the company build out its lucrative and growing YA live-action business, said president and co-founder David Michel in a release. Cottonwood has already produced successful live-action tween/teen series such as Spellbound (France Télévisions, Hulu, ZDF) and Theodosia (HBO Max, Globo, ZDF), which have sold to broadcasters around the world.

Based in Paris, Ardisson has worked as an indie producer on projects including feature film God’s Own Country, documentary The Solitude and short film Dave’s Wild Life. She has an impressive network, and particularly strong relationships with broadcasters and funding bodies across the UK.

Ardisson will oversee Cottonwood’s fictional content from development to post, hiring creative teams for each production stage. She starts today and reports to co-founders Cécile Laurenson, Zoé Carrera Allaix and David Michel, who is also the company’s president.

One of Cottonwood’s newest titles is Gangnam Project, a live-action tween series about a teen tutor at a K-pop training school. CBBC and CBC co-commissioned the show, which will launch on the pubcasters in February and March, respectively. The studio is also developing a new CG-animated series for six to 11s called 20 Dance Street, about a girl living in the Caribbean whose life changes when she joins the Paris Opera Ballet School.