Mediawan Group is relocating its distribution business to London and has tapped Sally Habbershaw to oversee the team in a new chief distribution officer position, as Mediawan Rights CEO Valérie Vleeschhouwer prepares to depart.

Vleeschhouwer has been with Mediawan since 2017, and she played a key role in integrating the distribution activity of Lagardère Studios (2020) and Leonine Studios (2024) into the larger business. She will work with Habbershaw until she leaves.

Sally Habbershaw.

In her new London-based role, Habbershaw will be responsible for content sales and acquisitions, overseeing worldwide distribution for Mediawan’s 80 production companies, including Submarine and Leonine. Mediawan’s sales teams in France and Germany will work closely with Habbershaw, and more appointments to the sales teams are expected to be announced soon, according to a release.

Before joining Mediawan, Habbershaw was All3Media International’s EVP of the Americas, and she worked in programming roles at NBCEurope, A&E Networks and AMC Networks earlier in her career. Mediawan distributes 2,500 half hours of kids programming such as Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir and third-party acquisitions like Maddie & Triggs. Mediawan Kids & Family is Mediawan’s production/distribution division dedicated to animation. It recently attended Cartoon Forum to pitch a few new projects, including Artefacts, Thieves of Thieves, which it was finalizing financing for.