Former Cyber Group Studios exec Raphaelle Mathieu is kicking off her new venture as an executive producer and sales/finance guru by helping Kartoon Studios taste the “hunny” with its new take on Winnie the Pooh.

Mathieu set up Samax Entertainment in October, offering herself up as an executive producer, co-producer and financing expert who can help connect creators with buyers. Her long-term plan is to build a slate of kids & family projects (both live-action and animated).

Her first is Kartoon Studios’ Hundred Acre Wood’s Winnie and Friends. Kartoon CEO Andy Heyward brought Mathieu on board as an executive producer, and she’s busy connecting with potential buyers to set up a splashy launch for the brand.

The studio has big ambitions for Winnie and Friends, raising US$30 million in financing from Catalyst Ventures to build a franchise that will include an animated series (208 x seven minutes), multiple holiday specials and an L&M program.

Kartoon is going all in because Winnie the Pooh is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time—with an estimated US$50 billion in revenue from retail, home video and box-office sales—and the property is now in the public domain. And having Mathieu in the mix strengthens the formula for building a hit with this new series, says Heyward. “No one knows the business better than her.”

A teaser is available, and the response from buyers has been positive, says Mathieu. She credits this momentum in part to the talent Kartoon Studios has assembled for the series—including executive producer Linda Woolverton, who wrote The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast; music composer Danny Elfman (Batman, Beetlejuice); and showrunner Elise Allen (Princess Power).

Several talent and commercial announcements are coming in Q1, and Kartoon was gearing up to break news about a big distribution deal at press time. The studio is also working on expanding the brand with a Winnie and Friends consumer products program. So far, one of Mathieu’s most significant contributions to the series has been tapping into her experience managing global sales at Cyber Group to craft how Kartoon approaches European producers and buyers.

It was her track record building series like Gigantosaurus into global hits that led Heyward to reach out to Mathieu early in 2025, while she was still at Cyber Group. Then CGS went into liquidation in the summer, creating an opportunity for them to work together.

For Mathieu, the chance to partner with Heyward on a brand as iconic as Winnie the Pooh was too exciting to pass up.

“He really wanted to team up with someone on the international market [side of the business] who would be able to support the company and work with the same appetite and enthusiasm that he has. And when I saw the first two minutes of the show, I literally fell in love with it.”

Image courtesy of Kartoon Studios.