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Cyber Group names Miller US boss

The US division of Paris-based family entertainment company Cyber Group Studios has appointed former Disney and Universal Kids exec Karen K Miller as its new president and CEO.

Karen K Miller

Alongside Miller, Merritt D Farren has been appointed as general counsel and chief operating officer at the division, having joined in December.

The duo will work together to grow the Giganotosaurus and Zou producer’s North American development and distribution in support of the studio’s international expansion.

The appointments come after Cyber Group Studio USA’s former president and CEO Richard Goldsmith left in December and recently resurfaced atop Vancouver-based prodco Thunderbird Entertainment’s new global distribution and consumer products division.

Miller, who joins in the spring, will be responsible for all operations for the company’s LA-based office, while Farren will work with Miller to boost the company’s growth strategies while supporting Cyber Group Studios’ global acquisition and distribution initiatives.

Miller was most recently the senior VP of content for NBCUniversal (NBCU) network Universal Kids, where she oversaw strategy, development, coproductions, productions and acquisitions across all Universal Kids content.

Prior to NBCU, Miller was VP of worldwide programming strategy, acquisitions and coproductions at Disney Channels Worldwide for eight years, spearheading global content acquisitions and overseeing coproductions.

Merritt D Farren

Before The Walt Disney Company, Miller spent 17 years at Warner Bros as a producer, prior to her last position as VP of property acquisitions for Warner’s consumer products division.

Farren was most recently general counsel at SoundCloud in Berlin. Before that he spent 11 years at Amazon as chief legal officer for Audible and associate general counsel, digital media and new technologies for Amazon.

Previously, he spent 11 years at The Walt Disney Company, where he handled corporate law matters and business affairs in several divisions.

Cyber Group Studios, founded by former Disney Europe president Pierre Sissmann in 1998, established its US offices in 2017 to connect US writers and designers with their French and European counterparts.

In the US, Cyber Group recently struck a deal with Scholastic to adapt the book brand Press Start! into an animated series of the same name. The company, in partnership with its team in France, is also co-developing the CGI series James & the Everafters in coproduction with CCI in Canada, as well as Monster in my Pocket in coproduction with MEG Entertainment in LA.

“I see a tremendous amount of potential to further enhance our slate of original best in class content for kids and families to enjoy. I look forward to partnering with our team in Paris to globalise our development while leveraging Cyber’s unique strength and proven track record in global distribution, financing and high-quality production,” said Miller.

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