eOne, King Bert execs join 9 Story

Canadian kids and family specialist 9 Story Media Group has appointed former Entertainment One (eOne) and King Bert Productions execs as it expands its distribution and development teams.

Joss Duffield

Joss Duffield has been named VP of distribution for Europe and will be based in London, reporting to Alix Wiseman, senior VP of distribution and acquisitions.

Duffield will be responsible for Dublin-based 9 Story Distribution International’s business across Western Europe, continuing to bolster the division’s growth in these markets.

As head of international sales at eOne, she was instrumental in the relaunch and world-wide roll-out of the Peppa Pig brand. Most recently, Duffield served as director of content for Northern Europe at Turner, where she was responsible for a multi-genre distribution portfolio, including drama (TNT), local European drama (TNT Germany), comedy (Adult Swim), non-scripted (Tru TV) and children’s programming (Cartoon Network).

Gráinne McNamara steps into the new role of VP of live-action, development and production, reporting to chief creative officer Angela Santomero.

Gráinne McNamara

McNamara will be responsible for leading the company’s overall development efforts for original television series in live-action kids and family. McNamara is joining from King Bert Productions where she grew a children’s development slate and produced Malory Towers for CBBC and Family Channel Canada.

Prior to King Bert, McNamara worked as head of live-action development for Disney Channels EMEA and before that as VP of development for Cake Entertainment, where her credits included Bottersnikes & Gumbles and Chicken Invaders In Space.

In addition, Jennifer Bol has been appointed senior VP of legal and business affairs having previously worked at DHX (now WildBrain), while Boris Beaubien has joined the Toronto team as VP of technology, having previously been involved in the start-up of Nickelodeon’s CG animation studio in California.