European studio Amuse Animation sets up Beijing base with Entin Liu in charge

Europe’s Amuse Animation has set up an office in China to be headed by distribution, coproduction and licensing executive Entin Liu.

Entin Liu

The expansion follows Amuse’s appointment of Jiella Esmat, former senior director of distribution and content partnerships for Moonbug, as its London-based chief revenue officer, to whom Liu will report.

As head of Asia Pacific (APAC) in Beijing, Liu will be responsible for managing local distribution and coproduction relationships and developing consumer product opportunities throughout the region.

Amuse Animation was set up in 2014 by Arthur Lener, son of Roch Lener, CEO of French producer and distributor Millimages, to produce cost-efficient animation aimed at preschoolers.

Prior to joining the company, Liu distributed content regionally for Fifth Season, Regency and Paramount (Nickelodeon/Viacom); facilitated coproductions for Fox, Insight TV and Tencent; and managed licensing for Aniplex (Demon Slayer), Planet Junior (Milo) and ADK (Yu-Gi-Oh!). She also worked as director of international distribution and licensing at the Fox Networks Group.

Amuse Animation has various partnerships in APAC, including with Tencent in China. The new office in China joins the company’s existing business activities in Paris, Gran Canaria and London.

Esmat said: “China is an instrumental part of our expansion plan as we prepare to scale the company outside of YouTube and move into full 360 IP exploitation. We’re building on our existing success in this uniquely dynamic market and are looking forward to brokering coproductions and long-term animation alliances between our partners in the East and the West.”