Puech exits Planet Nemo for Play Big

The founder and president of French animation studio Planet Nemo has stepped down to launch a distribution company with its own service arm.

Frédéric Puech

Frédéric Puech has set up Paris- and Lille-based Play Big, which will distribute and develop animated content for children and families, and Something Big, which will offer tailored creative and production services to third parties.

Puech has helped create and coproduce 15 series and more than 600 episodes of animation such as Bali, Mila Twisted Tales, Rita & Whastit, What’s the Big Idea and Groove High during his 15 years with Planet Nemo.

China’s Benlai Pictures (Superbuilders) and Japan’s Tezuka Productions (Astro Boy) have both already come on board as clients of Something Big.

Play Big, meanwhile, is developing its own original projects and has already secured deals to develop several animated TV series, the firm said. Its first, as-yet-unannounced series is being co-developed with Taiwan based Dot2Dot.