Federation Studios bolsters its distribution division with key appointments

In light of the rapid increase of international sales activities, Federation Studios' distribution division, co-headed by Monica Levy and Guillaume Pommier, announced the appointment of three new executives.

Ilan Sarfati will join the company as International Sales Manager – Documentaries, a newly created position covering all territories. The executive, who joins from premium specialist factual producer/distributor Kwanza, where he also held the position of International Sales Manager, will be working with Raphaël Blin. Sales and Acquisitions Coordinator for the documentary area since his arrival at Federation in September 2021, Raphaël Blin steps up as Junior Sales Executive whilst supporting Sarfati’s global sales activities on all territories, and continuing on his role as documentary coordinator.

The sales team will also count on Jérômine Ader de la Villardière who joins Federation as International Sales Manager – Drama and Kids for LatAm, Spain, Portugal and the Middle East. She replaces Isabella Barsumian, who has left to pursue a new business opportunity after five years at the company. Prior to joining Federation, Jérômine Ader de la Villardière was Sales Manager at Superights.

Both Ilan Sarfati and Jérômine Ader de la Villardière will report to Sarah Zarka, Head of International Sales. They will join Federation on September 1 and will attend the Rendez-Vous d’Unifrance, held in Biarritz from September 3-7.

The distribution team also welcomed newly appointed Cloé Billois as Sales Administrator. Billois’ role focuses on overseeing the administrative management of sales and acquisitions as Federation scales up its in-house sales monitoring. Having recently joined Federation this summer, she previously held positions as Sales Support for Newen Connect and Sales Administrator at Mediawan Rights. Billois reports to Stanislas Frecher, SVP Business Affairs & Formats.

A year ago, Federation’s distribution division announced structural changes designed to support the rapid expansion of its catalog and business volume. This included the appointment of Guillaume Pommier as Co-Head of Distribution alongside Monica Levy, as well as the promotion of Sarah Zarka to the position of Head of international Sales. A few months later, in January 2023, the integration of the catalog of Calt Distribution (a Federation subsidiary) to the Federation sales marked another substantial milestone, as Lucile Avezard, International Sales Manager, joined the team.