Jackie O’Sullivan is the new head of production and development for Studiocanal across Australia and New Zealand.
In her new role, O’Sullivan will be charged with spearheading the expansion of Studiocanal’s development and production plans in the region. To do so, she will be building talent banks and finding projects which have broad appeal and support the cultures of Australia and New Zealand.
Earlier this month, the production house announced its first local offering “Kangaroo”, a feature film inspired by the story of Chris ‘Brolga’ Barns who has been saving and raising baby kangaroos in Central Australia since 2005.
O’Sullivan has experience at the likes of Matchbox Pictures and Animal Logic. She’s also been chief executive at Ausfilm, head of business affairs at the UK Film Council and managing director at Columbia Tristar/ Sony in Sydney.
Elizabeth Trotman, CEO at Studiocanal Australia and New Zealand, said she is thrilled O’Sullivan is joining the expanding team.
“The appointment of Jackie O’Sullivan as our head of production and development is reflective of the growth in our business and the appetite for local storytelling,” she said.
“Jackie’s wealth of experience will position is perfectly to hit the ground running and grow our existing Cultivator Fund projects.”
O’Sullivan was also excited to announce the news.
“What an exciting time to be working in film production and with a company that has the pedigree of Studiocanal,” she said.
“I am excited to bring my local and global experience to Studiocanal Australia and New Zealand and properly serve the enthusiasm for high-quality cinema content.”
Globally, Studiocanal finances and produces around 30 films per year, distributes around 50 films per year and boasts nearly 6,500 titles from 60 countries in its film library. In addition to producing films such as the Emmy Award-winning “Paddington:, it also produces more than 200 hours of TV series each year.