Gaumont Expands Animation & Family Division with Appointment of Alex Soto (EXCLUSIVE)

By Elsa Keslassy

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Gaumont is set to expand its animation and family entertainment division with the appointment of Los Angeles-based industry veteran Alex Soto as creative director.

In his new role, which has just created, Soto will be responsible for the artistic vision of Gaumont’s series, building the creative teams for each project in development.

Current projects include Stan Sakai’s comic book series “Usagi Yojimbo;””Touch the Earth” and “Heal The Earth” from New York Times bestselling children’s book authors Julian Lennon and Bart Davis; “Molly and the Cryptos” with France Television; “Bionic Max” with French channel Gulli; “The Star Shards Chronicles,” based on the YA novels by The New York Times best-selling author Neal Shusterman; and “The Mice Templar,” based on the best-selling comic book series by Bryan J.L. Glass, among others.

Soto most recently served as head of creative development for Spin Master Entertainment, where he oversaw Super Dinosaur for Skybound Entertainment and collaborated on the rebrand of Bakugan. He also worked at Sony Pictures Animation and at Film Roman where he was supervising director on Marvel’s “Ultimate Spider-Man” for Disney XD for four seasons. Soto’s credits as supervising producer also includes the award-nominated show “Ben 10″ for Cartoon Network Studios.

At Gaumont, Soto will report to Terry Kalagian, SVP for Gaumont’s animation and family entertainment division, and will work alongside Kimberly Dennison, VP of Creative Development in the U.S. office, as well as Gaelle Guiny, VP of creative development in Paris.

“Alex is a creative force in the world of animation, his amazing vision has helped bring to life some of the most successful animated series of the past two decades,” commented Nicolas Atlan, president of animation & family for Gaumont. “(Soto) creates from the heart and that in and of itself is priceless,” added Atlan.

Meanwhile, Soto said “Nicolas, Terry, and their team have a development slate like no other – working across television and film, new characters will be introduced that are captivating, bright and refreshing.”

The executive said the company’s “slate transcends demographics and delivers premium entertainment to children and adults.”