Animation studio ZAG has appointed former MGA Entertainment and Warner Bros executive Carlotta Caracciolo as its first VP, Middle East and Africa, to oversee the company’s consumer products strategy in the region.  The appointment was announced today by Julian Zag, SVP Global Operations and Head of Consumer Products, to whom Caracciolo reports.

In her new role at ZAG, Caracciolo, who will be based in Dubai, will focus on building a consumer products programme for the Middle East and Africa for properties in the ZAG Heroez portfolio, with an initial focus on Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir and the company’s newest series, Ghostforce.

Miraculous has broad reach across the Middle East, with the series available on Disney Channel and MBC, whose MBC3 channel for kids is the most popular and biggest in the region. Combined, Miraculous reaches kids in Arabic across Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, West Bank and Gaza, Qatar, Saudi, Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Aran Emirates and Yemen. In Turkey, the series is available on Disney Channel. South and Sub-Saharan Africa is covered by Disney; with MBC reaching Northern Africa.

“The Middle East and Africa have become a top priority for ZAG, and the Disney/MBC combination is a perfect duo for us to reach children and families across the region,” says Julian Zag. “Miraculous is garnering strong ratings, particularly in Saudi Arabia, where the series ranked in the number-one slot on MBC following its launch in 2018, and has remained among the top programmes ever since. Carlotta will lead our market expansion in the region and drive the development of licensing partners for our portfolio of brands.”

Caracciolo served for the past three years as Head of Sales and Licensing, Middle East and Africa, at MGA Entertainment, where she was instrumental in launching the licensing and toy programme for L.O.L. Surprise! across the region. Prior, she was a Category Manager at the licensing agency Shooting Stars, where she managed and developed the softlines accounts for clients including Warner Bros and NBC Universal for the GCC region, following her earlier role with Warner Bros as a category manager based in Italy. She started her entertainment career with Warner Bros in Italy in 2011 as marketing and retail assistant.

Caracciolo says: “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with ZAG, and I look forward to growing the licensing and toy footprint in MEA Region, bringing new and exciting collaborations  across multiple categories for consumers to experience the brand.”