The award-winning global independent animation studio ZAG opted for deep experience as it expands its retail division, hiring on Sarah Boyer as Vice President, Retail, North America.
Julian Zag, Executive Vice President, Global Operations, says the timing was right to bring on Boyer, who formerly worked with MGA Entertainment, as the company has been successful in signing up a growing list of key licensees.
“We are entering the next phase of tremendous growth for ZAG and especially our flagship global brand phenom, Miraculous!,” said Zag. “Given the roster of new licensees coming on board, it is the ideal time to welcome an executive of Sarah’s caliber in the retail space to our robust consumer products’ team.
“We have a wide range of new products slated to hit retail shelves in 2021 and 2022, culminating with the $100M theatrical release of Miraculous Ladybug And Cat Noir The Awakening and the launch of seasons four and five of the series,” Zag explained. “Miraculous continues to build across all touchpoints—television, retail, digital, theatrical—and we couldn’t be more thrilled with how our brand continues to resonate with audiences worldwide.”
Reporting directly to Kirk Bloomgarden, the ZAG’s SVP, Global Licensing, Boyer will manage strategic relationships across all tiers of retail for all of the properties under the ZAG Heroez label; an umbrella brand franchise that brings together the superheroes from ZAG’s animated properties. Boyer will be assigned to help create more best-in-class licensed programs, supporting licensees with product placement and promotion, and to work alongside ZAG’s growing senior management team.
Other recent hires aimed at cultivating ZAG’s retail business include Rebekah Belzer, VP, New Business and Retail Development; Lisa Foster, VP, Licensing, North America; and Elinor Schops, VP of Games & Interactive Experiences.
“It is such an exciting time at ZAG with the global growth of the Miraculous brand, in particular, and I am excited to work with Julian, Kirk and the ZAG team to develop even stronger retail relationships to bring a wide range of products across all of the ZAG Heroez brands to market in the coming years,” said Boyer.
Boyer’s immediate task is to work with retailers for ZAG’s Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, for which over 150M products have been sold during the past three years.
The new toy line from ZAG Labs and Playmates will debut in 2021 in North America. Additional new products to rollout include books from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (LBYR), a division of the Hachette Book Group; and costumes and accessories for wholesale retailers from InSpirit Designs, a division of lifestyle retailer Spencer Spirit Holdings that owns and operates Spencer’s and Spirit Halloween.
Miraculous is Spirit Halloween’s most popular direct-to-retail license for adults and kids at their more than 1,300 owned and operated retail locations. Other new products soon to be available include bedding and home décor from Jay Franco, Bentex and Bioworld for apparel, Komar Brands for sleepwear, underwear from Handcraft Manufacturing, Hot Topic for DTR apparel program, PPE Foundation for face masks, Peachtree Playthings for craft and activity, Inkology for stationery, AXNY for smart watches, and Taste Beauty for beauty products.
Boyer will also work with ZAG Lab and Playmates across its portfolio of brands, including Power Players and Ghostforce, the company’s newest property, currently in production for Disney Channel EMEA, TF1, and Discovery Kids Latin America.
Boyer has extensive retail experience in executive roles at several major studios, including serving as Walmart Team Lead and Director of Sales, South, for Dreamworks Animation. Before joining ZAG, she was Senior Director, North America Retail Business Development at MGA Entertainment, developing go-to-market strategies and establishing retail partnerships in mid-tier, specialty and mass channels. Previously, Boyer served as Vice President, North America Retail Business Development at 20th Century Fox Consumer Products.