By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
ZAG has appointed James Nunziati as Head of Global Sales for ZAG Play’s recently launched Toy Division.
In his new position at ZAG Play, Nunziati will build on the Toy Division’s sales operations by developing and executing new sales strategies and establishing sustainable relationships with both customers and retailers.
He will also be tasked with establishing a working relationship with the marketing, product development, and content teams at ZAG to ensure consistency between the company’s branded content and physical products. Nunziati will report to the Toy Division’s Senior Vice President, Helena Perheentupa.
“At the new ZAG Play Toy Division, we are committed to the development of a broad range of innovative toys that are deeply tied to the DNA of our brands and that are complementary to products created by our trusted licensing partners in the toy space,” said Perheentupa. “As we gear up to present our first original broad product range at Nuremberg Toy Fair at the beginning of February 2023, James’ wealth of expertise and relationships will be invaluable to support our launch.”
Prior to his current position at ZAG Play, Nunziati spent seven years as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at the toy and tech company Zuru. Before his time at Zuru, he worked as General Manager of the scooter manufacturer Yvolution USA for close to four years. Nunziati also previously held senior roles at Street Surfing LLC, 20th Century Fox, Dreamworks, Nakajima USA, and Starz Media.
“I’ve been observing ZAG’s phenomenal growth over the last couple of years and am delighted to be joining the company at such a transformative time,” said Nunziati. “ZAG has developed amazing content, and it will be exciting to create and deliver imaginative toys that will empower children through aspirational play, supplementing products developed by ZAG’s trusted licensing partners to keep the company’s brands highly visible at retail.”
ZAG Play is the licensing, merchandising, promotion, and gaming branch of the global entertainment studio, ZAG. It is led by the company’s Executive Vice President of Global Operations and Head of Consumer Products, Julian Zag.
The creation of the global Toy Division of ZAG Play was officially announced in August 2022. The Toy Division’s initial focus is to create toy collections for the company’s Miraculous and Ghostforce franchises.
The 3D-CGI-animated superhero series Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir follows the lives of two teens who magically transform into superheroes to protect Paris. The series was created by ZAG and co-produced with Method Animation.
Ghostforce is a 3D-CGI-animated comedy-horror series that features three junior-high school students who secretly form a team of superheroes to fight the ghosts of New York.
Other major projects for the division include toy lines for the upcoming animated feature Melody starring Katy Perry and a recently announced ten-movie package to be co-produced with Cross Creek Pictures.