Moonbug hires first head of EMEA

Former RTL and A+E Networks exec Nicolas Eglau is joining the digital content producer to grow its partnerships in the region.
September 25, 2019

London-based kids entertainment company Moonbug has hired former RTL and A+E Networks exec Nicolas Eglau as its first head of EMEA. Based in London and reporting to Moonbug’s COO John Robson, Eglau starts October 1.

In the newly created role, he’s going to be focused on growing the company’s licensing, partnerships and distribution business across the region.

Prior to joining Moonbug, Eglau served as the EVP of international for German mass-media conglom ProSiebenSat.1, where he was in charge of leading the company’s global network and overseeing its business activities outside of Europe. Before that, he was the COO of EMEA and GM for Benelux, Nordics, CEE and MENA at A+E Networks, with a remit of 18 channels across 90 countries. He has also worked as the VP for Central and Eastern Europe at the RTL Group and as the head of strategy for its broadcaster RTL Netherlands, where he launched kids channel RTL Telekids in 2012.

While Eglau hasn’t been involved in kids content since the launch of the channel, he says his business experience make him the right fit for the position at Moonbug.

“I’ve worked in the TV industry in Europe for many years and I’ve built a network and have experience creating partnerships between broadcasters and content creators,” says Eglau. “At Moonbug, we have to look at the size of the markets in the region, the intensity of competition among platforms, and also the willingness of partners to team up with us, and based on what we see in the territories we’ll select what markets we’re going to focus on.”

In EMEA, where there are so many different broadcasters and streamers investing in kids content, owning all the rights to its own IP gives Moonbug the opportunity to wait out the streaming wars and then partner with the platforms that have the most reach, he adds.

Moonbug launched in 2018 and kicked off its growth by hiring Netflix’s former director of kids and family content Andy Yeatman to lead its America’s-based kids content business. On the content side, Moonbug acquired digital properties My Magic Pet Morphle, Gecko’s Garage and Dr. Poppy’s Pet Rescue back in February. Then acquired the soccer-themed comic and animated series Supa Strikas and plans to produce new episodes for 2020.

Moving forward, the company plans to continue building out its business both in the US and Europe and bring on more staff to grow the EMEA team, says Moonbug’s CEO and co-founder René Rechtman.

“Before it was really John [Robson] and myself running the Europe business. But now we need someone who’s very focused just on growth in Europe,” says Rechtman. “We’re working to get our content onto as many platforms as possible and we need someone in Europe who knows the platforms and who can get and run those partnerships.”

About The Author
News editor for Kidscreen. Ryan covers tech, talent and general kids entertainment news, with a passion for kids rap content and video games. Have a story that's of interest to Kidscreen readers? Contact Ryan at rtuchow@brunico.com

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