Waell Oueslati has been appointed as Director of Consumer Products EMEA, reporting into Anna Songco Adamian, Vice President, Consumer Products, Crunchyroll.
Before Crunchyroll, Oueslati worked in licensing for VIZ Media Europe, France and Shogakukan-Shueisha Production (ShoPro) in Japan, which makes him an expert in Licensing of Japanese Entertainment brands.
The EMEA Consumer Products team is composed of Licensing Manager Lucile Hamiche, who brings a plethora of experience and passion for the entertainment industry after working for France TV Distribution and Turner Broadcasting. Plus, recent recruit, Mickael Zeggagh who joins as Licensing Manager from previous positions with Affective and animation studio, Millimages.
“The anime community loves to wear their fandom on their sleeve and celebrate their favourite series through a broad slate of consumer products. By growing our consumer products team with best-in-class licensing experts, we can collaborate with our partners to create products tailor-made for fans worldwide“, said Anna Songco Adamian, Vice President of Consumer Products, Crunchyroll. “Waell and his team are happy to collaborate with new partners across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and our broader Crunchyroll CP team is excited to work with partners worldwide to celebrate anime“.
The EMEA Consumer Products Team is responsible for promoting the extensive Crunchyroll merchandising rights catalogue across the region, which includes hit titles and household favourites like My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan and JUJUTSU KAISEN, along with new favourites SPY x FAMILY and Chainsaw Man. These titles are available for license across all categories, including toys & collectibles, home and apparel, and fashion.
Demand for licensed products continues to grow and anime remains one of the most popular categories in the entertainment sector. Brand licensing is gaining traction with revenue generated by the global licensing industry surpassing $300 billion for the first time ever in 2021, reaching $315.5 billion despite the pandemic, according to the trade association Licensing International. Anime in particular is a major driver of that growth, with Crunchyroll offering a variety of IP for consideration across all genres and categories.
