Luca Bonecchi, formerly an executive with Entertainment One, has been appointed as the new Head of Consumer Product for the animation studio ZAG.
In his new role, Bonecchi will be in charge of all CP sales and licensing for all of Europe, with the exception of Germany and France.
The announcement was made by Julian Zag, EVP Global Operations and Head of Consumer Products, to whom Bonecchi reports.
“Luca is joining ZAG at a very exciting time,” said Zag. “Across Europe, demand continues to be extremely strong for Miraculous, with sales exceeding expectations across the board, and expected to grow further with season five debuting this fall followed by the debut of our US$100 million animated movie.
“Luca will also lead strategy for our newest IP Ghostforce, which launched in fall 2021 across Europe on Disney Channel EMEA and immediately became a market leader, with a new toy line from ZAG and Playmates scheduled for release in 2023.”
Bonecchi’s role will be to spearhead the licensing and new business development efforts in the region for ZAG’s portfolio of “ZAG Heroez” brands, an umbrella brand franchise that brings together the superheroes from ZAG’s animated properties. Those include the global phenomenon Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir; and the company’s newest property, Ghostforce.
Bonecchi will will also be tasked with building best-in-class licensed programs and managing the company’s regional licensing agents, including Planeta Junior (CEE), CPLG (GAS,) and Megalicense (Russia).
Luca is taking over the role previously handled by Helena Perheentupa, who will remain with ZAG in a new senior management role, which has not yet been announced.
He joins ZAG from his most recent position as Head of Agent Management at Acamar Films, following an over six-year career with Entertainment One, where he served as VP Licensing EMEA.
Previously, Bonecchi worked in licensing management roles at Sanrio and Giochi Preziosi.
Bonecchi says he’s thrilled to be working with a rapidly growing global property. The animated show Miraculous was an immediate breakout hit when it was released, and continues to grow in popularity in global markets. It is now available in more than 120 markets, and licensed sales have surpassed the $1 billion mark.
“ZAG exploded onto the global scene with the cinematic superhero adventure series Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, capturing the hearts of children and families everywhere with an ever-increasing fanbase that continues to eagerly await new projects and products from the company,” said Bonecchi. “I can’t wait to get started and further build on the tremendous success of Miraculous and develop new opportunities for Ghostforce alongside our current regional partners, including Rubies, BlueOcean, Panini, and Edel who collectively will bring Halloween Costumes, magazines, books and more to the market later this year.”
The newly released Ghostforce is also seeing great success in its early days after its Fall 2021 debut.
Across Europe, consumer products partners already on board include Playmates, ZAG Lab’s toy partner. The first wave of the new toy line from ZAG and Playmates will launch globally in 2023, featuring figurines of the major heroes, a collection of boo capsules, and will play on the collectivity of the ghosts. The toy line will be distributed across GAS by Bandai.