Former TF1 Boss Gilles Pelisson to Preside Over French Film/TV Promotion Org Unifrance
Gilles Pélisson, the former boss of TF1, has been elected president of French film and TV promotion org Unifrance. He will succeed to Serge Toubiana and Hervé Michel.
Other candidates to take the helm of Unifrance included Frédérique Bredin, the former boss of the National Film Board (CNC), Anne Durupty, former Arte France boss, and film producer Marie Masmonteil.
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Pelisson was elected by a 60-member executive committee, which includes representatives of major guilds and commissions. Pelisson is a veteran within France’s media and entertainment industry landscape but may not be as knowledgable about French films as his predecessor, Toubiana, who had led the French Cinematheque and Les Cahiers du Cinema prior to joining Unifrance.
Pelisson’s election comes two years after Unifrance merged with TV France International, the French TV promotion body.
Pelissonn, who is the former president of Accor, Eurodisney and Bouygues Telecom, entered the Bouygues-owned commercial TV network TF1 in 2009 as administrator. He became president of TF1 in 2016 and recently stepped down from the network which is now headed by Rodolphe Belmer.
During Pelisson’s tenure at TF1, the network group ramped up its involvement in production in France and internationally through Newen, which is home to a dozen of production companies around the world.
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