Wattpad Studios’ Expansion Continues with its First European Role

Carla Zeller joins as the company’s first European Development Executive, while Muriel Rosilio joins on a permanent basis  

TORONTO - March 12, 2020 - Wattpad, the global multiplatform entertainment company for original stories, today announced the appointment of Carla Zeller as Development Executive for Europe. Based in Paris, Zeller will focus on continuing to build Wattpad’s TV and film slate in Europe, overseeing productions as they move from Wattpad to screens. She will report to Eric Lehrman, Wattpad’s Head of Content Development and Production. 

Zeller joins Wattpad from Mars Films, where she was part of the Acquisitions and Development team, working on French acquisitions for American projects such as I, Tonya and If Beale Street Could Talk, as well as European projects including By the Grace of God and Through the Fire. She also developed Mars’ original projects like Nothing To Hide and Love at Second Sight.

“Entertainment execs and studios around the world have seen the power of our audience-first and data-backed approach to finding and developing new stories,” said Aron Levitz, Head of Wattpad Studios. “We now work with entertainment companies from LA to Berlin, Seoul, and everywhere in between. We’re expanding our team and our global bench strength to keep up with the incredible demand to be part of our vision for the future of entertainment.” 

Zeller joins Wattpad Studios’ growing global team, with staff in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the Philippines. 

Also joining the Wattpad Studios team is Muriel Rosilio as Director of Business Development. Rosilio began working with Wattpad Studios on a consultative basis in 2018 and now joins as a permanent member of the team. Since joining Wattpad Rosilio has been instrumental in securing publishing and entertainment partnerships in Canada, Europe, and Latin America. She is based in Wattpad’s Toronto HQ, where she reports to Aron Levitz, Head of Wattpad Studios.

Rosilio joins from Farrago Media, an independent content agency she founded and operated, which was dedicated to monetizing content for traditional and digital channels. Prior to that, she was Vice President of Sales and Acquisitions for Filmoption International, one of Canada's leading TV and film distributors specializing in factual and documentary content. 

Wattpad has grown into a popular destination for data-backed IP and insights for studios around the world, with 50 TV and film projects currently in development. In Europe, Wattpad has deals with Bavaria Fiction in Germany, Lagardere Studios in France, Mediaset in Italy, Endemol Shine’s NL Film in the Netherlands, and Banijay Studios. Internationally, Wattpad has deals and projects in development with Sony Pictures Television, UCP, SYFY, AwesomenessTV, and Picturestart in the US; Wise Entertainment in Brazil and Turner Latin America’s Particular Crowd; eOne and the CBC in Canada; Huayi Bros in Korea; and Mediacorp in Singapore.  

Globally, nearly a thousand Wattpad stories have been published as books or turned into TV shows, films and digital media projects. Recently announced projects include, adaptations of the international hit Wattpad stories She’s with Me and The Last She, which Wattpad is developing with Sony Pictures Television; and Slow Dancing, a six-episode series based on the Wattpad story of the same name. Wattpad and Mediacorp are developing the project, which will premiere in August 2020.

Other recent hits include, Wattpad’s film After, which won a People's Choice Award for Best Drama Film, three Teen Choice Awards, and was one of the top grossing indie films of 2019; and the Emmy-nominated series Light as a Feather, which Wattpad, AwesomenessTV and Grammnet produce for Hulu. Netflix’s international sensation The Kissing Booth also began as a Wattpad story. 

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About Wattpad 

Wattpad’s vision is to entertain and connect the world through stories. Wattpad’s flagship app is the world’s leading social storytelling platform, home to a community of more than 80 million people who spend over 23 billion minutes a month engaged in original stories. Wattpad’s Story DNA Machine Learning technology allows the company to discover stand-out stories among the more than half a billion uploads that have been written on the platform. Wattpad Studios and Wattpad Books are transforming entertainment and publishing, using data-backed insights to turn Wattpad stories into books, films and TV shows. Wattpad Brand Partnerships help brands build deep engagement with Gen Z consumers. In 2020, Wattpad was recognized as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. The company is proudly based in Toronto, Canada. Learn more at: company.wattpad.com