He is further charged with overseeing all development and pre-production activities in the London - based studio as well as with securing and managing all co-productions with international partners.

With over 16 years experience in the television and children industry, Runel joins BKN from Jetix Europe where, as part of the senior management team he oversaw all programming and related on-air strategies for the group's 12 channels. He brought content and new Intellectual Properties to Jetix Europe and US through a number of successful co-productions and acquisition deals.

Prior to joining Jetix, Runel served seven years at TF1, the French free-TV giant where he built a library of 2000 hours of kids' programming.

"We are really pleased to have the contributions of such a talented individual as Benoit. His track record in children's programming acquisitions, productions and sales both at Jetix Europe and TF1 in France over 15 years makes him a perfect candidate to lead this division," said BKN group chief executive officer Allen Bohbot.

"BKN is in a very exciting development stage. The products including Legend of the Dragon, Dork Hunters from Outer Space, Zorro: Generation Z and the new classic collection including Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, A Christmas Carol and Robin Hood, to name a few, for direct-to-DVD release are really strong and I look forward to expanding on these activities. This is a very exciting opportunity for me," added Runel.