Nicely Entertainment Expands Executive Distribution Team in Europe with Appointment of Rachel Siegenthaler to Vice President of International Sales

Los Angeles based Nicely Entertainment has announced the expansion of its executive sales team with the appointment of former TF1 executive Rachel Siegenthaler to the newly created position of Vice President of International Sales. The position will be based in Paris, with a focus on expanding Nicely’s presence in Europe. The announcement today was made by Nicely’s CEO Vanessa Shapiro.

In her new role, Siegenthaler will be responsible for international sales and co-productions in the EMEA and across Asia for Nicely’s slate of content, including ten new movies debuting at this year’s MIPCOM market.  She will report to Shapiro and Scott Kirkpatrick, Executive VP of Distribution & Co-Productions.

Siegenthaler’s first remit will be handling the sales of Nicely’s slate of content debuting at the upcoming MIPCOM market.  The slate is highlighted by two holiday romance movies, Cloudy with a Chance of Christmas and A Christmas to Treasure, both debuting on a major U.S. broadcast channel this holiday season, and the limited original series, The Christmas Checklist (4×60’), premiering this December on Canada’s CBC.  Additional titles on offer to international buyer’s include the Romance Movies A Royal in Paradise, Baked with a Kiss, Love at the Lodge, and the upcoming Holiday Movies Sappy Holiday, A Tiny Home Christmas, The Snowball Effect, and Christmas on Repeat.

Nicely will also be releasing the IMAX Giant Screen 8k HDR family friendly documentary Beyond the Reef (1×90), which showcases the stunning Great Barrier Reef and its amazing biodiversity in a fun and pacy presentation aimed at family audiences, hosted and narrated by actor Shuang Hu. 

Shapiro and Kirkpatrick jointly stated: “We are thrilled with the growth of Nicely Entertainment in almost three years as we continue to build our content pipeline; diversify into alternative genres; and bolster our executive team.  This year alone, we will be presenting over 20 original movies, including Cloudy with a Chance of Christmas, as well as our third scripted TV series, The Christmas Checklist, and we are already on track for another 20 original films in 2023.  Rachel is the ideal executive to join our growing team expanding our presence in Europe, and we’re excited to introduce our new slate to media partners at this year’s MIPCOM market.”

Siegenthaler worked for leading French broadcaster TF1 for over 14 years (2000 – 2014) in various capacities, including the Head of Content Acquisitions across multiple genres. Following her tenure at TF1, she served as Head of Programs & Acquisitions at Turner, overseeing acquisitions for Turner Kids channels in France—Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Boing & Toonami.  In March 2017, she was appointed as the Executive Director of Distribution in French-Speaking EMEA for Sony Pictures Television.  Since 2018, Siegenthaler has operated her own consulting agency focusing on distribution companies.  Additionally, since 2019 Siegenthaler has served as the overseas delegate for the drama category and Jury selection of the Shanghai TV Festival “Magnolia Awards competition.”