British prodco Aardman (Shaun the Sheep) has promoted Laura Taylor-Williams into a brand-new head of digital and strategic development position.

She’s charged with managing AVOD, FAST and EST (electronic sell-through) sales for the studio’s original content library, as well as for third-party IPs Aardman represents, such as Happy the Hoglet, a 26 x seven-minute, 2D-animated series from Ireland’s Paper Owl Films.

Taylor-Williams officially stepped into her new role last week, although she came on board in June as an interim senior sales manager. And she will continue reporting to director of distribution Alison Taylor.

Prior to joining Aardman, Taylor-Williams was based in London and headed up digital distribution in EMEA for NBCUniversal from 2014 to 2021. Before that, she spent five years as an account manager at Universal Pictures. 

Aardman has been making other moves lately to bolster its distribution business. In November, the company added most of its catalogue to online marketplace Vuulr in an effort to expand its reach with buyers around the globe.