DUBAI: Animotion Media Group has appointed Faris Sibai as Chief Commercial Officer, marking an important step in the company’s next phase of growth as it expands its capabilities across entertainment, intellectual property, brand innovation, strategic partnerships, and audience-led storytelling.
Faris brings more than two decades of leadership experience across media, advertising, streaming, and commercial transformation, with a track record of building and scaling commercial growth engines across regional and international media, advertising, and platform businesses.
Over the course of his career, he has led go-to-market strategy, monetisation, strategic partnerships, and operating model transformation across global agency networks, platform businesses, and media organisations.
His experience spans senior leadership roles across WPP, IPG, Publicis, Omnicom, and regional streaming platforms, with leadership mandates based in Dubai, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and London. Most recently, Faris held a senior commercial leadership role at Starzplay, focused on advertising revenue, sponsorship, partnerships, and new commercial models.
At Animotion, Faris will lead the company’s commercial strategy across revenue development, strategic partnerships, sponsorship, brand solutions, licensing, distribution, and long-term growth initiatives.
His focus will be on building scalable commercial models around original IP, branded entertainment, and modern storytelling ecosystems. His appointment reflects Animotion’s ambition to move beyond individual deals and build a more structured commercial platform around IP, partnerships, distribution, and brand-funded entertainment. His appointment comes at a time of structural change across the global media and entertainment landscape. As traditional advertising models continue to evolve, brands are increasingly moving beyond sponsorship and media buying toward deeper participation in content, storytelling, and audience ownership.
This shift is creating new opportunities for companies that can connect IP, distribution, brand partnerships, and audience engagement into sustainable commercial models.
MARINA WILLIAMS, Chief Strategy Officer at Animotion Media Group, “Faris brings a rare combination of commercial leadership, strategic clarity, and execution discipline. He understands how to build sustainable growth in complex markets and has deep experience across media, platforms, and partnerships. As Animotion enters its next phase of growth, his leadership will play an important role in strengthening our commercial capabilities and shaping our long-term growth strategy.”
JULIA NIKOLAEVA, General Manager at Animotion Media Group, “Faris brings the kind of commercial experience that is highly relevant to Animotion’s next stage of growth. His background across agencies, platforms, brand partnerships, and monetisation models will help us structure stronger commercial opportunities around our IP, channels, and content portfolio.”
Faris Sibai said, “I am excited to join Animotion at a moment when the company is expanding its portfolio across kids, youth, and family entertainment through new shows, channels, and IP development.
We are entering a period where entertainment, brand building, and commerce are becoming increasingly connected. For brands, the opportunity is no longer just to sponsor content, but to participate in stories, characters, channels, and audience ecosystems that create lasting relevance.
The businesses that will win are those capable of building meaningful intellectual property, genuine audience connection, and commercial models that are scalable, sustainable, and credible in the real world. Animotion is building in exactly that space. What attracted me was the opportunity to help shape a business designed for where the industry is heading, not where it has been.”
Animotion continues to expand its capabilities across original IP development, branded entertainment, strategic partnerships, and commercial innovation, with a growing focus on helping brands, platforms, and content owners build commercially sustainable storytelling ecosystems.
