Indie studio XYZ Films has promoted Maxime Cottray to the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Cottray previously served as XYZ’s Executive Vice President. In the role, he worked closely with the studio founders to raise significant production and P&A financing for the company, including a facility with Bank of America. As COO, he will oversee financing, business affairs, and day-to-day operations and report to XYZ CEO Nick Spicer.
Since 2021, Cottray has closed the acquisition and financing of several titles such as Matthew Johnson’s Berlin competition title Blackberry and the Sundance breakout Run Rabbit Run, which was picked up by Netflix. He established a partnership with AI virtual dubbing company Flawless to acquire and release foreign language films to be “vubbed” into English. This year, he has facilitated the closing of XYZ’s first two scripted TV series, New Zealand-set Madam, starring Rachel Griffiths, and Conflict, which is shooting in Finland.
Before joining XYZ in 2017, Cottray spent six years at the film financing group Ingenious Media in London, where he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and negotiating investments in the media industry. A French and German national by way of the UK, he is a native English, French and German speaker. Cottray is based in Los Angeles.
“This is a well-earned promotion for Maxime. He’s beloved by his XYZ colleagues and our outside partners alike. I have supreme confidence he will succeed in his new role and continue to make XYZ an exciting home for filmmakers,” said Nick Spicer.
Cottray added: “I am immensely proud to be a part of the team at XYZ and am grateful for the continued trust and unwavering support shown to me by Nick, Nate, Aram, and the rest of the team. I remain as excited as ever to foster XYZ’s growth as an indie studio and look forward to the many exciting years ahead.”
