Tom van Waveren is stepping down as CEO of CAKE, setting into motion a string of hires and promotions, as well as the launch of a new production division.

CCO and managing director Ed Galton (pictured) is taking over as CEO, and Cat Seddon, who joined the company as finance director in 2019, has been promoted to a newly created COO role. Van Waveren will remain attached to specific projects as executive producer, but won’t be a part of the management team going forward. All of these executive changes will take effect in May.

Between now and then, the company will expand to become the CAKE Group, complete with a CAKE Productions division to complement its existing CAKE Distribution arm.

“The DNA of CAKE is not going to change,” Galton tells Kidscreen. “Creating the COO role and hiring and implementing the production and development team is [how we’re going] to take the company forward.”

The new division will support an increasing volume of development and production activity, including projects such as Mush-Mush & the Mushables, Mama K’s Team 4 and Angry Birds: Summer Madness. It currently has more than 13 properties in development.

To support this pipeline, Daniel Bays joined the team as VP of development in January, coming from a creative director position at Lightning Sprite Media, where he created Bitz & Bob and Tree Fu Tom.

Galton says he still plans to hire another executive to work alongside Bays and strengthen CAKE’s development business.

Rob Doherty, meanwhile, has been promoted from VP to SVP of production. He’ll manage a team that includes three new hires: Ciara Breslin as VP of production; former TeamTO head of production Haïet Lakhouache as line producer; and production finance manager Claire Flanders, who held the same role at Passion Pictures.

Both Bays and Doherty will report to Galton.